Monthly Archives: February 2012

We are your David in a world of Goliaths!

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A recent report* published in the national news has bad news for the viability of grassroots environmental groups. The study showed that large national NGOs get far and away the biggest funding for environmental causes, and yet it is the small grassroots groups that carry out the most effective and lasting change! The study reminded me of many examples from history: from women’s suffrage to the Arab Spring. Grassroots groups like Beyond Toxics get an itty-bitty, tiny share of the donations that fund environmental protection, yet it is smaller groups that carry out the lion’s share of the work to make significant changes in the quality of life we’re all striving for.

Feisty. Tenacious. Grassroots. We are your David in a world of Goliaths!

These are words our members have used to describe us. I offer proof that we are living up to that reputation! In the span of just 9 days, Beyond Toxics has made its mark in towns across the state: in Portland, Salem, Triangle Lake, Selma and Eugene!

  • On February 6, we met with Lane County Health officials to discuss a ban on children’s products laced with BPA along with our local partner Lane Coalition for Healthy Active Youth.
  • On February 8, I was interviewed on Jefferson Public Radio, reaching thousands of people about pesticides and rampant chemical trespass.
  • On February 10, staff member Alison Guzman and I gave a report to a room full of health care professionals at the 4th Annual NW Environmental Health Conference at Portland State University. We spoke about children’s health and environmental justice in West Eugene and the toxics in their air that contributes to asthma. This is exactly the kind of topic that doctors and nurses need to hear about.
  • On February 11, Beyond Toxics co-sponsored two large and energetic rallies to protest the chemical trespass that comes from aerial pesticide spraying of forests in Josephine County and Lane County.
  • Four days later on February 15, I testified in front of the Oregon Transportation Commission on the results of our Highway Spray report, Environmental Impact Quotients of Highway Spray. My testimony, highlighting the dousing of our highways in pesticides, was a key part of the message of the Pesticide Panel, a panel we advocated to convene.

This means your support has guaranteed our hard-won victories.

L to R: Lisa Arkin, John Jordan-Cascade, Alison Guzman

What will we do next to continue to demonstrate to you, our supporters, that we are keeping our promise to be all the things you admire about us: feisty, tenacious and grassroots-based?

1. We are linking up with others to stop coal trains from rumbling through Eugene and the Willamette Valley. These mile-long trains, if allowed to pass through our communities, will pollute a pound of “black lung” coal dust, per car, per mile!

2. We are mapping how air toxics hot spots harms the families who live in impacted neighborhoods with an incredible ARC GIS project. We’ll shine a light on the problem of cumulative air pollution exposures.

3. We are planning a protest on the State Capitol steps to draw the Governor’s attention to the issue of aerial pesticide spray drift.

So, the bottom line is simple: never underestimate the power of the small, local, grassroots group! When it comes to change, think small. It’s the best investment you can make.

*The report, “Cultivating the Grassroots: A Winning Approach for Environment and Climate Funders,” is at www.ncrp.org.

Asthma Awareness Workshop – This Friday!

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What’s in the air we breathe, both indoors and outdoors?

Join us: Friday, February 24th, 2012!

Beyond Toxics and Centro LatinoAmericano present a FREE Bilingual Workshop on controlling asthma and green cleaning alternatives for a healthier life!

Come and learn what you can do to make your home healthy for you and your family!
Tips on:

  • Green Cleaning,
  • Controlling asthma and allergies
  • General good health practices

WHEN: Friday, February 24th / 4:30 – 6:00pm

WHERE:
American Red Cross
862 Bethel Drive, Eugene, OR 9740

For more information, please contact:
Roxanne or Alison at Beyond Toxics: 541.465.8860 or at Centro: 541.687.266

Every participant will receive a FREE Eco-Cleaning kit, sponsored by Coastwide Laboratories.

Tribal Elders and Rally Speakers To Our Dr. Governor – Protect Us from Pesticide Drift!

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A nearby neighbor who has a house on the shores of Triangle Lake heard the loudspeaker from the Chemical Witness Rally, and wandered over to see what was going on. What she found was an open microphone at the lakeshore park, a place and time for people to speak to their personal experience about being harmed by pesticides. She said she knew nothing about the growing movement to stop aerial pesticide sprays on the forestlands of her own community, nevertheless she stepped up to the microphone.

What this neighbor said was poignant. To paraphrase: At some point in my life, I became highly sensitive to scents, chemicals, and many common air pollutants. My employer had to create a “bubble-like” environment for me, just so that I could function at work. It is torture to live with these severe reactions to chemicals. I can really appreciate and support what you folks are talking about today. Exposures like this make so many people ill.

The energy of water and sun sparkled down on the twin-planned events at Triangle Lake and Lake Selmac. Over 140 people gathered from many different communities to give witness to an unacceptable situation – pesticides sprayed from helicopters all over Oregon’s beautiful coastal mountain range. Vapors get carried onto private property by wind currents, fog and droplet drift. Rural communities want protection from the state government.

Three national news stories recently did large stories on the problem of pesticide drift in Oregon from forestry pesticide sprays. See these articles and interviews PRWatch.org MSNBC Jefferson Public Radio

I was deeply moved by the heartfelt testimony. To frame the notion of chemical witnessing, both rallies started with an invocation from two prominent tribal elders – Grandma Agnes Pilgrim, one of the original Takilma elders of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz, and Esther Stutzman, a highly regarded Kalapuya and Coos Elder. The two women represented tribes who have fished, hunted, gathered and sustained their traditions through their long-standing and profoundly deep connection with the land. Esther Stutzman reminded us that the members of her tribe have seen the harm caused by pesticides to the native salmon. She told how native women can no longer gather plants and materials from the land to make baskets because of the poisons. Esther spoke strongly: this is the right time to bring our shared concerns to action, to stop the poisoning of the land and the people.

Audrey Moore, the leader of Precious Dirt in Selma, reflected on the electrifying gathering on the shores of Lake Selmac: “So many willing and wanting to share their stories, each unique and yet the same, all knowing this insanity must end, and that we now demand our Human Rights. We expect as much from our Governor, and our State.”