Dear Friends,
Tomorrow night, June 2nd, CNN is airing part one of a two-night special, “Toxic America”, with Dr. Sanjay Gupta at 8 PM. This special investigation highlights Mossville, Louisiana, which is home to more PVC chemical plants than anywhere else in the country.
Below is an excerpt from my book discussing PVC and sample letter you can adapt to send to PVC producers, stores who sell products containing PVC or the PVC industry’s lobby group in Washington, DC. You can also learn more about PVC and get more ideas for taking action from the Center for Health, Environment & Justice’s campaign, PVC: The Poison Plastic.
“Even with the best of intentions, I find that PVC (polyvinyl chloride) plastic still sneaks its way into my house occasionally. Whether it is in kids’ toys received as gifts from well-meaning relatives to that horrible child-sized Barbie pink raincoat that was left at our home to products in which I didn’t recognize the PVC until I opened the package and smelled that telltale smell, there it is. Sometimes PVC is in the product and sometimes it is the packaging. The problem with PVC is that once we have it, we’re stuck. We can’t give it to a thrift store, where someone who may be unaware of its hazards would bring it home, potentially exposing her family. We can’t throw it away, since PVC releases toxics when landfilled or, worse, incinerated. So what to do? I stick this junk in an envelope or box and send it back to the retailer, the producer, or, in cases in which I can’t identify either, the Vinyl Institute, which is the PVC industry’s lobby group in Washington, D.C., along with an explanation and a request to stop selling, making, and advocating for the poison plastic. If I am returning a product I purchased, I always ask for a refund and donate the money to an organization working to ban PVC. If you want more information on identifying PVC in consumer products and joining campaigns to get rid of this poison plastic, please visit www.besafenet.com/pvc.
Here’s a letter that you’re welcome to adapt for your own use. Share it with friends. Perhaps if stores get enough of this back in the mail, they’ll join the many retailers and producers who have agreed to stop using and selling PVC.”
Click HERE for the PVC sample letter that you can send along.
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June 1st, 2010 at 8:49 pm
I was not aware of this show. I will definitely watch it. Thanks for informing everyone.
June 3rd, 2010 at 8:07 pm
I was concserned because my grandson has asthma.
The off gas from being in a “new” home with all the smells coming off the “new” furniture…bringing home a newborn into this environmemt is so toxic…I wish the pediatricians would educate themselves on these matters and pass this information to all new parents! They just don’t know! I’ve been teaching for 28 years, and I see more learning disabilities than ever before! Thanks for airing this special.
June 7th, 2010 at 10:29 am
I will be sure to check this out. Also, your Story of Bottled Water inspired me to organize a public eco-art show involving many people from the Washington Heights/Inwood community in NYC. The centerpiece happens to be an enormous plasti Fiji water bottle display piece that the local grocery store tossed “away” on the street….. so gross. The show is called, The Landscape of NO Away”. It’s an ongoing project that I’m blogging about ( mostly photos, some text. mdelgphoto.com and click on blog. Annie, you inspire me!
June 21st, 2010 at 3:53 pm
tudo bem isso é tenso mais,”The Story of stuff” ainda é a melhor cara.
ABRAÇO
July 21st, 2010 at 7:41 pm
[...] — Follow Annie Leonard’s advice to pack these up and mail them back to the manufacturer with a letter explaining why I want them to stop selling, making, and advocating for this [...]
July 26th, 2010 at 9:23 am
[...] — Follow Annie Leonard’s advice to pack these up and mail them back to the manufacturer with a letter explaining why I want them to stop selling, making, and advocating for this [...]