Abandon the toxic treadmill!
We need tough laws to punish polluters, regulate the chemical industry and force companies to take responsibility for the products they produce. But here are some things you can do as an individual.
1 Don’t buy plastics with bisphenol A (plastic code 7)
they may leach chemicals into your food and beverages.
2 Avoid PVC/vinyl (plastic code 3)
it contains gender-bending phthalates and is poisonous from production to disposal.
3 Clean your indoor air
allow ventilation; dust and vacuum regularly; don’t store paints, solvents or varnishes in your home.
4 Eat organic
organic food helps avoid cancer-causing chemicals and other health problems.
5 Choose health and beauty products carefully
for a list of harmful chemicals see the Environmental Working Group’s ‘Skin Deep’ database at www.cosmeticsdatabase.com
6 Choose a chemical-free lawn
detoxify your garden!
7 Say ‘no’ to non-stick and stain repellents
they can disrupt hormones and cause cancer.
8 Get rid of DEET insect repellent
bug spray can harm more than just the mosquitoes.
9 Forget toxic cleaning products
they may contain suspected carcinogens and other irritants.
10 Avoid flame retardants (PBDEs)
before you buy, do the research; check with a local environmental group.
Adapted from Environmental Defence, ‘Top 10 ways to detoxify’, www.toxicnation.ca
Campaign/Action/Information
Aamjiwnaang First Nation
Chippewas of Sarnia
www.aamjiwnaang.ca
Occupational Health and Safety Clinic for Ontario
www.ohcow.on.ca
Endocrine disruptors and toxics
Our Stolen Future
www.ourstolenfuture.org
Environmental Health News
www.environmentalhealthnews.org
Environmental Defence (Canada)
www.environmentaldefence.ca
Commonweal
www.commonweal.org
Environmental Working Group
www.ewg.org
World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)
www.wwf.org
Center for Health, Environment and Justice
www.chej.org
Earth Resource Foundation
www.earthresource.org
Ecojustice
www.ecojustice.ca
Pesticides Action Network
www.pan-uk.org
Bottled water
Polaris Institute
www.polarisinstitute.org
Pacific Institute
www.pacinst.org
Sustain UK
www.sustainweb.org
Food and Water Watch
www.foodandwaterwatch.org
E-waste and digital dumping
The Basel Action Network,
www.ban.org
Greenpeace International
www.greenpeace.org/international
Plastic land and sea
Algalita Marine Research Foundation
www.algalita.org
A very cool slideshow on plastic bags
http://tinyurl.com/6ghx85
Films and videos
Toxic Trespass, NFB film by Barri Cohen with a focus on Sarnia, Ontario.
http://tinyurl.com/5anhy2
The Beloved Community, a 2006 film about the Aamjiwnaang community by Pamela Calvert.
http://tinyurl.com/5lv5k8
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