Search

As the summer kicked off in June and many went on vacation, the Joint Committee on Public Health was hard at work setting up hearings and listening to testimony. This legislative session has started with a lot of hope for the Children and Firefighters Protection Act; it passed the Senate unanimously last session and Clean Water Action and allies are determined to see it pass both the Senate and the House this time around.

The Children and Firefighters Protection Acts were heard by the Public Health Committee early on in the committee’s 8 month stretch of scheduled hearings. On June 6 th the

I recently had the privilege of speaking to the Savvy Women’s Alliance a great group of women focused on non-toxic living. They asked me to focus on an unusual (for me) topic: “What is an activist? How do I become one?” Such good questions! In case you’re wondering too, here’s what I told them:

When you think of an activist you might conjure up images of people hanging banners, chaining themselves to trees or living in tents as part of Occupy. All of these are activism, but lots of activists have never done any of these things. To me, activism means using your influence to change something

I’ve always been concerned about toxic chemicals in products and tried as much as possible to stay away from things that I know are likely to have harmful chemicals in them—like canned food, cleaners, and personal care products. I’ve also taught my 3 children to choose safer alternatives when they can. So it’s infuriating to learn that large retailers, like Albertsons and their subsidiary Shaw’s, have not worked more aggressively with suppliers to get safer products on their store shelves.

That’s why I joined the Coalition for a Safe and Healthy CT and Clean Water Action in a day of action at