What you can do about toxic chemicals

The things we rely on to live - air, water, the food we eat - are all part of the Earth's natural systems. But the way we live now - burning fossil fuels, producing vast quantities of synthetic chemicals and generating huge amounts of toxic pollution - is having a massive negative impact on those systems, not to mention our health. We need to do all we can to lessen this impact, and in the interest of fairness we should ensure that polluters are made responsible for cleaning up the mess they create.

Yet the world's chemical industries continue to produce and release thousands of chemical compounds every year, in most cases with little or no testing or understanding of their impacts on people and the environment.

It's game over for toxic game consoles

The big three games companies - Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony - are making games consoles packed with toxic components and they're power-hungry to boot. Make sure they power up their green credentials.

Solving the chemical crisis

Substituting hazardous chemicals with safer materials is the answer to governments and industry that have failed to control the spread of dangerous chemicals around the globe.

Demand a greener computer

The world is consuming more and more electronic products every year. This has caused a dangerous explosion in electronic scrap (e-waste) containing toxic chemicals and heavy metals that cannot be disposed of or recycled safely. But this problem can be avoided. We are pressing leading electronic companies for change to turn back the toxic tide of e-waste, and have already had success with the Green my Apple campaign.

Help us keep up the pressure by writing to leading manufacturers and demanding greener computers.

Support us

All of our money comes from individual donations. We lobby companies and governments to adopt responsible policies on toxics without your generous support.

Aim for zero waste

Use your council recycling scheme for all the kinds of waste it takes, and find out where other wastes - like plastics or batteries - can be recycled. Try not to throw things away that you could reuse, and try to buy goods with minimal packaging. Make sure you use recycled goods wherever possible.

Buy natural products

Find out whether the everyday products you use are harming you and the environment. Use a guide like the Environmental Investigation Agency's Green Guide to choose alternatives like buying organic food and other organic products, such as organic cotton, which have not been sprayed with chemicals.