Environmental health has biologic, chemical, physical and sociological components, including the immediate and future conditions in which people live. In colonial America, little attention was paid to community hygiene and sanitation, and there was almost a complete lack of community organisation for better health services. During this time, epidemics of cholera, smallpox and dysentery continually occurred. Although such epidemics were attributed to environmental health hazards such as overcrowding, inadequate housing and impure water, little was done to improve these conditions. Early attempts to ensure environmental health included a law in 1610 that prohibited the throwing out of water from dirty clothes into the street, and required people to do the necessities of nature outside the town. Those who violated the law were often subjected to strict penalties. Such measures were more concerned with the aesthetics of the environment than with related health consequences, and environmental practices were frequently directed at keeping the environment attractive.