They’re listening!! August 11, 2009

I received this from the Environmental Working Group (EWG) last week and wanted to share it with you. We always hear about the efforts being made for keeping us and our world healthy but we typically don’t hear if there are any results being made. Read the following email and you will feel confident that all of our efforts do not go unnoticed. They are listening!!

Dear lorri,Over the last several months EWG has made some waves and drawn a lot of attention to the issues you and I care about. I want to make sure you know what EWG has achieved in just the last few months.

We all agree that influencing public policy has a lot to do with being heard by the right people at the right time. At EWG, we’ve got a knack for just that. Our unique investigations, skilled team of researchers and effective advocacy work well together to catch the attention of decision makers – right when it matters.

We’ve told decision makers what you want. . . and they’re listening.

• We caught food industry giants plotting to mislead mothers and minority parents about the hazards of bisphenol-A (BPA) and spurred grassroots pressure to find a safe alternative.
• Some 14,000 members of EWG’s burgeoning online community joined us to ask U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar to oppose uranium mining near the Grand Canyon. And he did. Nearly a million acres of public land has been set aside, preventing the mining industry from staking any claims for at least two years, and possibly as many as 20 years.
• Congressional insiders picked EWG and myself as top grassroots advocates on biofuels for our ability to combine lobbying and research with grassroots power effectively.
• The California State Senate passed the Toxics-Free Babies & Toddlers Act, which we sponsored, to ban BPA in children’s food products. If the State Assembly approves the bill, the largest market in the country will join Connecticut and Minnesota whose state legislatures enacted partial BPA Bans earlier this year.
• We asked the EPA to consider the full impact of over-subsidized biofuels on greenhouse gas emissions and penned an Op-Ed published in the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
• Five environmental justice leaders joined us for an extensive two-year study that tested them for 75 chemical contaminants. They took their results directly to Congress as a compelling argument for reform of the failed federal toxics law.

We researched, reported and testified for better public policies.

• We released our third annual sunscreen report to help consumers identify safe, effective products and better understand the ingredients in sunscreen. We found that sunscreen companies are reformulating many products to be safer and more effective as a result of our three-year campaign.
• We expanded our ground-breaking work on bottled water safety by reviewing labels, provided by our fabulous fans, and released a report rating manufacturers on their (lack of) transparency. We took this research to Congress where Jane Houlihan, our head of research, testified in front of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

We created and shared important, useful information.

• Our Editor-in-Chief, Elaine Shannon, began writing for the Huffington Post so that we can take our message to millions of readers. Here’s an exciting post discussing a ground-breaking study about infertility and bisphenol-A.
• We launched a new blog on Kid-Safe Chemicals where EWG staff and outside experts are discussing emerging science and the need for toxics policy reform.
• I presented our 10 Americans talk to hundreds in California, Georgia, Canada, Wisconsin and Washington D.C. You can watch a short version on our site.
• We launched a monthly informational email series based on our popular Healthy Home Tips guide.
• We won two Treehugger awards for best health and beauty information and best natural health news web sites.

As you can see, we’ve been busy. All of the staff at EWG is grateful for your support, which we know makes our work possible. With your help, we’re doing the hard work it takes to achieve our shared goal: healthy people and a healthy planet.

Sincerely,

Ken Cook
President, Environmental Working Group

I can only add this…. WELL DONE KEN! May the EWG keep up the good work!

A picture really IS worth a thousand words. February 1, 2009

Todays post is going to be a little out of the ordinary. It has nothing to do with organics, wellness, ingredients, questionable chemicals or the like. It does, however, have to do with hair and the power of intention!

My husband and I own  a booth at the Minnesota State Fair called Fair Do’s! . We’ve had this business for 7 years and last year a professional photographer named Joel Sartore, from a pretty famous magazine shot some pictures of our creations. It seems this magazine was doing a spread on our nations greatest state fairs and the final picks would be in the August 2009 issue. There was a 1 in 40,000 chance a photo of his would be picked, but after learning his work has been on hundreds of covers, I was optimistic. I’m a firm believer in visualization and imagined how awesome it would be to be picked to represent our state fair.

I received a call 2 weeks ago and was informed that Fair Do’s will be in the August issue of NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC magazine! HOW COOL IS THAT?

Anything’s possible boys and girls if you believe in the power of your dreams. Absolutely anything.

Holiday Blues? November 25, 2008

Is Christmas being cancelled?

We’re being bombarded these days.The economy, wall street, crime, unemployment, housing, the closing of businesses, bankruptcy, bail outs and bombings.  It seems no matter where we are or what we’re doing, someone is reminding us how bad things are. It’s typically the media, but often it can be our neighbor or co-worker, our spouse, or the waitress that brings your morning cup of java. Being an optimistic business owner I try to block out the negativity but it surrounds me constantly and there are days that I struggle. It’s during those moments that I remember to keep my mind focused on better feeling thoughts and good things always prevail.

It wasn’t long ago I sat in a hospital room while my husband received one of his many chemo treatments. Those were dark days and while I sat watching his I.V. drip for 24 hours in a dreary, dark, disgustingly smelly room at 2 West, I found peace and comfort in reading. At the time I was reading Dr. Wayne Dyer “Inspiration, Your Ultimate Calling” and I came across a passage about Joy.

It reads:

 

‘ When the calender becomes frenzied, full of unnecessary turbulence because we’ve failed to simplify, we won’t be able to hear those long distance calls from our Source…and we’ll slip into stress, anguish, and even depression. So whatever it takes to feel joy, we must simply act upon it. Whatever our current station in life, we have a spiritual contract to make joy our constant companion- so we must learn to make a concious choice to say no to anything that takes us away from an inspired life. This can be done gently, while clearly showing others that this is how we choose to live’.

 

After months of searching deep within myself to find and keep the strength for this journey we were on, it suddenly clicked within me. (It was my “AHA”! moment, just like Oprah says). And it has stayed with me since. I reach for it daily, hundreds of times each day as it was (and still is) life changing. It wasn’t an overwhelming feeling, just a soft voice within that whispered to my soul. I knew at that moment that everything would be okay. No matter how things ended up. It was all okay and always would be from that point on. I found Joy in the darkest of moments and everything changed. 

Find the Joy for you! In this moment, in this space, at this time. Right here, right now! FIND THE JOY! There is ALWAYS a better feeling thought even if it’s only a small thought. Even if the thought is simple. Be an observer of your thoughts when your standing in a long check out line waiting to purchase Aunt Roxanne’s cat slippers, or when the item you ordered online with a guaranteed delivery date doesn’t arrive on time. How can you make the best of the situation? When you find yourself caught up in the negative chatter during holday social events, refrain from judgement and just listen for a moment. Listen to your own words and then choose a better thought about the subject at hand. We need Joy now more than ever and it can only start with ourselves. You get to choose the way you experience the Holidays so choose wisely!

I remember my better feeling thought that day. A small, simple thought that changed the moment. And every moment since. Wanna know what it was?

This room doesn’t smell today. And it instantly became a better day.

Joy to you!

Lj