As part of their campaign against PVC – polyvinyl chloride – the Center for Health and Environmental Justice has an animated awareness video featuring Sam Suds – a private detective/bar of soap whose mission is to keep toxins out of the Johnson household. The message of the video is loud an clear: PVC is bad, it’s all around you, but it’s easy to spot – just look for the 3 or the V.
The Center for Health and Environmental Justice has called on big box retailers like Wal-Mart and Target to phase out PVC sales within their stores. According to a recent CHEJ press release as a result of their efforts, “Wal-Mart has already begun to phase out PVC in packaging and children’s lunchboxes. Last October, in response to health and environmental concerns, Wal-Mart announced plans to phase out PVC plastic in private label packaging over the next 2 years.”
You can take action on the CHEJ website, by signing an online petition to the retailers. You can also find out more about the hazards of PVC and learn ways of eliminating toxins from your own home.
The Center for Health and Environmental Justice is led by executive director, Lois Gibbs, one of the key players (and victims) in Love Canal – one of the first, highly publicized environmental justice cases in the United States. In the late 1970s in upstate NY, 900 families were finally evacuated from their homes after years of trying to convince local and federal governments that toxic chemicals were leeching into their homes and businesses and making their communities sick. This is the case that led to the creation of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), or Superfund, in the United States – the designated fund to clean up large scale, hazardous chemical/toxic sites.