| This Native American perspective
on the Home*A*Syst program is a do-it-yourself risk assessment tool for
homeowners to evaluate environmental and health risks in and around their
homes. From keeping drinking water safe to avoiding household hazards like
lead-based paint, this series of 11 fact sheets tells how to detect hazards
and get started on reducing or eliminating them. New in October 2001, this
tool is produced by the Montana State University Extension Service Housing
Program. |
| To order a copy
of Connected to the Earth ($7.50 each) contact M.S.U. Extension Publications
at 406/994-3273 or at tbiggs@montana.edu
requesting the Connected to the Earth publication and including your
credit card number, expiration date, and your mailing address. |
 |
Connected to
the Earth
Environmental
Health
in and Around the Home
|
|
Click on the highlighted words below to open on-line
versions of:
|
|
|
|
| Fact
Sheet 1: |
Site Assessment: Protecting Water
Quality Around Your Home (8 pages)
Part 1: Your Home's Surroundings
Part 2: Making a Map of Your Homesite |
| |
| Fact
Sheet 2: |
Preventing Pollution from "Stormwater
Runoff"
(8 pages)
Part 1: Reducing Pollutants in Runoff
Part 2: Landscaping and Homecare to Control Runoff |
| |
| Fact
Sheet 3: |
Making Sure Your Drinking Water
is Safe (8 pages)
Part 1: Well Location
Part 2: Building and Maintaining Wells
Part 3: Water Testing and Unused Wells |
| |
| Fact
Sheet 4: |
Household Wastewater: Septic Systems
and Other Waste Treatment (12 pages)
Part 1: Septic System Design and Location
Part 2: Septic System Care
Part 3: What Goes into Your Septic or Sewage System? |
| |
| Fact
Sheet 5: |
Hazardous Household Products
(12 pages)
Part 1: Selecting, Buying and Using Products
Part 2: Safe Storage
Part 3: Product Disposal |
| |
| Fact
Sheet 6: |
Lead in and Around the Home
(8 pages)
Part 1: Lead Sources in Your Home
Part 2: Lead Sources Outside Your Home
Part 3: How Lead Can Harm Children |
| |
| Fact
Sheet 7: |
Yard and Garden Care (8 pages) |
| Fact
Sheet 8: |
Diesel and Other Fuels (8 pages)
Part 1: Fuel Containers
Part 2: Fuel Tanks |
| |
| Fact
Sheet 9: |
Indoor Air Quality: Health Risks
in the Air You Breathe (8 pages)
Part 1: Air Quality Hazards: Finding and Fixing Them
Part 2: Ventilating Indoor Air |
| |
| Fact
Sheet 10: |
Heating and Cooling Systems: Saving
Energy and Keeping Safe (8 pages)
Part 1: Ventilating Fuel-burning Appliances
Part 2: Energy Use
Part 3: Energy Efficiency |
| |
| Fact
Sheet 11: |
Dealing with Household Waste: And
How to Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Compost (8 pages)
Part 1: Reducing Waste
Part 2: Reusing, Recycling and Composting
Part 3: Waste Disposal on Your Property |
| |
| |
|
|
These on-line sections are pdf files that can
be opened with Adobe Acrobat. Download free Adobe Acrobat Reader
by clicking here:
|
|
|
|
To help assess personal property or situations,
each fact sheet listed above includes:
|
background information
potential risks
graphics
|
definitions
instructions
checklists |
|
| For some topics this guide offers all the information you
need to minimize or eliminate a pollution risk. For others it provides a
starting point and helps you locate further information. The main idea is
to identify risks, then, where possible, to take actions to reduce them
and to prevent future problems. But, with this tool no one is looking over
your shoulder. It is your choice. |
|
"All things are connected. Whatever
befalls the earth befalls the children of the earth."
--Chief Seattle, Suquamish and Duwamish
|
|
