Our Work
Our Work
Our mission is to engage North Carolina in initiatives that advance environmental health and justice by advocating for safe alternatives to harmful pesticides and chemicals.
Toxic Free North Carolina, founded in 1986, is a 501c3 nonprofit organization that fights pollution from pesticides and other toxic contaminants in North Carolina by advocating for common-sense alternatives that protect our health and environment. We focus on reducing toxic exposures for the people whose health is most at risk from pesticides, including low-income communities, children, pregnant women, migrant farmworkers, and other at-risk populations. Toxic Free NC has been widely recognized for its effective work on pesticide reform in the state. We envision a toxic-free North Carolina that is part of a just and equitable global community where human and environmental health are valued, respected, and enjoyed by all.
Programs
The Toxic Free Kids (TFK) Program aims to protect children’s health and development by minimizing toxic pesticides and chemicals where kids live, learn, and play. Children ages 0-5 are the most vulnerable group to the negative effects of toxins impacting cognitive development and other developmental issues. The TFK program has two major initiatives:
- Integrated Pest Management (IPM) in Child Care provides training on the least-toxic approach to pest management in children’s environments, including homes, schools, and early education centers. As the only state-licensed provider of training for early childhood educators on Integrated Pest Management, Toxic Free NC is uniquely positioned to impact the indoor environmental health of children, one of the populations most vulnerable to the impacts of toxic chemicals.
- Family Health and Safety – we lead advocacy and education campaigns in partnership with parents and communities to eliminate harmful chemicals in consumer products, and we work with national partners to influence corporations to phase out products and materials that negatively impact human and environmental health.
Just & Sustainable Agriculture
The Just and Sustainable Agriculture (JSA) program addresses the systemic flaws of industrial agriculture by building statewide participation to protect North Carolina’s frontline farmworkers and unique ecology; cultivating advocate-leaders for pesticide reform; and promoting expansion of local regenerative agriculture as a solution to climate change and environmental and economic injustice: reclaiming the health and wealth of communities. Through community engagement and organizing, Toxic Free NC’s Just and Sustainable Agriculture program aims to connect a network of farmers, farmworkers, families, and advocates engaged locally around toxics issues, food justice, and policy reform.
. The JSA program has three major initiatives:
- Safeguarding Biodiversity focuses on the importance of pollinating species to our food and ecological systems, advocates for reduction of harmful pesticides, and provides education and outreach about how biodiversity is impacted by pervasive use of pesticides and other contaminants.
- Farmer Capacity Building is a continuation of our efforts to address systemic food system inequity, including expanded access to pesticide-free food by low and limited income communities. Through cultivation of leadership networks we support and build the capacity of organic farmers and advocates, connecting communities across the state.
- Farmworker Health and Justice provides advocacy support to those on the front lines of pesticide exposure who are at high risk of injury due to weak, poorly enforced, or nonexistent regulations. We work in partnership with farmworker advocates to improve pesticide safety for workers and their families.
Policy Advocacy
We advocate for corporate and legislative policies that advance a precautionary approach to chemical regulation to protect community health and biodiversity from pollution. Our policy strategy builds community power to advance environmental justice and hold polluters accountable. We provide education and advocacy tools to mobilize for change. A few of our successes:
- Passage of the NC Schoolchildren’s Health Act which protects K-12 children from harmful environmental health hazards
- Passage of Worker Protection Standards revisions to protect farmworkers from pesticide exposure
- Bipartisan introduction of the 2017 and 2019 Pollinator Protection Act to restrict use of bee-harmful pesticides in North Carolina
- Commitment from Lowes to remove seed-coated neonicotinoid insecticides from retail shelves