If Our Government Won’t Regulate Toxic Chemicals, It Is Up to Consumer Behavior and Retailers to Drive Change
New Report Reveals Top Retailers Making Major Chemical Safety Advances
A new report released this week by Oregon Environmental Council’s partner Safer Chemicals Healthy Families reveals that many of our nation’s top retailers are voluntarily embracing safer chemical policies to help protect consumers from hazardous chemicals in products.
The fourth annual Who’s Minding the Store? A Report Card on Retailer Actions to Eliminate Toxic Chemicals evaluated and graded the chemical policies and practices of 43 retail chains ranging from Starbucks to Lowes, with more ...
Non-Toxic Lice Treatments
By Tillia Griffin
One day your kids come home from school with dreaded, unwelcome new friends—head lice. For many years we have dealt with lice by using a variety of pharmacological products containing Permethrin or Pediculicides, which kill live lice and their eggs (1). But due to changes in lice populations and a general push towards greener, non-toxic products, many people are in search of alternative treatments.
Researchers studied head lice populations in 30 states throughout the country and found that lice in many places (including Oregon and Washingt...
Tell McDonald’s: Time to Take off the Toxic Gloves
With great market power comes great responsibility for customers' health.
This summer Oregon Environmental Council helped gather samples for a research report that finds that some vinyl, or PVC, food service gloves contain toxic chemicals called phthalates (THAL-eights) that can leach into food—and some gloves from McDonald’s tested positive for these harmful chemicals.
We’re joining with our partner groups across the nation in calling on McDonald’s, the top restaurant in the U.S., to be a market leader and switch away from using PVC gloves—the only way to ...
A Modern Take on Trick or Treating
Guest post by blogger Tillia Griffin
Halloween has come again, bringing with it ghosts, goblins, superheroes, and of course, candy! Unfortunately, that also means buckets and pillowcases full of plastic. There’s nothing sweeter than grabbing a handful of Snickers, Reeses Cups, and my favorite, Twix. But after all the chocolate, caramel and nougat are gone, you’re left with piles of plastic wrappers that will inevitably end up in a landfill.
To protect the environment many of us are changing the ways we buy, eat and live, extending to the ways we celebrate ...
Transportation Transformation: The Writing Is On The Wall
Greenhouse gas emissions aren’t something you can easily feel or smell or see in your daily life. It’s hard for us to get a sense of what the volume is, and whether it’s going up or down. That’s why it’s so important to track the measurements to see what’s working and what isn’t working
On September 18, the City of Portland released a report on greenhouse gas emissions in Multnomah County from 1990 to 2017. This report tells us that some things are working, though not quickly enough, and some things are working much worse than others.
Here’s the good ...
Tips for minimizing indoor air pollution in your home!
When you think of air pollution, you probably envision car exhaust, industrial smoke pipes, wildfire smoke, and city smog. These are all major contributors to outdoor air pollution, but what most people don’t realize is that air quality is often worse indoors than it is outdoors!
Toxic pollution from outdoor air can build up inside the home, and there are several common sources of indoor air pollution that exist within the average household as well. Mold, mildew, dust, dirt, toxic cleaning supplies, paints, toaster ovens, air fresheners, and wood-burning stoves can ...
