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Toxic Free Canada
Q&A with Mae Burrows, Executive Director
Toxic Free Canada, the new voice of LEAS (Labour Environmental Alliance Society), works to eliminate health and environmental toxins and reduce our carbon footprint on the planet. In 2009, Mae Burrows was honoured by the Canadian Cancer Society with a partnership award and described as “a tireless advocate, who has done much to improve the knowledge of British Columbians and to help give them a voice so that they can seek to improve the health of their homes and communities.”
Can you share some success stories from the workshops you offer?
We offer workshops on toxic inventory substitution in offices, schools and homes to help identify and eliminate the exposure of toxic chemicals to workers and their families.
A working single mom from Vancouver Island attended our workshop for cleaners of hospitals. She then convinced her hospital’s board to support her project of identifying and substituting products containing carcinogens. She was able to stop staff and patients from being exposed to harmful chemicals – and prevent runoff going directly into the ocean; that’s tens of thousands of litres of carcinogenic chemicals not going into the Strait of Georgia every day.
A woman from the Langley School District came to a workshop and then went back to speak with her school district. They came up with a district-wide mission statement to eliminate toxic products from their schools, and gave the maintenance workers the right to refuse to use these products.
How has Tides Canada helped you move forward?
Tides Canada was the first organization that had faith in our vision for our Cancer Smart Consumer Guide.
More than 25,000 copies of the first two editions of the CancerSmart Guide have been sold across Canada. It was featured in CBC journalist Wendy Mesley’s provocative documentary Chasing The Cancer Answer. The Toronto Star environmental reporter called it “required reading in every Canadian’s home.”
It has fundamentally transformed thousands of buyers’ behaviors. A survey we did recently found that after reading this guide:
- 95% of people changed their behavior in the products they buy
- 62% spoke to a politician to get ‘right to know’ labeling on products
- 60% quit using pesticides after using the guide
How does your work create sustainable change?
There is a fabulous offspring from replacing dangerous products, which is the creation of green entrepreneurship. Since we started, we’ve seen toxic products go off the market and green products come on. The whole process empowers people to make change.
Learn more about CancerSmart: The Consumer Guide, from Toxic Free Canada. »
