We're Soaking In It...

On Wednesday, October 28th, an audience of over 125 Green T members and other local residents joined Green T and Credit Valley Conservation at the beautiful SGI Caledon Centre as we co-presented "Slow Death by Rubber Duck", a talk by prominent Canadian environmentalist and author Rick Smith.

The evening opened with a short presentation by Aviva Patel, Terrestrial Specialist at Credit Valley Conservation who spoke about Natural Heritage Systems and their vital role in providing us with services that sustain life.

Then Rick Smith took the floor. Smith, who is also the Executive Director of Environmental Defence Canada, spoke to an attentive audience for over 40 minutes on the subject of environmental toxins in our environment, then stayed behind for an additional quarter hour or so, answering questions and signing books.

It's no secret that our planet is struggling under a load of toxic pollution from vehicles, smokestacks and garbage. We hear about it every day, we see it ourselves when we drive in the city. But there is another type of pollution taking place on planet earth... it's chemical, it's everywhere, and - the thrust of Smith's talk - we're literally soaking in it.

Smith's talk centred around the book he co-authored with Bruce Lourie called "Slow Death By Rubber Duck". In the book, the pair use humour, plain language and tests they devised and implemented on themselves to illustrate the extent to which we are being quietly poisoned every day of our lives by everyday items like plastic, cosmetics and lawn care items.

In particular, they isolated what they called the 7 Deadly Syn-thetics:

1. Phalates - the things that help aromatic items carry scent more efficiently;
   
2. PFC - Non-stick coatings like Teflon that off-gas at high heats;
   
3. PBDE - a fire retardant which bioaccumulates in blood, breast milk, and fat tissues;
   
4. Mercury - found in large quantity in large, long lived fish like tuna;
   
5. Triclosan - a synthetic, broad-spectrum antimicrobial agent that can cause everything from skin irritation, allergy susceptibility and dioxin contamination to the destruction of fragile aquatic ecosystems;
   
6. Pesticides - now banned in Ontario, these chemicals kept our grass green for decades, but at what cost?
   
7. Biphenol A - a pollutant once commonly found in many products (such as baby bottles) that can mess with human hormone balance, and is particularly nasty when heated up.

Powerful & compelling stuff... and some of it was truly frightening. An evening that could have been distressing and depressing, to be sure. But Smith's primary message is ultimately an upbeat one - small changes can make big differences. His secondary message is clear and urgent... these chemicals will be with us for a long time, sitting in our blood and the blood of our children. Lets clean up our act now - and help ensure a healthier life for future generations.

Smith's book is a compelling read and a must have on any home bookshelf. It is available at fine bookstores everywhere (and of course we like Forster's Bookgarden in Bolton and BookLore in Orangeville). If you prefer to order online visit SlowDeathByRubberDuck.com , Amazon.ca , Chapters.Indigo.ca or http://www.randomhouse.ca