I recently came across a very useful and very interesting website called Scorecard.com. Scorecard allows you to type in your zip code and get detailed information on pollution in your county.
Scorecard compares your county to others in the United States in several areas, gives you the top polluters and top toxins released in your county, and gives you reports on air and water pollution in your area. There is a report on the percentage of homes with lead paint and they also give you an environmental justice report. The site tells you about any Superfund sites in your county and how that stacks up against other counties. You can click a link to get a list of the top polluters in the county and contact information for them, too!
I learned so much from this site! An example of the kind of details they give is this:
"In 1999, this county ranked among the dirtiest/worst 20% of all counties in the U.S. in terms of pm-2.5 emissions."
Yuck! That is an actual quote from the information for my zip code! I am shocked and disgusted!
Head on over and enter your zip code on Scorecard.com. Let me know what you learn about your county.
I'm almost too scared to look! But ignorance is not bliss, right? Off to lookup my city's score
ReplyDeleteI hope you share some of what you find!
DeleteWow, this is a fabulous resource! I am not really excited to know but interested at the same time, thanks so much for sharing this!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great resource! My county has great water, however... the air pollution is high and is in the red for effecting reproductive health :(
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for sharing this! I can't wait to show this to my hubby!
I live in the city of Chicago, so not surprisingly the results are not good. For all of the categories, it says I live in one of the worst 10% counties in the U.S. Ugh.
ReplyDeleteIn 2002, this county ranked among the cleaner 40% of all counties in the U.S. in terms of noncancer risk score (air and water releases). and only 3 % of houses have a high risk of led exposure. and the two highest pollutants are lead and chlorine.
ReplyDeleteOurs is in the top 10% worst for air pollution. I'm not surprised. It is a major metro area.
ReplyDeleteI never knew about this awesome resource. Sadly, my area ranked in the top 10% worst of every category. But I think that's just a reflection of living in an urban area.
ReplyDelete