I’m finally back in the swing of things and there’s a lot of breaking green news to report. Some stories seem bigger than others, but whether baby steps or giant leaps they’re all steps in the right direction.
Procter & Gamble is Removing Triclosan and Phthalates from All of Their Products!
In January, we received the fantastic news that Procter & Gamble listened to consumers (all 78,000 people who signed my petition!) and agreed to reformulate its detergents to reduce levels of a cancer causing chemical.
Now, Procter & Gamble has announced that it’s removing triclosan (linked to hormone disruption & increased risk of breast cancer) and dibutyl phthalate (linked to reproductive & developmental harm) from all of its products worldwide! BIG thank you to Women’s Voices for the Earth (WVE) for leading the charge on this issue. I couldn’t agree more with WVE: “When we raise our voices to demand toxic-free products, even the corporate giants of the world listen.”
Walmart Takes a Big Step in the Right Direction
Walmart is taking consumer pressure seriously and announced that it will try to get its suppliers to disclose and eventually phase out 10 potentially toxic chemicals. Stay tuned, more discussion on this to come early next week.
Tell Target to Clean Up It’s Beauty Aisle
Remember when I went into Walgreens and asked them to take steps to remove toxic chemicals from the products they sell? Well now we’re asking Target to Mind the Store. I know there are plenty of you shop at Target for many of your personal care products. Wouldn’t it be nice to know that the items sold in the Target beauty aisle were safe, non-toxic products. My friend Cindy Luppi went to the Target store in Revere, MA, and talked with a supervisor about cosmetics safety. Go Cindy! You can join Cindy and be a safe cosmetics superstar by going to your nearest Target store and asking them to screen the worst chemicals out of the products they sell. Get the comment card and all the resources you need HERE.
Groovy Green News
Thank you to the David Suzuki Foundation and the Queen of Green for interviewing me for their Better Back to School Brigade. I’m honored to be included. You can find the interview HERE and more information about the Brigade HERE.
As summer turns to fall and many of us head into the orchards to pick bags of apples keep these simple tips in mind to help green your apple picking.
Cruisin’ in the Chevy Volt
Unfortunately my Chevy Volt had to go back after a week of testing it out for Chevy. I’m shocked at how much I liked it- especially given that it was a 4 seater and we have 5 to seat. Driving an electric vehicle was eye opening. If you want to see some photos of the car along with my thoughts check out my Instagram feed.
Any green news to report from your week?
photo credit: ingirogiro via photopin cc
Thanks for sharing this news. You’d be surprised how well organized and far reaching Walmart’s green and corporate sustainability initiatives are. You can find out a lot more by visiting their website.
I am so proud of WVE’s efforts and so glad that collective action on the part of consumers paid off. With so many of us making our own cleaning products, laundry detergents and more in our kitchens, they need to do something or they will feel the wrath of the conscious consumer on their bottom line.
Check out the BigGreenPurse’s green consumer power initiatives as well.
Deborah Davis recently posted..Is Sitting At Your Computer All Day Killing Your Health? 12 Easy Ways to Fit in Fitness
Thanks for this encouraging roundup (and your part in it, good for you!), it’s always good to hear good news!
I recently blogged about the problems of microbeads in our body wash and other personal care products – they’re made from polyethelyne and are too small to be filtered out by water treatment plants so are causing problems. Johnson & Johnson as well as Procter & Gamble have agreed to start removing microbeads from their products.
(Now we’ve just got to hope that the replacement products won’t also be harmful, in ways we haven’t thought of yet).
Thanks again for the good news!
Clare @ EcoFriendlyLink.com recently posted..Eco Goats (Chemical Free)
Let me congratulate you on your achievement on removal of toxic chemical by Walmart products which you have been campaigning against. Congrats.
James osborne recently posted..How To Have Perfect Skin: 5 Top Foods Good For Skin
That’s huge news about Proctor & Gamble — great that they’re doing it, but also great because it will continue to raise public awareness about the chemicals that many people use on a daily basis and take for granted that they’re safe.
Also interesting that Walmart gets slammed for so many things, and I wonder how many people are aware of the good steps they’re taking. It will be interesting to see if, many years from now, we’re GLAD they took retail over from so many local shops and gave consumers a voice specifically because they have so much pull.
Steve recently posted..Infant Recovering from Toxic Laundry Detergent Pod