f1 June 3, 2005 - June 13, 2005

Hello and Welcome to The Dirt!

This week, I just thought I would share with you a couple thoughts regarding chemicals - toxic and what-not. "Toxic" is a word that we regularly hear thrown in front of the word chemical. The word toxic almost immediately triggers a sinking feeling in the stomach, a dread of the unseen adversary. Harboring toxicity in your body can take many shapes. Lead poisoning, we know about this - just don't eat the paint. But there are other ways that chemicals can become toxic in our bodies. They affect our immune system, reproductivity, nervous system, cancer rates, and our senses like vision and hearing among other things. They can come to us in the air we breathe, the food we eat, through our skin, or the water we drink. The chemicals that we ingest become a part of our own chemical body burden. In thinking about these things - it might be easy to become - well, overwhelmed! For chemicals are all around us! What can we do to make a difference? Will it have any affect in the long run? You never know. You never know.

You can take the things that might be potential sources of contamination - the water we drink, the air we breathe, the food we eat, our daily habits and places we live, and you can make choices to spin these around in another direction. Chemical reactions can sometimes be reversed. People are doing it every day when they control adult-onset diabetes by changing their diet and exercise habits. Every time you make a choice like this, you send a message out - into the universe and the rest of the wide world - about what is the kind of world in which you want to live. One person can make a difference both for themselves and for those around them. By sharing our stories we all can be inspired. A recent article I read in Orion Magazine told the story of how one boy Jean-Dominique Levesque-Rene in Canada began to put two and two together and began to draw correlations between how he had gotten cancer and the pesticides that were being sprayed in Montreal. Since his initial campaign the city of Toronto actually passed an ordinance that banned the use of pesticides for purely aesthetic reasons. Toronto has made history with their powerful law to protect the health and well-being of its citizens over commercial interests. Although the chemical companies battled against the ordinance, it was recently upheld in the courts this May.

Learn more about Toronto and Jean-Dominique Levesque-Rene
Jean-Dominique Levesque-Rene
Toronto Recent in May

Bill Moyer's "Trade Secrets" is an amazing documentary where you can learn about our right to know and the chemical industry. It's a must-see.

Body Burden

This week, there are lots of ways you can positively shift the balance in favor of minimizing the toxicity of our environs. Help the Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides work to keep pesticides from use in our own public parks. Alternatively closer to the walls in your own home, next weekend, you can learn how to make a plaster with non-toxic American Clay. Our choices are all around us. Get informed. Take action. These things make a difference.

Enjoy this week's dirt.

-- Laura, and all the Dirt!-y Dozens!
at Spreading Roots, Spring Forth

PS. SPECIAL NOTE Speaking of making a difference, we would love to hear from you about actions you may have taken because you heard about them in The Dirt! Come and share your stories of either how you made a difference or how the actions of one person has made a difference to you at our upcoming fundraiser and house party for Spreading Roots, Spring Forth on June 16. Every little bit counts and that is what The Dirt! is all about. (It is also how we forsee raising our needed funds for the future! ;) Light refreshments will be served. An enjoyable time will be had by all.

PPS. Here's another thought! Read Ariana's recipe to counter toxicity by putting the beauty back IN our river.