From the Desk of Linda Civitello-Joy, CEO
Breathe California
Golden Gate Public Health Partnership

Here’s my update – on my first week on the low car diet:

MAIN IMPRESSION: This has been a major epiphany for me. IT HAS BEEN EASY getting to work and after work school or social activities using public transportation and walking!

BENEFITS: 1) walking – so far I have lost about 3 pounds! 2) I feel better! 3) I get to read on my way to and from work!

Now that I have the buses figured out – it is easy – 1 mile of walking each way, 40 minutes (if I get to the bus on time) and $1.50 per trip – which can be reduced if I get a Sam Trans pass and use Commuter Checks for pretax deduction.

My first week cost much more than need be — because I was not familiar with all the public transportation options. Now that I am familiar and will not need to call an occasional taxi –I am sure my costs will be less than $25 this week. The cost to fill my car would normally be about $48 per week.

On the downside, I have less spontaneity – especially with social life — but this will require me to improve on planning my visits with friends and family. Arriving to work feeling and looking damp from the Daly City Fog has also been a challenge — but hey — a new umbrella will solve that problem.

According to my Fitlinxx log — I walked 11.6 miles the first 7 days and burned 2,241 calories. Not bad!!! Think of all the carbon saved as well!

I’ll keep you posted.

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From the Desk of Linda Civitello-Joy, CEO
Breathe California
Golden Gate Public Health Partnership

Today I began an exciting journey! Thanks to our partners at Zip Car, I started on the LOW CAR DIET this morning. Along with about 20 others, I turned in my keys to ZIP CAR and will not be driving my personal car for one month.

I decided to personally join this effort because lung disease remains the 3rd leading and fastest rising cause of death in the USA, and because the health of our lungs is definitely impacted by air quality.

So as I go on this journey, I will keep you posted of what it is like. I have had all the excuses for not using public transportation:

• I live 4 blocks from a Sam Trans Bus Stop.
• Though I live and work in Daly City, I have places to go (often in SF) after work.
• I often get home after the bus lines have stopped.
• I visit my family in Concord / Benicia / Berkeley on the weekend.
• My hair will get messed up if I am standing out in the wind and fog.
• I have asthma and shouldn’t be exercising outdoors on spare the air days.
• After 30+ years of an office job, I am not in great shape.

Need I say more??? I am sure that in the past I have thought up at least another 20 excuses!

So how did my first morning go? I had to get to Justin Herman Plaza for a press conference, had to be there by 9:00 a.m. and had to look dressed up and camera-ready.

I left the house at 7:30 – the fog was very thick – so I went back to get an umbrella, which was good since it actually began to rain as I walked to the bus stop.

I almost got on the wrong bus. A quick call to 511 while waiting (to make sure I was going the right way) informed me that the bus would actually go east for a few blocks, though my destination was west. So I crossed the street and waited at the correct stop for about 6 minutes.

Soon I was dropped off right at the toll gate at the Colma BART station, with plenty of time to get a ticket, get downstairs and even get a comfy seat on the train. I made it to my final destination at about 8:40. It took me about 70 minutes. I think that with better planning and a bit faster pace walking, I’ll be able to cut that down significantly. Though there have been times when I drove in to the financial district in less time, when you add time for parking and then walking to the destination, I’d say it was about equal – but, hey, I enjoyed reading on the way in and had a very pleasant experience. Even though it was very damp, I arrived looking as neat and tidy as I would have if I had driven.

So give it a try yourself; I’ll let you know how I maneuver those visits with family, weekend shopping, etc.

By the way, did you have any symptoms over the last few weeks when our air was so polluted from the fires and hot weather? I did. It reminded me of why we must continue our efforts to promote clean air. I kept thinking that if our predecessors hadn’t fought so hard in the 1970s to get clean air laws in place, our air might be that bad all the time today. We have to be ever diligent to keep improving our air quality until we know it is acceptable for lung health. I survived the smoky air last week, but only with a course of heavy steroids – and many folks I know had to do the same.

If you’d like to get involved in our air quality advocacy or join me in giving up your car, give us a call or send me an email lindacj@ggbreathe.org. Zip Car makes it easy for you to rent a car for those times when you need to get somewhere challenging or carry more things than is practical on public transportation. In fact, if you sign up for Zip Car at www.zipcar.com using this promotions code: SPRING50, you will get a deduction on your membership!

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From the Desk of Linda Civitello-Joy, CEO
Breathe California
Golden Gate Public Health Partnership

As Breathe California celebrates the 100th Anniversary of our founding as the SF Society for the Study and Prevention of TB, I am disheartened that we still need to have a World TB Day to bring attention to this deadly disease, which is on the rise in the Bay Area.

TB remains a major cause of death worldwide, accounting for 1.6 million deaths per year. San Francisco has the highest rate of TB in the USA, and the development of strains resistant to currently available treatments is of great concern.

Records in my office, dating from 1908, show that TB was the #1 cause of death in San Francisco at the time. One in seven, mainly those in the prime of their life, were killed by this disease.

From 1908 to 1930, the TB rates dropped 60%. This impressive reduction occurred due to local investment in public health. The TB Society and the City of San Francisco partnered successfully to bring the rates down – without antibiotics – by setting up clinics, employing visiting nurses, offering educational programs and setting up open-air schools.

Improved treatments and diagnostic tools would allow us to do even a better job today, but because overall TB rates in the USA are declining, funding for local TB prevention and treatment continues to be cut. The San Francisco TB Control Department has only half the staff it did in the 1990’s and this year proposed California state budget cuts further threaten local TB control.

This morning I attended a press conference at SF International Airport along with representatives from county TB control programs and advocacy organizations. The message was loud and clear: TB is an infectious disease that knows no borders. Local TB control programs in areas where the rates are rising should be given the resources needed to effectively control TB, or we may again face a major epidemic.

We must urge our state and federal legislators to pay attention to the needs of the local TB control programs. With current budget concerns at all levels of government, the costs may seem beyond reach, but if we fail to prevent a drug resistant TB epidemic more money and more lives will be lost!

Join me in supporting adequate funding for TB prevention and control at all levels – local to international. For more information please visit the California Tuberculosis Controllers Association: http://www.ctca.org.

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