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Thursday, August 07, 2008
Posted by Healthy Child
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Our friends at CHEJ have just published a great guide to help you send your kids off to school PVC-free! The guide lists the most common back-to-school supplies made out of polyvinyl chloride (PVC or vinyl) plastic and safer PVC-free alternatives.
Why Shop for PVC-Free School Supplies?
Children’s school supplies, such as lunchboxes, backpacks and binders, are often made out of PVC – a plastic that is dangerous to our health and the environment. The production of PVC involves the use of cancer-causing chemicals that contaminate the air and water of surrounding communities. When PVC is manufactured or burned, numerous dioxins are formed and released, a highly toxic group of chemicals that can cause cancer, harm the immune and reproductive systems. Our bodies are contaminated with these and other chemicals released during the PVC lifecycle. This may pose irreversible life-long health threats.
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Wednesday, August 06, 2008
Posted by Healthy Child
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The American Business Awards, nicknamed The Stevie Awards, are lovingly known as “the Oscars of the business world”. They were created to honor and generate public recognition of the achievements and positive contributions of organizations worldwide. This year, the first ever Best Corporate Environmental Responsibility Program was awarded to Shaklee Corporation.
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Tuesday, August 05, 2008
Posted by Janelle Sorensen
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In my wanderings through the blogosphere today I stumbled across an amazing new collaborative effort launched at Organic Mania - a Green Moms Carnival. This isn’t the kind of carnival where you go on rides and spend too much money on edibles that barely qualify as food. It is, in fact, a cyber carnival of blogs.
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We are hopeful that last week’s sweeping Congressional vote to enact a federal ban against 6 phthalates in children’s toys is a promising first step toward tougher national standards for other chemicals used in consumer products. Thus far, chemicals are innocent until proven guilty, and there is no labeling system that lets consumers know if phthalates are present in products. This new legislation could potentially end the government’s regulation negligence and make our consumer marketplace safe.
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Monday, August 04, 2008
Posted by Christopher Gavigan
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The final day of July 2008 may go down in history as the moment the tides of democracy shifted away from corporate cronyism and back to the people. Even if it's only in my history book, it's a significant occasion nonetheless. A safe toys bill banning six suspect chemical phthalates was overwhelmingly passed by both the House and Senate. House vote: 424 to 1. Senate vote: 89 to 3. It is indeed momentous to have such bipartisan support for something so heavily lobbied against by some of the strongest corporations and corporate alliances around today.
Despite Exxon's intense lobbying and fierce resistent, (since they are the primary manufacturer of the main phthalate used in children's toys) the ban will go into law as soon as GW puts his John Hancock on the bill. It is a chemical that has been shown to disrupt hormone and reproductive systems causing early puberty among other things, and it has already been banned in the EU, fourteen other countries, and states such as California, Washington, and Vermont. How much does Exxon stand to lose? I don't know, but I'm sure it'll be a drop in the bucket compared to their profits from last year, which amounted to $40 billion -- more than any other US company.
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Friday, August 01, 2008
Posted by Janelle Sorensen
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The biggest news this week is that the Safe Toy bill passed overwhelmingly in Congress! Hopefully, similar changes are in store regarding chemicals in food packaging, children’s fluoride exposure, BPA in bottles and cans, and children’s exposure to cell phone radiation – the topics of our other headlines this week.
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The Safe Toy bill banning six phthalates passed in the Senate last night. The final tally: the House voted 424 to 1 and the Senate voted 89 to 3 to pass this historic piece of legislation. Not only does it set a precedent to act with precaution about chemicals children are exposed to in toys, this sweeping overhaul of the Consumer Product Safety Commission also:
- Virtually eliminates lead from products for children 12 and under (the toughest standards in the world);
- Doubles the agencies budget by 2014 and gives it more authority to oversee testing and enforce penalties on companies that violate safety compliance;
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