July 9, 2020

Consumer & Environmental Protection

This spring, our Consumer Products Fund awarded over $355,000 to 11 projects across the country that promote truth-telling and consumer understanding regarding product ingredients and performance — with the overarching goal of protecting people’s rights, health, safety, and environment.

This cycle importantly supports groups working with communities to protect environmental and watershed health and truth-in-advertising in consumer products and food. These efforts connect at the intersections of people’s health and safety, environmental impacts of ingredients, the food web and ecosystems, and consumer protection.
— Laura Fernandez, Rose Foundation Program Officer

Find out some innovative ways these grantees are protecting consumers and the environment:
Beyond PesticidesPesticides create many hazards to human and ecosystem health, including through their adverse impacts to air, land, and water, as well as their contribution to biodiversity decline and the global climate crisis. Beyond Pesticides works directly with communities to advance sustainable, regenerative, and organic practices, products, and policies to solve the pesticide poisoning and contamination problem. In the face of the ongoing global pandemic, Beyond Pesticides is finding ways to counter the rampant misinformation and protect those with elevated risk factors, including respiratory illnesses and reduced immune system function that disproportionately impact communities of color and low-income areas. The project is producing a webpage that will be kept up-to-date with information on how to protect yourself from COVID-19 without toxic sanitizers and disinfectants using safe alternatives and provide resources for long-term change. Photo credit: Beyond Pesticides.

Clean Label ProjectAsbestos contamination in consumer products, including talcum powder and the many cosmetic products that contain talcum powder, has been linked to uterine and ovarian cancer. The Clean Label Project will identify, sample, and test the presence of asbestos in cosmetic and personal care products from big stores and sellers. The project will target products advertised for young girls and LGBTQ+ community members marketed as natural, sustainable, and better-for-you. The Project is committed to changing the definition of food and consumer safety through the use of data, science, and transparency. In turn, consumers can make safer, healthier choices, which increases the production of safer, healthier products for consumers and the environment. Photo credit: Clean Label Project.

Health Research Institute Tested CleanThe Health Research Institute (HRI) is expanding its Tested Clean program, which certifies products with a Tested Clean seal, informing consumers that manufacturers have excluded pesticides from the products as verified through rigorous, independent testing. The Tested Clean seal, already on 30 products in over 500 stores, informs product choices by consumers. This year, HRI aims to recruit 40 pioneering companies to offer foods that are test-verified and labeled Tested Clean to assure consumers they are buying the cleanest, safest foods available. This not only benefits consumers’ health, but also benefits the livelihoods of farmers and food companies that are taking the extra effort required to exclude pesticides from their products. Photo credit: Health Research Institute.

Learn more about the Consumer Products Fund on our website.

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