Right-to-Know — Backgrounders

Five Things You Can Do To Go Green and be Toxin Free

We all want to be better, more organic, more toxin free. Well here is Toxic Free Canada’s Top Five List of things to do to get and stay green! Full article >>>

Know What You're Eating

You wouldn’t spray your salad with chemicals... would you?

Many of the fruits and vegetables we eat each day, even if we really scrub them, still carry traces of toxins. Although it would be great if we all could go organic, it’s not always possible.

Keep this list handy when you’re shopping so to avoid the worst offenders.

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Alliance building backgrounder

Some 20 municipalities across B.C., including such major centres as Burnaby, Vancouver and New Westminster have passed municipal bylaws banning the use of cosmetic pesticides. But since municipalities lack the authority to ban the sale of pesticide products, some stores continue to sell them. A few retailers, such as Rona and Home Depot, have indicated that they will stop selling conventional pesticides and stock only environmentally-friendly products. But other stores, including retail giant Canadian Tire, continue to carry them.

A public opinion poll conducted in 2008 by the Canadian Cancer Society showed that 77 per cent of British Columbians would support provincial legislation that would phase out the use of cosmetic pesticides on public and private lands. ¹

Two provinces, Quebec and Ontario, currently have legislation banning cosmetic pesticides. Quebec's Pesticide Management Code, introduced in 2003, bans or restricts the sale of numerous cosmetic pesticides and is primarily responsible for the 50 per cent reduction in pesticides use recorded by Statistics Canada between 1994 and 2005. Pesticide use in the rest of Canada dropped only slightly, from 31 to 29 per cent, over the same period.

1 - Ipsos Reid poll conducted for the Canadaian Cancer Society between Feb. 5 and 17, 2008. Results accurate to within four percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

Outline for Ingredient and Hazard Labelling

Canadians should not be unknowingly exposed to carcinogens, mutagens or reproductive toxicants in the products they use around the home. Toxic Free Canada has developed leading policy on behalf of citizens who want action on right to know labelling. We are calling for hazard and ingredient labelling of consumer chemical products to give you the right to know what you are being exposed to.

The next step in right-to-know

Health and environmental effects from low dose exposure to toxins are significant and serious. This is one of the most pressing and preventable healthcare and environmental protection concerns that we face. Toxic Free Canada is educating the public, working with the media and sitting down with politicians and policy makers to create the framework for your right to know. We give you the facts and practical solutions to eliminate the toxins from our homes, schools and workplaces.The next step in right-to-know (ppt)