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This episode featured Teresa McGrath, the Chief Research Officer for Habitable.
She digs into the environmental implications of paint components and offers scientific insights on sustainable alternatives. Some of her suggestions are even trending—popular wall treatments such as Limewash and Roman clay are healthier alternatives.
Habitable’s report, “Advancing Health and Equity through Better Building Products,” reveals the current state of building materials used, with nearly 70% of typical products in the categories analyzed containing or relying on the most hazardous chemicals.
The results, based on data for Minnesota affordable housing, are consistent with products used in other building types and geographic regions. The report highlights examples of leaders within and beyond Minnesota’s built environment who are already taking action toward safer material choices. It also provides guidance on how the real estate industry can begin working toward a healthier future by “stepping up from red-ranked products”—the most polluting and harmful throughout their life cycle based on Habitable’s research and Informed™ product guidance.
A path towards planetary health is more urgently needed now than ever, but our current materials economy creates rampant pollution, climate change, and growing inequity. Shifting from harmful practices to healthful solutions will require cross-sector partnerships, holistic thinking, and exciting new approaches that reduce the burden of industry on people and our planet.
Watch Habitable’s special Earth Month webinar featuring leading global voices, including:
Moderated by Gina Ciganik, CEO of Habitable
The Equitable and Just National Climate Platform is a collaborative effort between environmental justice and national environmental groups to develop inclusive and equitable national climate policy ideas and advocate for shared policy goals.
The Environmental Justice Health Alliance for Chemical Policy Reform is a national network of grassroots organizations advocating for safer chemicals and a pollution-free economy, focusing on communities disproportionately impacted by toxic chemicals and pollution.
The Planetary Health Alliance is a global consortium of over 400 organizations from 60+ countries dedicated to studying and addressing the effects of global environmental change on human health.
For over three decades, CEHN has been a leading advocate for evidence-based child-protective policy, preventive research, and education on children’s environmental health, collaborating with diverse stakeholders to promote a healthier future for children.
This podcast conversation explores the intersection of climate change and chemical pollution.
Highlighting opportunities to address both crises simultaneously while improving public health, equity, and economic vitality, featuring experts Dr. Elizabeth Sawin and Beverley Thorpe.
A new report reveals that low-income countries, despite using less plastic, face lifetime plastic costs that are ten times higher than those of wealthier nations.
This disparity highlights the structural inequities within the plastics value chain, where the burdens of plastic pollution fall disproportionately on those least equipped to address them, exacerbating the crisis. WWF urges all governments to adopt a treaty with harmonized, binding global rules to eliminate these inequities in our current take, make, and waste plastics system. Such a treaty is essential to ensure a fair and effective global response to plastic pollution.
In this article, journalists investigate the American Chemistry Council’s promotion of chemical recycling, contrasting it with environmentalists’ concerns and highlighting issues found at Braven Environmental’s facility, suggesting that chemical recycling may not be as environmentally friendly or commercially viable as claimed.