Current Projects
Continuing a 13-year tradition of building community awareness about toxics throughout Massachusetts, TURI awarded ten grants to community organizations in August 2007. The projects will raise awareness about toxic chemicals in everyday products and encourage the selection of safer alternatives.
New to the 2008 TURI Community Grant Program is two-levels of funding—grants ranging up to $1,000 (Tier I) and grants ranging up to $15,000 (Tier II).
TURI awarded the following six organizations Tier II grants ranging from $1,300 to $15,000:
Stop the FLARE up in Water Contamination
Cape Cod Cooperative Extension, Barnstable, MA—Project Manager Marilyn Lopes
Funding: $15,000
Partners: Massachusetts State Police, Mashpee Department of Public Works, AmeriCorps Cape Cod, Cape Cod Commission, Eastham Fire Department, United States Power Squadron
Traditional chemical flares used for road and marine emergencies contain perchlorate, an emerging concern as a drinking water contaminant. The goal of this project is to prevent contamination from flares to ground and surface water in and around the Cape Cod area, and to encourage the use of safer products for emergency responders and the public. New LED flares are now a viable non-chemical alternative and will be distributed to municipal agencies free of charge and to boaters at a discounted rate. The Cooperative will reach municipal public safety departments, boaters, and boating safety groups through trainings and tradeshows to encourage replacement of typical chemical flares with LED technology.
The Healthy Floor Finisher Project
Vietnamese American Initiative for Development, Inc., (Viet-AID), Dorchester, MA
Funding: $15,000
Partners: Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety & Health, Dorchester; New Ecology, Inc., Cambridge; Bowdoin Street Health Center, Dorchester.
To protect homeowners and floor finishers from the risk of fires and hazardous fumes, Viet-AID will build upon their 2007 TURI Community Grant and continue to conduct hands-on training for Vietnamese floor finishers in the Boston area. New this year is an expansion of the project to promote the safer products to consumers. Many people are unaware of the risks of commonly used flammable lacquer sealers, and that safer floor finishing products exist. Viet-AID will create a bi-lingual Healthy Floor Finishing website targeting both consumers and floor finishers about safer products and practices, upcoming training and events, and referrals to floor finishers trained in using less toxic products. They will provide training and technical assistance for floor finishers on marketing healthier, environmentally friendlier floor finishing to consumers and in using safer, greener practices to strengthen their businesses. To further reach consumers, Viet-AID will integrate safer floor finishing product information into their First Time Homebuyers Program, property management training and procedures, and small business development.
Healthy Homes—Healthy Bodies
ECOprojects, Jamaica Plain, MA—Project Manager Maru Colbert
Funding: $14,950
Partners: Boston Public Health Commission, Lynn NAACP
Through trainings, workshops, and focus group research, ECOprojects will help to alleviate suffering of asthmatics among lower income Lynn residents, especially children. A user-friendly Toxics Use Reduction Primer will be developed that will identify chemical hazards due to common household practices and ways to reduce the associated asthma triggers. ECOprojects will train twenty “heads-of-households” on how to recognize toxics in household products and find safer products. Participants will receive complementary products that do not contain known asthmagens and throughout the 10-month grant cycle, will compile an asthma journal. ECOprojects will host a spring seminar that will include the asthmatics, residents, and community partner organizations to raise awareness of safer alternatives that will help inner-city residents live healthier lives – and create a network for future work.
Safe Products in Neighborhoods (SPIN)
Worcester Youth Center—Project Manager Rosa Fernandez-Penaloza
Funding: $14,450
The goal of the SPIN project is to increase community awareness among lower income inner city youth about the harmful chemicals found in household products. The Worcester Youth Center will educate peer youth leaders about the health effects of toxics chemicals found in cosmetics and cleaning supplies and how to identify safer products and methods. These eight peer youth leaders will then educate a minimum of 100 teens who will be asked to take the message of safer products home to their families. The peer youth leaders will also coordinate a community event, provide samples of safer alternatives, and work with the local cable station to develop an educational TV commercial about the hazards of products being used at home. The long-term impact of training teens before they are purchasing products for their own homes will change the behavior of the next generation of households, ultimately increasing the demand for safer, greener products.
Townsend Organic Lawn Care Demonstration Site
Town of Townsend, Conservation Commission—Project Manager Karen Chapman, Chairperson
Funding: $3,500
Partners: Turgeon Environmental Services, Townsend, MA, Yard Spice Organics, LLC, Townsend Public Library, Westford Water Department, The Messenger, Inc., Townsend Recycling Committee
The Town of Townsend will increase public awareness that organic lawn care practices provide a viable, effective and safer alternative to toxic substances currently in use. The Townsend Town Hall and Public Library will serve as demonstration sites of healthy lawns without toxic pesticides, herbicides, and synthetically produced fertilizers. Townsend will develop materials leveraged from the Westford’s Healthy Lawns for Healthy Families Project to educate residents about the benefits of organic lawn care methods. The Conservation Commission will host a public seminar at Town Hall early in the spring to encourage the use of organic practices in Townsend and neighboring communities. Additional outreach includes presentations at lawn care seminars and the Townsend Earth Day Celebration and monthly columns in the “Messenger” newspaper describing the project, organic practices, and the dangers of pesticides and herbicides. Testimonials from residents who have successfully switched to an organic lawn care program will be collected and promoted so that others will be inspired to make the switch.
The Organic Mom Project: Toxics Use Reduction Lecture Series
The Organic Mom, Inc., Dighton, MA—Project Manager Heidi Douglass
Funding: $1,300
Partners: Safer Works/Safer for Your Baby, Berkley School Committee, Berkley Public School System, Kettle Pond Farm, Berkley, MA, Fresh Idea Organic Land Care, Plympton, MA.
The Organic Mom will host two free environmental lectures at the local school to raise public awareness of toxics inside and outside of the home. Topic ideas include health effects of toxics on child development, identifying toxins within the home, finding safer products and methods, and how to have a lush green lawn without pesticides. The lectures will be promoted through local cable shows, press releases, and flyers sent home with school children and posted at public locations. Guest lecturers include Dr. Laura Costa and Dr. Lynn Ruggeri, Safer Works/Safer for Your Baby, and staff from the Toxics Use Reduction Institute at UMass Lowell. You can learn more about the Organic Mom here: http://www.theorganicmom.org/shop/cart.php
The first Organic Mom lecture took place on October 18th in Berkley MA. Lynn Tondat Ruggeri and Laura Costa presented on "Non-Toxic Living Made Simple."
Organic Mom Founders Mark Dobson and Dr. Heidi Douglass:
TURI introduced a new lower level of funding that encourages community organizations to integrate Toxics Use Reduction concepts into on-going projects or build capacity to apply for a higher level grant next year. TURI awarded the following four organizations $1,000 each:
Pesticide Reduction in Lowell
Friends of Tyler Park, Lowell, MA—Project Manager Marie Frank
To goal of the project is to encourage the reduction of pesticide use on lawns in Lowell's residential and civic spaces with a non-pesticide demonstration lawn site at Tyler Park. Leveraging materials from Westford’s Healthy Lawns for Healthy Families Project funded by TURI for three years, Friends of Tyler Park will educate citizens and city officials about the health hazards of pesticides to humans, pets, and wildlife. The organization will distribute brochures, posters, as well as organize workshops for city officials and landscaping firms. A sign for Tyler Park will be purchased to showcase to residents that a beautiful, healthy lawn is possible with organic methods.
Scholarships to the NOFA Organic Lawn & Turf Course
The Organic Land Care Program of Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA) - Massachusetts Chapter, Barre, MA—Project Manager Kathy Litchfield
Partners: GreenCAPE
Six Massachusetts municipal employees were offered scholarships to attend the NOFA Organic Lawn & Turf Course – August 14, 2007 in Marblehead. Attendees learned how to reduce the use of toxic chemicals and pesticides in the management of public parks and athletic fields. The scholarship recipients will become spokespeople for organic lawn care to encourage other municipal employees to learn more and take the course in future years. You can learn more about NOFA and their events at: www.organiclandcare.net.
Natural Cleaning in the Brazilian Community
Brazilian Women’s Group, Allston, MA —Project Manager Heloisa Galvao
There is a concern among healthcare providers that health issues such as allergies and asthma are rising among Brazilians who clean houses in the greater Boston area. The Brazilian Women’s Group will develop materials about toxic household cleaning products and educate the Brazilian immigrant community about how to choose safer products. The Group will assess and define the needs of the population, develop content, and design an outreach program for wide distribution.
Capacity Building for Chemical Free Yards
Holliston Fire Department, Holliston, MA—Project Manager Michael Cassidy
The Holliston Fire Department plans to bring together municipal partners to educate the public about DEP regulations that restrict pesticide use on public property, the risks associated with pesticides, and alternative ways to maintain a healthier yard. Information learned from town hardware stores that sell pesticides and landscaping companies who apply pesticides will be integrated into next year’s proposal for a Tier II project.