The Strategy Center Blog

On October 21, please join us at The Riley School in Rockport for a screening of the shocking new film “The Devil We Know." Hailed by Variety as “a riveting tale of long-term irresponsibility and injustice,” the documentary that debuted this year to wide acclaim at the Sundance Film Festival unravels one of the biggest environmental scandals of our time: the widespread toxic chemical contamination of one town’s drinking water supply, and the government's astonishing lack of regulation of the...+ Read more

Join us to celebrate work that brings together diverse people creating common-sense solutions toward a healthy and toxic-free future, with justice for all! Celebration for Our Healthy Future Thursday, November 29 6-8pm Beautiful new venue, with free parking! Congregation Bet Ha'am 81 Westbrook Street South Portland, Maine RSVP (Discounts for students, candidates, elected office holders) Sign up for the Host Committee—and get free tickets! Sponsor the Celebration Community members, contributors...+ Read more

It's back-to-school week for kids across the country, and for parents, that means stocking up on school supplies, packing school lunches, and making sure that children have all they need to learn and thrive in the new school year. What's an important way to keep children healthy and ready to learn? Reduce kids' exposure to toxic chemicals. With dangerous chemicals potentially hiding in school supplies, lunch food, and indoor air, following these simple tips can help make sure kids have a safer...+ Read more

Almost exactly one year ago, we filed our lawsuit in federal court against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), demanding that it fulfill its mandate to protect public health—instead of illegally refusing to properly enact the 2016 chemical safety reform we fought for a decade to pass. While our legal action is making its way through the courts, the Trump EPA has continued to try to sacrifice public health for the sake of protecting private industry's profits. And so we've been standing...+ Read more

In a major victory for kid's health, Trump's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must finalize a ban on a deadly pesticide shown to damage children's brains, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled yesterday. The court found the agency broke the law by refusing to enact a ban proposed by the Obama administration that would have stopped the deadly nerve agent chemical from being sprayed on fruits and vegetables. Studies—including from the EPA's own scientists—have shown that prenatal and...+ Read more

What's the perfect summer meal? It has to be a dinner with friends and family, grilled outside, accompanied by yummy sides and followed with delicious desserts—along with long, meandering conversations as the hot day cools into evening. There's only one problem with this classic summer scene: as with food in every season, this beautiful summer meal could contain some toxic chemicals that no one wants to eat. Follow these tips to make sure your summer treats are safer and less toxic: 1. Avoid...+ Read more

The current leadership of the EPA is trying to censor science. They’d like to ignore thousands of rigorous, peer-reviewed health studies, making it harder for EPA staff to protect us from toxic chemicals—and easier for the Trump administration to roll back regulations. Will you join us in telling the EPA not to censor science? If enough people speak out, we can stop this plan. Every day we’re learning more and more about how many toxic chemicals our families are exposed to. Now is not the time...+ Read more

Pictured above: Andy Igrejas accepts the Frank Hatch Award, for his brilliant coalition leadership and strategic advocacy shaping the overhaul of the federal Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), at our 2016 Celebration for Healthy Families. We lost a dear friend, colleague, and extraordinary public health champion this past weekend. Andy Igrejas was all of the above and more, and we’ll miss him greatly. Over these last dozen years, he founded Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families and led us in an...+ Read more

This Father’s Day and every day, we’re working to protect the health of kids and families. And in our campaign to get phthalates (THAL-ates) out of food, we’re specifically thinking about the health of dads—and men who want to become dads. That’s because prenatal exposure to phthalates is linked to genital birth defects in male babies that can lead to difficulty fathering a child later in life, and men exposed to higher levels of phthalates in their daily lives have been shown to have lower...+ Read more

This week, our six talented interns started their summer at the Strategy Center. Please join us in welcoming Grace, Isa, Caroline, Izzy, Riley, and Riena! Hailing from colleges in Maine, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania, these passionate and skilled young organizers are at the heart of our mission. We're looking forward to training and educating the next generation of environmental health champions. To that end, we make sure that our interns' summer is spent gaining confidence and leadership...+ Read more