Labour Environmental Alliance Society
Q & A with Mae Burrows, Executive Director
Offering workshops on toxic inventory substitution in offices, schools and homes, LEAS has become recognized as Canada’s leading organization that identifies and eliminates the exposure of toxic chemicals to workers and families.
Can you share some of the outcomes from the workshops?
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 Georgia Strait everyday.
A woman from the Langley school district came to a workshop. She then went back to her school district, which has since come up with a district - wide mission statement to eliminate toxic products from their schools, and gave maintenance workers the right to refuse using these products.
How has Tides helped LEAS move forward?
Tides was the first organization that had faith in our vision for our Cancer Smart Consumer Guide. We’ve sold nearly 30,000 copies and The Toronto Star’s environment reporter called it "required reading for all Canadians."
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 creates green entrepreneurship. Since we started, we have seen toxic products go off the market and green products come on. The whole process empowers people to make change.
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Toronto, ON M5T 2C7
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