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CHEJ’S 2008 Accomplishments
2008 was an exciting year for CHEJ! Here are the highlights of our accomplishments, all of which were made possible by the support of people like you.
Love Canal Anniversary
This past August, CHEJ revisited the Love Canal neighborhood of Niagara Falls, New York to commemorate the 30th Anniversary of the environmental crisis that erupted there in 1978. Through local events and coverage in dozens of media outlets, we highlighted this milestone in our nation’s history and urged people to do all they can to prevent harm from environmental threats before they happen. Now that the children who lived through Love Canal are adults with their own families, the baton is being passed to them to carry on the message that you CAN succeed when you’re up against corporate interests and city hall. CHEJ’s Executive Director, Lois Gibbs, then traveled to Albany to deliver a poster signed by dozens of former Love Canal residents to New York’s Governor. The poster asked him to notify every former Love Canal resident of their elevated risk of cancer and multiple reproductive problems, including birth defects. He agreed, and the Deptartment of Health's new Director of the Center for Environmental Health has since sent out the letter, by certified mail, to all former Love Canal residents informing them of the results of New York State’s new Love Canal health study.
BE SAFE Initiative
Our BE SAFE Campaign supports the movement to prevent harm by advocating a precautionary approach to environmental decision making at all levels of government. In 2008, working in coalition with the environmental, health, community and labor groups in New York’s Alliance for a Toxic-Free Future, BE SAFE succeeded in establishing a New York State Green Purchasing Policy. The new policy ensures that state agencies are using their purchasing power of $9 billion to purchase environmentally-friendly products, reduce the environmental impacts of the state’s operations, create markets for sustainable technologies, reduce disposal costs, and create jobs in environmentally preferable goods. CHEJ’s BE SAFE Coordinator has been appointed to the Governor’s Green Procurement Advisory Council which oversees the policy’s implementation. In this capacity, we will press for improvements, including a list of priority chemicals to be targeted for phase out, and specific quantifiable goals for waste reduction.
PVC Campaign
PVC, also known as vinyl, is the worst plastic for our health and environment, releasing dangerous chemicals that can cause cancer, from their manufacture to their disposal. This year, we have built on our 2007 Target consumer campaign, which combined shareholder actions, online petitions, days of action, consumer product testing and consumer guides to successfully convince the mega-retailer Target to systematically reduce PVC, the “poison plastic,” in their products and packaging. Within a month of the Target announcement last winter, Sears Holdings also finalized and adopted a PVC phase out policy, another major victory for the campaign. Throughout 2008, we have heard from more and more retailers and manufacturers who are making PVC-free products and going PVC-free. We have shifted literally billions of dollars in market power away from PVC in favor of safer alternatives. The list of companies we have swayed includes Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, Crabtree & Evelyn, Target Corporation, Sears Holding, Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Toys R Us, Bed, Bath & Beyond, J.C. Penney’s, Macy’s, and Circuit City. This “domino effect” has been a wonderful validation of our market campaign strategies.
Ohio Environmental Justice Program
In the state of Ohio, CHEJ empowered people of color and low-income and working class communities threatened by exposure to toxic pollutants to define the elements of a statewide environmental justice policy. The proposed legislation will ensure meaningful citizen participation and fair treatment of families in communities with adverse environmental impacts. We have found a sponsor for the legislation in the State House of Representatives who will introduce the bill early in 2009, and are currently lining up cosponsors for a parallel bill in the State Senate. A strategy committee has formed to define and coordinate a grassroots advocacy strategy. In the meantime, the Federal Environmental Protection Agency has agreed to provide $160,000 to Ohio EPA for grants that build communities’ capacity to address environmental justice issues. At the same time, CHEJ has been partnering with the Ohio Conference of the NAACP to train its leaders on how to btring people together to participate in the permitting process around the proposed siting of new polluting facilities.
Child Proofing Our Communities Campaign
2008 also saw the conclusion of the second year of our pilot partnership between Green Flag Schools and GreenFaith, an interfaith coalition for the environment, in reaching out to faith-based schools in New Jersey. CHEJ enabled nine schools of diverse religious traditions to significantly ‘green’ their operations through the efforts of Green Flag teams of students and teachers. The schools focused on greening in 5 areas: Integrated Pest Management, Recycling, Indoor Air Quality, Non-toxic products, and energy conservation. Students ranging in age from 4 to 17 took part in the Program through recycling poster contests, environmental clubs, plays and science fair projects. The Program received extensive state and national publicity, including a feature on the Sundance Channel’s ‘Big Ideas for a Small Planet’, CBS News, and the National Catholic Education Association Newsletter.
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