A eliminação do mosquito do dengue em ambientes residenciais: uma questão de cuidado ambiental?

Dengue is currently considered one of the most relevant public health problems worldwide. Studies indicate the surroundings of the houses as the preferred sites for the proliferation of Aedes aegypti. The residential areas are privileged environments for human development and contribute to the formation of the individual s identity and for the establishment of affective, social and cultural bonds. The purpose of this study was to investigate possible links between psychological indicators of pro-environmentalism and conservation status of residential backyards. Data collection was performed in 147 homes and methodological strategy involved the use of interview, the Scale of Ecocentric and Anthropocentric Environmentalism, Scale of Consideration of Future Consequences and a tool for environmental evaluation. It was found that the participants expressed as environmental practices the garbage recycling, besides they had the knowledge of how the transmission of dengue occurs. These residents showed ecofriendly motivated commitment: pro-environmentalist ecocentric and anthropocentric. In evaluating the backyard it was verified that the conservation conditions, in almost half of the homes, appeared as carelessness on the part of residents and those conditions are conducive to the proliferation of Aedes aegypti. The pro-environmentalists and guidance for the future identified by the scales were not associated with the conservation status of the backyards. However, it was found that the trends of reduction and stability of infestation levels are associated with self-reported environmental care. These results can contribute to the discussion and design of new mosquito control actions and practices of education and health information among the population

GESTÃO AMBIENTAL E COMPETITIVIDADE EM DESTINOS TURÍSTICOS: percepção dos gestores de pequenos meios de hospedagem de Natal/RN sobre o uso de práticas ambientais como fator de competitividade

The present work aimed at investigating the small hotel managers perceptions from Natal/RN concerning the environmental practice uses as a competitive factor. This study is characterized as a descriptive exploratory research that used an aleatory probabilistic sample followed by the application of collect data instrument (questionnaire). The small hotels located in Natal/RN were the study participants and the specific location where 35 questionnaires were answered. Based on the data and on the mangers point of view, it is possible to comprehend that, among the presented indicators, the development of environmental programs in the hotel enterprise is showed as the least important for the client s choice. As the main conclusion it is relevant to argue that, according to the small hotel managers, the guests do not still search for hotels that implement environmental practices. On the other side, the interviewed managers believe that the use of these practices can generate a great competitive advantage in relation to their competitors. The information obtained by this present research will be able to contribute to establish a contemporary panorama in relation to the importance attributed by the managers concerning the use of environmental practices in small hotel enterprises in Natal/RN. In addition the correct use of this information can generate possibilities of major competitiveness in this segment

O design na indústria moveleira brasileira e seus aspectos sustentáveis: estudo de caso no pólo moveleiro de Arapongas-Pr

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Boas práticas ambientais na utilização de fluidos de corte nos processos de usinagem

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Descrevendo a (in)coerência entre consciência e práticas ambientais sustentáveis: um estudo com alunos de engenharia ambiental

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

An assessment of the economic impact of climate change on the tourism sector in Jamaica

Climate change is a continuous process that began centuries ago. Today the pace of change has increased with greater rapidity because of global warming induced by anthropogenically generated greenhouse gases (GHG). Failure to effectively deal with the adverse outcomes can easily disrupt plans for sustainable economic development. Because of the failure of export agriculture over the last several decades, to provide the economic stimuli needed to promote economic growth and development, Jamaica, like many other island states in the Caribbean subregion, has come to rely on tourism as an instrument of transformation of the macro-economy. It is believed this shift in economic imperative would eventually provide the economic impetus needed to generate much needed growth and development. This assessment has shown that tourism is not only a leading earner of foreign exchange in Jamaica and a major creator of both direct and indirect jobs but, also, one of the principal contributors to the country‟s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The rapid expansion of the industry which occurred over the last several decades coupled with disregard for sound environmental practices has led to the destruction of coral reefs and the silting of wetlands. Because most of the industry is located along the coastal region it is extremely vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change. Failure to address the predictable environmental challenges of climate change, with some degree of immediacy, will not only undermine, but quickly and seriously impair the capacity of industry to stimulate and contribute to the process of economic development. To this end, it important that further development of industry be characterised by sound economic and social planning and proper environmental practices.

Em busca de carvão vegetal barato: o deslocamento de siderúrgicas para a Amazônia

O artigo analisa o processo de instalação, na Amazônia Oriental brasileira, de diversos produtores independentes de ferro-gusa, nas últimas duas décadas. Mesmo em número e velocidade menores do que indicava o planejamento estatal, foram implantadas no Corredor da Estrada de Ferro Carajás doze siderúrgicas. São empresas dedicadas somente à produção desta commoditie cuja produção requer elevada quantidade de energia suprida por carvão vegetal. Neste artigo, mostramos que houve deslocamento para a Amazônia de indústrias que até os anos 90 estavam concentradas exclusivamente no Sudeste brasileiro e que a demanda de carvão vegetal consolidou-se como principal elo de articulação da siderurgia com a socioeconomia da região de Carajás. A produção de carvão vegetal tem acarretado muitos impactos sociais e ambientais na região Amazônica. Impactos que se materializam pela ampliação da pressão exercida sobre a floresta amazônica, por práticas ambientalmente imprudentes e pela produção do carvão vegetal sustentada por trabalho precário, mal remunerado e insalubre. Exemplo de um cenário diante do qual se desenha como alternativa é a manutenção da fabricação de ferro-gusa nos moldes atuais e a incorporação de pequenos fornos elétricos a arco para a produção de aço. Contudo, a possível instalação de mini-aciarias na região, por si só, não resolve o principal problema socioambiental que envolve o beneficiamento do minério de ferro na região, vinculado aos efeitos deletérios da produção carvoeira, podendo inclusive agravá-los.

Análise do apoio dos sistemas de informação para as práticas de gestão ambiental em empresas com ISO 14001 - estudo de múltiplos casos

The purpose of this article is to identify the contributions of Information Systems (IS) for environmental management practices, as well as the opportunities and challenges in this relation. Thus, we performed two case studies with Brazilian enterprises certified ISO 14001, by conducting interviews, document analysis and direct observation. As results, we present the identification of the main contributions of information systems for environmental management practices in the studied cases, the verification that a more advanced stage regarding IS is a factor that implies a more effective contribution, besides finding challenges and opportunities in this relation. The main contribution of this research consists of the presentation of a framework that identifies the support of information systems for environmental practices.

Green product development and performance of Brazilian firms: measuring the role of human and technical aspects

The goal of this study is to present and test a conceptual framework that describes the technical aspects (TA), human/organizational aspects (HOA) of the adoption of green product development (GPD) practices and the effect of these practices on firms'environmental (EP), operational (OP) and market performance (MP). To this end, after reviewing the literature on these themes, a conceptual framework with 5 hypotheses is proposed. These hypotheses were tested on 62 Brazilian companies through structural equation modeling using SmartPLS 2.0M3. The main results of this study are as follows: (a) in general, the proposed framework obtained adequate goodness of fit statistics (GoF); (b) technological factors are shown to have an influence on the adoption of GPD practices, and those practices are related to company EP, OP and MP, thus confirming 4 hypotheses of the study; and (c) one of the study's hypotheses is not validated, indicating that the relationship of human/organizational aspects to GPD must be further analyzed. This work extends the literature because: (a) the conceptual framework tested in this study establishes several concepts that have been only partially tested in the previous literature; (b) this work presents evidence about Brazil, where the themes addressed herein have not been yet been thoroughly investigated; and (c) the non-validation of the hypothesis regarding the relationship between human/ organizational aspects with respect to the adoption of product-related environmental practices requires attention. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Análise da educação ambiental em uma agroindústria: um estudo de caso no município de Guararapes/SP

Pós-graduação em Agronegócio e Desenvolvimento - Tupã

Análise da educação ambiental em uma agroindústria: um estudo de caso no município de Guararapes/SP

Pós-graduação em Agronegócio e Desenvolvimento - Tupã

Dietary intake of environmentally persistent plaguicides in the european population

[EN] Global pollution has become one of the most important problems of the modern societies and pesticides play a major role among the chemical contaminants that are released to the environment every year. Organochlorine compounds have been widely used in the past all over the world as pesticides and some of them are still used for the control of vectors of infectious diseases. Due to their high lipophilicity, stability and resistance to degradation, most of them have been banned or strictly regulated but their levels remain high in the environment as persistent organic pollutants (POPs). Their presence in the environment leads to their introduction into the food chain, especially affecting food of animal origin with higher fat content. Due to their liposolubility, these substances tend to be bioaccumulated into the fat tissues of living beings along their entire lives, and to be biomagnificated across trophic levels in the food chain. Thus, the main human source of these pesticides comes from the daily intake of contaminated food from environmental sources. It has been established the role of many of the POPs as endocrine disruptors and even as carcinogenic agents, being thus considered as important risk factors for health. Moreover, chronic exposure to pesticides, even at very low levels, has been related with cancer, fertility problems, immunosuppression and other diseases. For this reason, it is important to know the level of POPs contamination and to identify the main sources contributing to it. Fish, meat and dairy products are the food groups with the highest levels of pollution. However, the residue levels vary by geographic area, and are influenced by several factors as food security policies, local pesticide use patterns, environmental practices, or the time when the study is conducted. Food habits, conditioned by different social and economic factors, as well as several biological factors (i.e. gender, sex and age), determine the levels of POPs exposure in the population. The purpose of this chapter is to give an overview of the dietary intake of environmentally persistent pesticides by the European population, and the potential adverse consequences of this exposure on human health.

Entwicklung einer Anordnung zur Nutzung von Massenschwerebewegungen beim Quarzitabbau im Rheinischen Schiefergebirge

Die (Wieder-)Nutzung auf Schwerkraft basierender Fördertechniken, die insbesondere durch das niedrige Energiepreisniveau in den Jahrzehnten nach dem 2. Weltkrieg in der Tagebautechnik nahezu vollständig verdrängt wurden, ist bei den heutigen wirtschaftlichen Randbedingungen und anzustrebenden ökologischen Standards eine Herausforderung für die bergbautreibende Industrie. Seit Aufnahme der Entwicklung des Förderkonzeptes – Geführte Versturztechnik – Mitte der 1990er Jahre haben sich die Kosten für Rohöl vor Steuern nach dem Tiefstand um das Jahr 1998 bis heute mehr als verdreifacht, alleine seit 2004 mehr als verdoppelt. Gesetzliche Regelwerke wie die europäische IVU-Richtlinie 96/61/EG zur „integrierten Vermeidung und Verminderung der Umweltverschmutzung“ fordern, Genehmigungen nur noch bei Einsatz der besten verfügbaren Techniken (BVT oder BAT: „best available techniques“) zu erteilen. Die Umsetzung in nationale Vorschriften wie das Bundes-Immissionsschutzgesetz und nachgeordnete Regelwerke fordern hierauf aufbauend, dass Umweltbelastungen nicht in andere Medien verlagert werden dürfen. Die Anordnung einer Versturzrinne zur Nutzung von Massenschwerebewegungen am Beispiel von Quarzitabbau im Rheinischen Schiefergebirge bei denen die Förderbezugsebene unterhalb der Strossen liegt, die zur sichern und selektiven Gewinnung des Rohstoffs aufgefahren werden müssen, erfüllt durch Rückgriff auf ein vermeintlich „archaisches“ Förderkonzept durch Nutzung der Schwerkraft die obigen Anforderungen. Offenkundige Umweltbelastungen, die alleine durch die Verbrennung von Dieselkraftstoff und hieraus resultierender Schadstoff- und Wärmeeinträge in die Luft beim verbreiteten Einsatz von SLKW zur Abwärtsförderung entstehen, können erheblich vermindert werden. Der Aspekt der Betriebssicherheit einer solchen Anordnung kann durch Auffahren eines geradlinigen Bauwerks mit an das Fördergut angepassten Dimensionen sowie Einrichtungen zur Beschränkung der kinetischen Energie erreicht werden. Diese stellen auch gleichzeitig sicher, dass die Zerkleinerung des durch die Versturzrinne abwärts transportierten Materials betrieblich zulässige Grenzen nicht überschreitet. Hierfür kann auf das umfangreiche Wissen zu Massenschwerebewegungen Rückgriff genommen werden. Dem Aspekt des Umweltschutzes, der sich in Bezug auf das Medium Luft auf den autochtonen Staub reduziert, kann durch Vorrichtungen zur Staubniederschlagung Rechnung getragen werden. Vertiefende Untersuchungen sind erforderlich, um die mit komplexen, aber erprobten Techniken arbeitende Tagebauindustrie auch in dicht besiedelten Regionen wieder an die Nutzung von Schwerkraft (-gestützten) Fördertechniken heranzuführen. Auch das Konzept – Geführte Versturztechnik – ist auf konkrete Anwendungsfälle hin in Details anzupassen.

Estrategias para el diseño de un sistema de gestión ambiental en una bodega : (Mendoza, Argentina)

En los últimos tiempos se ha fomentado, a través de distintas normas, la protección del medio ambiente como parte integrante de las diferentes actividades y políticas tanto del sector público como privado, con el propósito de lograr un desarrollo equilibrado y sostenible, compatible con el actual modelo económico. En función de ello, en una bodega emplazada en Maipú (Mendoza, Argentina) se realizó un diagnóstico (Revisión Inicial Ambiental - RIA) para conocer la situación actual del establecimiento con respecto a su relación con el medio ambiente. Una vez recabada la información y concluido el diagnóstico, se planteó un plan de medidas de gestión ambiental. Dichas medidas, que incorporaron los nuevos conceptos de producción limpia, ecoeficiencia y buenas prácticas ambientales, fueron documentadas a través de registros y permitieron conocer el desempeño ambiental a partir de los indicadores propuestos para cada uno de los Puntos Críticos ambientales (PCA). La propuesta inicial del presente trabajo fue lograr que la implementación de las medidas de acción, junto con los registros e indicadores de desempeño ambiental, sirvieran de soporte decisorio y brindaran los lineamientos básicos para diseñar un Sistema de Gestión Ambiental (SGA) que, junto con las Auditorías Ambientales (AA), formaran parte de la propuesta final.

Sistema de gestión de residuos de construcción y demolición en obras de edificación residencial. Buenas prácticas en la ejecución de obra

En el sector de la edificación, las grandes constructoras comienzan a considerar aspectos medioambientales, no limitándose a lo establecido por la legislación vigente, y buscando la implementación de buenas prácticas. Si bien este hecho es una realidad para las grandes empresas constructoras, todavía falta que la gran mayoría de las empresas del sector (pequeñas y medianas) adopten ésta tendencia. En este sentido, las publicaciones y estadísticas consultadas revelan que el sector de la construcción sigue siendo el sector con menor número de Sistemas de Gestión Ambiental (SGA) certificados en comparación con otros sectores industriales, debido principalmente a las peculiaridades de su actividad. Por otra parte, el sector de la construcción genera grandes cantidades de residuos de construcción y demolición (RCD). Aunque, en los últimos años la actividad de la construcción ha disminuido, debido a la crisis económica del país, no hay que olvidar todos los problemas causados por este tipo de residuos, o mejor dicho, por su gestión. La gestión de los RCD actual está lejos de alcanzar la meta propuesta en la Directiva Marco de Residuos (DMR), la cual exige un objetivo global para el año 2020 en el que el 70% de todos los RCD generados deberán ser reciclados en los países de la UE. Pero, la realidad es que sólo el 50% de la RCD generados en la Unión Europea se recicla. Por este motivo, en los últimos años se ha producido una completa modificación del régimen jurídico aplicable a los RCD, incorporando importantes novedades a nuestro ordenamiento interno como son: la redacción de un Estudio de gestión de RCD (en fase de diseño) y un Plan de gestión de RCD (en fase de ejecución). Entre estas medidas destaca el poder conocer, con la antelación suficiente, la cantidad y el momento en que los RCD son generados, para así poder planificar la gestión más adecuada para cada categoría de RCD. Es por ello que el desarrollo de cualquier instrumento que determine la estimación de RCD así como iniciativas para su control debe ser considerado como una herramienta para dar respuestas reales en el campo de la sostenibilidad en la edificación. Por todo lo anterior, el principal objetivo de la Tesis Doctoral es mejorar la gestión actual de los RCD, a través de la elaboración e implementación en obra de un Sistema de gestión de RCD en fase de ejecución que podrá ser incluido en el Sistema de Gestión Ambiental de las empresas constructoras. Para ello, se ha identificado la actividad que más residuo genera, así como las diferentes categorías de RCD generadas durante su ejecución, a través del análisis de nueve obras de edificación de nueva planta. Posteriormente, se han determinado y evaluado, en función de su eficacia y viabilidad, veinte buenas prácticas encaminadas a reducir la generación de RCD. También, se han identificado y evaluado, en función de su coste económico, cinco alternativas de gestión para cada categoría de RCD generada. Por último, se ha desarrollado e implementado un Sistema de Gestión de RCD en una empresa de construcción real. En definitiva, el Sistema de Gestión de RCD propuesto contiene una herramienta de estimación de RCD y también proporciona una relación de buenas prácticas, según su viabilidad y eficacia, sobre los aspectos más significativos en cuanto a la gestión de RCD se refiere. El uso de este Sistema de gestión de RCD ayudará a los técnicos de la construcción en el desarrollo de los documentos "Estudio de gestión de RCD " y "Plan de gestión de RCD " - requeridos por ley -. Además, el Sistema promueve la gestión ambiental de la empresa, favoreciendo la cohesión del proceso constructivo, estableciendo responsabilidades en el ámbito de RCD y proporcionando un mayor control sobre el proceso. En conclusión, la implementación de un sistema de gestión de RCD en obra ayuda a conseguir una actividad de edificación, cuyo principal objetivo sea la generación de residuos cero. ABSTRACT Currently, in the building sector, the main construction companies are considering environmental issues, not being limited to the current legislation, and seeking the implementation of good practices. While this fact is a reality for large construction companies, still the vast majority of construction companies (small and medium enterprises) need to accept this trend. In this sense, official publications and statistics reveal that the construction sector remains with the lowest number of certified Environmental Management Systems (EMS) compared to other industrial sectors, mainly due to the peculiarities of its activity. Moreover, the construction industry in Spain generates large volumes of construction and demolition waste (CDW) achieving a low recycling rate compared to other European Union countries and to the target set for 2020. Despite the complete change in the legal regime for CDW in Spain, there are still several difficulties for their application at the construction works. Among these difficulties the following can be highlighted: onsite segregation, estimating CDW generation and managing different CDW categories. Despite these difficulties, the proper CDW management must be one of the main aspects considered by construction companies in the EMS. However, at present the EMS used in construction companies consider very superficially CDW management issues. Therefore, current EMS should go a step further and include not only procedures for managing CDW globally, but also specific procedures for each CDW category, taking into account best practices for prevention, minimization and proper CDW management in order to achieve building construction works with zero waste generation. The few scientific studies analysing EMS implementation in construction enterprises focus on studying the benefits and barriers of their implementation. Despite the drawbacks found, implementing an EMS would bring benefits such as improving the corporate image in relation to the environment, ensuring compliance with the law or reducing environmental risks. Also, the international scientific community has shown great interest in defining models to estimate in advance the CDW that will be generated during the building construction or rehabilitation works. These studies analyse the overall waste generation and its different CDW categories. However, despite the many studies found on CDW quantification, analysing its evolution throughout the construction activities is a factor that must be further studied and discussed in greater depth, as results would be of great significance when planning the CDW management. According to the scientific studies analysing the implementation of good environmental practices in construction sites, it seems that, in general, the CDW collection system is done in a decentralized manner by each subcontracted company. In addition, the corporate image generated when poor practices are done may adversely affect the company's reputation and can result in loss of contracts. Finally, although there are numerous guides and manuals of good practices for CDW management, no references have been found implementing these measures in the Environmental Management System of the construction companies. From all the above, this thesis aims to provide answers to reduce the environmental impact caused by CDW generation in building construction works, in order to get a building process with zero waste generation. In this sense, is essential to generate new knowledge in order to implement a system which can carry out comprehensive management of CDW generated onsite, at the design stage until the end of its life cycle, taking into account both technical and economic criteria. Therefore, the main objective of this thesis is to define and implement a CDW management system for residential building construction works, helping construction agents not only to manage the CDW in accordance with current legislation, but also minimizing their generation on site by applying best practices, resulting in achieving the goal of zero waste in building works.