Cindy Luppi - New England Director

Good news! According to a new report from the Mind the Store Coalition nearly 70% of the 50 largest retailers in the country have improved toxic chemical safety programs over the past five years. That means we can find safer products with fewer hazardous chemicals linked to cancer, reproductive disorders or birth defects when we shop. These chemicals are often found in everyday products like cleaners,food packaging, and shampoos and moisturizers.

In a saga that has been playing out since the close of 2020, this week, both chambers of the Massachusetts legislature passed the Next-Generation Roadmap Climate bill with its vital environmental justice reforms intact! Thank you to Clean Water's members and allies for all the calls, letters, emails, and tweets that helped push our legislative leaders to stand firm. A particular shout out to our youngest members for speaking up for their generation who will be most impacted by our actions today to fight the climate crisis -- we all need to act urgently with YOUR future in mind.

In a major victory for Clean Water Action and the Mind the Store campaign, McDonald's has announced a global ban on toxic PFAS ( per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances)  in their food packaging by 2025.

If you're like me,  you are watching more cute animal videos during the pandemic than ever before. A lot of my favorites include animal mamas and babies, especially when mamas take heroic steps to keep their babies safe.

The Massachusetts State Senate introduced then passed three climate bills at a breakneck speed that laid out broad new commitments to tackle carbon pollution emissions in a variety of ways.

This March,  in commemorating International Women’s Month, we’ve worked to highlight the role of inspiring women in our network...women who are pushing boundaries and bringing fresh ideas, fighting for a healthy and just tomorrow. In that spirit, meet Sarah Naiman!

One piece of this puzzle, however, is crystal clear:  the root cause of this problem is the manufacturing and promotion of PFAS by the chemical industry, even though internal documents reveal they knew about its toxicity for decades.

The calendar says it is officially spring now, but we're not feeling it on the ground in the Northeast. We just experienced our fourth Nor'easter in recent weeks, the "Foureaster" as friends are joking on Facebook. In my town of Winthrop, Massachusetts, we have been rocked by this "new normal" on our small peninsula with only two roads in and out of town.

Clean Air for our Kids: Priceless

As we watch clean air and climate protections face rollbacks at the national level, increasingly states like Massachusetts are stepping forward to show a different path...one that can jump start the clean energy economy to reduce pollution and protect our health, as we battle the climate crisis. 

International Women's Day seems more important than ever this year... to honor important women leaders in environmental health, we're shining the spotlight today on one of our favorite sheroes, a trailblazing scientist whose research helps explore the complex relationships between toxic chemicals used in everyday products (like bisphenol-A or BPA, the toxic chemical commonly used in canned food linings)  and human health damage.