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Be Prepared: Build a disaster supplies kit

GENESEO – With winter storms on the horizon now is a good time for build a disaster supplies kit to help you weather such emergencies as a power outage, or if you are stuck at work or stranded in your car.

The Livingston County Department of Health and the Livingston County Office of Emergency Management have information to help you “Build A Kit.”

After an emergency, you may need to survive on your own for several days. Since you do not know where you will be when an emergency occurs, prepare disaster supplies kits for home, work and vehicles. Make sure all family members know where the kits are kept.

A disaster supplies kit for your home is a collection of basic items your household may need in the event of an emergency. Visit https://tinyurl.com/nvyzy7f6 for a preparedness checklist.

After gathering basic items consider what unique needs your family might have, such as supplies for pets or seniors. Don’t forget to include additional items such as cloth face coverings (for everyone ages 2 and above), soap, hand sanitizer, and disinfecting wipes to disinfect surfaces which help prevent the spread of COVID-19, flu, or other viruses.

To assemble your home kit, store items in airtight plastic bags and put your entire disaster supplies kit in one or two easy-to-carry containers such as plastic bins or duffel bags. Remember it is important to maintain your kit so it is ready when needed.

Some helpful tips:

  • Keep canned food in a cool, dry place
  • Store boxed food in tightly closed plastic or metal containers
  • Replace expired items as needed and re-think your needs every year and update your kit as your family’s needs change.

A Work Kit should be stored in a “grab and go” case with items that you will need for at least 24 hours. Items include food, water and other necessities such as medicines and comfortable walking shoes.

Build a car kit in case you get stranded in your vehicle. Keep an emergency supply kit in your car that include jumper cables, flares or reflective triangle, ice scraper, car cell phone charger, blanket, map and cat litter or sand (for better tire traction).

For more information, visit https://www.ready.gov/kit.

Climate Change: Don't sideline plastic problem, nations urged

Scientists are warning politicians immersed in climate change policy not to forget that the world is also in the midst of a plastic waste crisis.

They fear that so much energy is being expended on emissions policy that tackling plastic pollution will be sidelined.

A paper from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and Bangor University says plastic pollution and climate change are not separate.

It says the issues are actually intertwined - and each makes the other worse.

Manufacturing plastic items adds to greenhouse gas emissions, while extreme weather such as floods and typhoons associated with a heating planet will disperse and worsen plastic pollution in the sea.

The researchers highlight that marine species and ecosystems, such as coral reefs, are taking a double hit from both problems.

Reefs and other vulnerable habitats are also suffering from the seas heating, from ocean acidification, pollution from farms and industry, dredging, development, tourism and over-fishing.

And in addition, sea ice is a major trap for microplastics, which will be released into the ocean as the ice melts due to warming.

The researchers want politicians to address all these issues – and not to allow climate change to take all the policy “bandwidth”.

Professor Heather Koldewey from ZSL said: “Climate change is undoubtedly one of the most critical global threats of our time. Plastic pollution is also having a global impact; from the top of Mount Everest to the deepest parts of our ocean.

“Both are having a detrimental effect on ocean biodiversity; with climate change heating ocean temperatures and bleaching coral reefs, to plastic damaging habitats and causing fatalities among marine species.

“The compounding impact of both crises just exacerbates the problem. It’s not a case of debating which issue is most important, it’s recognising that the two crises are interconnected and require joint solutions.”

Professor Koldewey added: “The biggest shift will be moving away from wasteful single-use plastic and from a linear to circular economy that reduces the demand for damaging fossil fuels.”

Helen Ford, from Bangor University, who led the study, said: “I have seen how even the most remote coral reefs are experiencing widespread coral death through global warming-caused mass bleaching. Plastic pollution is yet another threat to these stressed ecosystems.

“Our study shows that changes are already occurring from both plastic pollution and climate change that are affecting marine organisms across marine ecosystems and food webs, from the smallest plankton to the largest whale.”

ZSL is urging world governments and policy makers to put nature at the heart of all decision making in order to jointly tackle the combined global threats of climate change and biodiversity loss.

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Berita