I was. I seriously was born on a bayou. Bayou Teche. My whole family is from three small towns in southern Louisiana. Lafayette, Broussard, and New Iberia. So when Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita through our entire nation into a tailspin of heartbreak and anger, I was particularly emotional. Luck was with my family that August because neither storm did much damage to my family's homes but instead nestled either side of my hometowns.

My little family, who has resided in Southern Florida, (a hurricane mecca in its own right) since 1987 and travel frequently to Acadiana (that's what the Cajun's call southern Louisiana). For Thanksgiving of 2006, we visited a cousin stationed in the National Guard in New Orleans. And I traveled the Ninth Ward with a dear of friend of many Greenpeace staff. Shylia Lewis. In 2004 we helped her build a Habitat for Humanity home for her family that was toxic free. You can read her Greenpeace story here. The Habitat houses on her block had the least amount of damage of all and Shylia said it was because those homes were built with love. I'm no sap even if it is Valentines Day, but I think she's on to something.

The reason I want to talk about the Gulf Coast today is because (1) communities and families are still recovering and they need our help and (2) the toxic contamination from these horrific storms has been outrageous and not widely covered, in fact covered up.

An article came out today from the CDC in Atlanta that discusses the toxic fumes Hurricane Katrina and Rita victims have been living in since 2005. There has been high levels (five times as much as in modern homes) of formaldehyde found in the trailors that FEMA gave to a large amount of Gulf Coast families. CDC announced that FEMA (you know the kids who refused to take any responsibility for the lack of humanity shown from governmental agencies after the hurricane) should move people out of those trailors immediately for fear of respiratory problems.

After complaining of headaches and nosebleeds and asking repeatedly to be moved out of the trailors, families finally talked to some lawyers and demanded that the trailors be checked out to see what could be causing their health concerns. CDC found it. Extremely high levels of toxic fumes.  

The International Agency for Research on Cancer has listed formaldehyde as a carcinogen and the EPA has listed it as a probable carcinogen.  

Read the CNN story.  

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Greenpeace isn't the only group that has worked on building toxic free homes on the Gulf Coast.

Unity Homes is still helping people live toxic free.  

Habitat for Humanity is in dire need of volunteers.  

And don't forget Jazz Festival is approaching!!  

Happy late Mardi Gras!

Renee  

Hello,

I'm very sorry I haven't updated my blog recently. I know how many of you check up on my  blog posting each morning. ha. 

So, I think I mentioned around thanksgiving that my good friend Liz is having a baby. She is due in two weeks!  Kind of exciting, a little scary, and making all my friends more interested in creating a toxic fee world.

Liz brings her own bags to the grocery store and she now uses a sigg bottle for her water. I gave a hard time for drinking out of plastic bottles the last time I was there. At first she just thought I was being an alarmist, but I kept sending her articles on the subject and she realized that I'm not the only one getting rid of them. Hey, I've known her since I was 14, I'm suppose to do stuff like that.

Work Group for Safe Markets recently released a study called Baby's Toxic Bottle. A little scary sounding I have to admit, but its based on the same reason I pushed Liz to get rid of the plastic water bottles. Bisphenol A. 

It's in disposable water bottles and now there is proof that it is in baby bottles. Not good for Liz junior. (actually his name is William, but I'll use Liz jr for now - I mean that's what he is)

With all this evidence that bisphenol A is an endocrine disruptor and biaccumulates in the body, many environmentalists and social justice advocates are calling for an immediate moratorium on the use of bisphenol A in baby bottles and other food and beverage containers. One of the biggest issues with this chemical is that is in hard polycarbonate plastics (nalgeens and baby bottles) and leaches when the bottle is heated up. So, when you leave your water bottle in the car while you go grocery shopping on Saturday afternoon and the sun warms it up or when new parents heat up formula in a heat bath on the stove in the baby bottle whoever drinks out of it gets a dose of Bisphenol A. Not exactly what you want to be feeding your newborn. But it turns out around 95% of baby bottles contain it. Bisphenol A was first designed as synthetic estrogen and then was later polymerized to produce polycarbonate. A synthetic hormone that was chemically treated to make baby bottles? Really?

You can read the report here. It also lists things that you can do to help and background information if you would like to know more.  

alright, i'm finished now. Its freezing in washington dc and I need some soup. minus the bisphenol A, I hope.

All the best,

Renee