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Make manufacturers responsible for electronic waste
Discarded electronics (“e-waste”) is one of the fastest growing waste streams in the industrialized world. Electronic equipment is also one of the largest know sources of heavy metals, like lead and mercury, and toxic pollutants in the waste stream. In Massachusetts hundreds of thousands of pounds of e-waste is discarded every year. Much of it winds up in our cities and landfills and that that is recycled costs our cities and towns millions of dollars. Write to your Massachusetts State Representative and ask him/her to pass the Electronic Waste Takeback Bill to require manufacturers to be responsible for collecting and recycling or reusing the electronic waste that they produce.
Make manufacturers responsible for electronic waste
Discarded electronics (“e-waste”) is one of the fastest growing waste streams in the industrialized world. Electronic equipment is also one of the largest know sources of heavy metals, like lead and mercury, and toxic pollutants in the waste stream. In Massachusetts hundreds of thousands of pounds of e-waste is discarded every year. Much of it winds up in our cities and landfills and that that is recycled costs our cities and towns millions of dollars. Write to your Massachusetts State Representative and ask him/her to pass the Electronic Waste Takeback Bill to require manufacturers to be responsible for collecting and recycling or reusing the electronic waste that they produce.
Ask your State Legislators to help protect our health from toxic chemicals
The Safer Alternatives Bill will create a program in Massachusetts to replace toxic chemicals with Safer Alternatives wherever feasible. The bill is currently before the Massachusetts Legislature's Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture. That committee held a public hearing on the bill on November 2nd, but the Environment Committee has not yet acted to give the bill a favorable report.
A favorable report is needed to move the bill to the next stage in the legislative process. Your legislators can help by urging the Chairs of the Environment Committee to act on the bill soon. Please write to them and ask them to help!
Sign the Declaration of Energy Empowerment
Clean Water Action and coalition partners call on our leaders and on all sectors of society to embark on an Energy Empowerment Revolution that will protect all the inhabitants of this state from the ravages of recession and cold winter winds and to secure the future for our children and our planet. Please take a moment to review the Declaration of Energy Empowerment's (Link to Declaration PDF) goals calling for $1 billion dollars to weatherize every building and home in Massachusetts. This initiative would create over 10,000 jobs, help pull people out of poverty with decent paying jobs, and reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.
Protecting Our Health from Toxic Chemicals
In Massachusetts, Clean Water Action is a founding member of the Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow (AHT), a coalition of citizens, scientists, health professionals, workers, and educators seeking preventive action on toxic hazards. Our goal is to correct fundamental flaws in government policies that allow harm to our health and environment.
The Massachusetts Campaign to Protect Drinking Water
Clean Water Action has brought together a statewide alliance of environmental, consumer and public health groups. The focus of the Campaign is to provide safe and affordable drinking water to residents of Massachusetts by advancing policies and practices that protect ecologically important habitat and watershed resources and prevent contamination of drinking water from watershed to water tap.
Electronics Take Back Campaign
Discarded computers, laptops, and TVs are a growing problem all across the country. This Ewaste is toxic and contains hazardous substances like lead, mercury, and selenium, and costs local governments millions of dollars a year to collect and recycle. In Europe, manufacturers of electric and electronics products are required to pay for the collection and recycling their discarded products. Requiring extended producer responsibility (EPR) for products will give producers a financial incentive to make their products more recylable and less toxic.
Clean Water Action was one of the founding members of the national Electronics Take Back Campaign, which has been successful in persuading the major computer manufacturers – Dell, HP, and Apple – to support mandatory EPR and to pay for their discarded products. Electronics EPR legislation has been adopted in 10 states and New York City so far, but still needs to be adopted in Massachusetts.
Electing pro-environment candidates
Clean Water Action endorses candidates for office who we believe will be champions for the environment based on candidate's record and endorsement questionnaires.
Massachusetts Diesel Pollution Solution
The fine particle pollution from diesel emissions shortens the lives of an estimated 21,000 people nationwide every year. The Massachusetts Diesel Pollution Solution Coalition (DPS) is committed to reducing the health risks from diesel pollution and has called on state government to create a plan for reducing emissions from diesel vehicles 75% by 2020. This goal would extend and save thousands of lives, improve the health and well being of Massachusetts residents, help mitigate global warming, and yield large economic benefits.
A Green Wave is Coming
2008 was a banner year for clean energy in Massachusetts. Clean Water Action, our members and local partners helped lead the charge for three new laws that bring great promise to the development of clean energy in our state: the Global Warming Solutions Act, the Green Communities Act, and the Massachusetts Green Jobs Act.