January 2016 Newsletter
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Happy New Year! Happy 2016! As we move forward together with our work to transition North Carolina to a toxic free society, we want to take a moment and thank everyone that generously chose to support us with their end-of-year contributions. Together, we raised tens of thousands of dollars to support our work to eliminate pesticides and other toxics from our bodies and our environment. A huge thank you from the Toxic Free NC team! We look forward to working with you towards our shared goal of a toxic-free North Carolina.
Interns Needed! Are you, or do you know of, an undergrad student that is looking for a PAID Summer internship? Toxic Free NC is working with the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation to provide an 8-week paid summer internship in public policy. Click here to view the details, but hurry as applications are due Tuesday, February 2 by Noon. We Need Your Input on Our New Website! Now that our new website has launched, we need input from the community on how we can make it an effective and useful tool. Please take a few minutes to check out our website and fill out this brief survey with your thoughts! Also, feel free to email us you thoughts and suggestions to info@toxicfreenc.org. Participants will be automatically entered to win some Toxic Free NC swag and some Burt’s Bees bath products! Thanks in advance for your input! Policy Update The NC Pesticide Board Meeting was earlier this month and you can read Toxic Free NC’s full notes from the meeting on our new website. Some of the main topics covered during the meeting were a request for aerial spray height limitation exemption for a pheromone used to treat the Gypsy Moth; a Worker Protection Standards update from the NC Department of Agriculture; two request for funding from the Pesticide Environmental Trust Fund; and a presentation from Toxic Free NC’s Policy Advocate, Preston Peck, on the effects of neonicotinoids on North Carolina’s Blue Crab. We will maintain a presence at the Board meetings and continue to request to be on the agenda to let the Board know that there are many topics of concern to our supporters and we are there to be the voice of human and environmental health in NC! IPM in child care, coming soon to the Southeast! Toxic Free NC will be visiting the Smart Starts of Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, Pender, and New Hanover counties to train child care centers on pesticide safety and least-toxic Integrated Pest Management practices. The training includes a workshop on how to become IPM certified through Toxic Free NC and ensure common-sense pest management is practiced at your center! Click here for more details! [ Not in our current target area, but interested in participating? Both Parents/Guardians and Center Directors can contact Dylan Williams: Dylan@toxicfreenc.org for more information ] Toxic Free NC Turns 30! Toxic Free NC has fought pesticide pollution since 1986 and this year marks the 30th year that we have stayed true to that fight. We have won several victories along they way including, forcing the NC Pesticide Board to create an interagency task-force to study groundwater contamination by pesticides, increased buffer zones for aerial pesticide spraying, increased protections for farmworkers through the revised Worker Protection Standards, and increase protection for pollinators by pressuring corporations, like Bayer CropScience, to act responsibly. As long as there are pesticides and other toxics in our homes and environments we will continue to watchdog regulatory bodies, advocate for policies that put human and environmental health first, and intentionally work to be a more inclusive and equitable organization that pushes back against environmental injustices. Please stay tuned for more events throughout 2016 as we celebrate the last 30 years while preparing for the next 30 years! |
