February 2016 Newsletter
IPM Trainings in the Southeast!
Toxic Free NC traveled to Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, New Hanover, and Pender counties to deliver our IPM: Plan and Policy training. Over 150 child care providers attended the trainings and were provided with information and tools to ensure the safest pest management at their child care facility. Many have begun the certification process, we’d like to highlight The Puddle Jumpers, Pat’s Toyland Preschool, and Rhonda’s Precious Gems, for completing the certification this month and encourage parents and providers to move their center to join the movement!
Program Manager, Dylan Williams (bottom right) and attendees in Whiteville go over the importance of protecting children and staff at child care centers from the exposure to pesticides. (Photo Credit: Wallyce Todd)
A huge thank you to everyone who was able to attend a training despite the busy life of child care and early childhood development. We look forward to helping your center be among the safest and healthiest in the state!
We’d also like to thank the Smart Starts of Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, New Hanover and Pender counties for their active participation and support of this important work. Their resources and connections in the community are the reason we were able to turn out as many folks as we did for this first round of trainings. Thank you!
Toxic Free NC in the news…
Toxic Free NC was recently featured on WECT in Wilmington while conducting IPM trainings in multiple counties in the Southeast.Check out Toxic Free NC’s Program Manager, Dylan Williams, discussing the benefits of IPM in child care facilities and what we can do to get pesticides out of the places where children live, learn, and play.
Chemical Companies Consolidate
Earlier this month, Chinese, state-run chemical company ChemChina agreed to buy Swiss pesticide and seed giant, Syngenta, for $43 million making it China’s largest outbound acquisition ever. Given the size of the merger and the other recent consolidations within the agricultural industry, there are some serious questions that must be addressed in regards to how this will affect the global food supply trade. Click here to read Toxic Free NC’s analysis of how this merger will affect North Carolina’s grower, farmworkers, and consumers.
Meeting with Senator Burr to get labeling on toxic products
(L to R: Beth Messersmith (MomsRising); Mateland Mayes (owner, My Sisters’ Natural); Gath Regan (Deputy Director of Economic Development with Senator Burr’s office; Preston Peck (Toxic Free NC)
Toxic Free NC’s Policy Advocate, Preston Peck, NC MomsRising’s Beth Messersmith, and Mateland Mayes, owner of My Sisters’ Natural, met with Garth Regan from Senator’s Richard Burr’s office to discuss the Senator’s leadership on the Personal Care Products Safety Act (S.1014). This act would require that personal care products be labeled with their ingredients and regulated through the Food and Drug Administration. It has been over 75 years since there was any legislation passed regarding ingredients in personal care products, and since then, many of the products have been found to contain toxic ingredients such as lead in lipstick. We look forward to continuing to work with Senator Burr’s office as he provides leadership in the U.S. Senate to move this issue forward.
Thanks for your feedback on our website!
We received some extremely helpful responses about how we can effectively use our website to get information out about reducing toxics in North Carolina. Thank you to all of those that chose to fill out our survey and congratulations to Mario Sugus who was randomly selected from the respondents to receive some Toxic Free NC swag and Burt’s Bees bath products!
