Go Toxic Free: Easy and Sustainable Ways to Reduce Chemical Pollution

Description

Plastic pollution has been headline news since David Attenborough's shocking Blue Planet II in 2017. But plastics are only part of the story, and the invisible world of chemical pollutants - in the soil, the air, our water systems and our own bodies - is just as concerning. There's been a huge rise in chemical related health issues (affecting IQ, fertility, cancer and more) in recent years, and this isn't surprising when over 70 per cent of chemicals used in the EU are hazardous for health or the environment. This inspiring and practical book will make this invisible world visible, looking at the wider issues of harmful chemicals - what they are, where they're hidden and the extent of their environmental impact. Taking you on an in-depth tour of your kitchen cupboard, your bathroom cabinet, your wardrobe and your garden, Anna Turns reveals the harmful chemicals that lurk inside your home, the damage they can cause and helpful swaps and tips to avoid them wherever you can.

Anna Turns is a journalist specializing in sustainability issues and an Oxford University biology graduate with twenty years' experience working in the media. She writes regularly for the Guardian, Positive News, Evening Standard, Daily Telegraph, Wicked Leeks and others, and is passionate about environmental education. In 2017 she founded her own environmental campaign, Plastic Clever Salcombe, which focuses on reducing single-use plastics and empowering children to make change. In 2020, she joined the Integrity Council for Provenance, which aims to combat greenwashing and create standards that better enable transparency.

Honest yet inspiring, Go Toxic Free empowers us to take positive action today. -- Lucy Siegle Go Toxic Free is a book that brings you up against something hard: just how much our world, our homes, our bodies have been poisoned by global industrialization. By the creams and cleaning products and flame retardants and bright plastic toys and packaging and non-stick coatings that promised to make life easier and more convenient - and did. But now the costs are being counted in all the ways we know so horribly well - which leads many of us to despair. Well, if like me you're despairing, this is the book for you - full of empowering facts and the new science and research, as well as simple practical advice, to lead us out of the mess we've made. -- Sheila Dillon, presenter of R4's 'The Food Programme' Chemical pollution is an insidious problem. It impacts everyone, every day. Of the 100,000 chemicals on the EU market, there is only robust information on a mere 500 of them. Harmful chemicals don't belong in our bodies, products and ecosystems. Go Toxic Free is a fabulously helpful and informative resource that empowers the reader to start getting toxics out of their life. -- James K. Thornton, Founder and CEO of ClientEarth This is a scientifically robust and informative book which is also accessible for general readers. The environmental and health impact of toxic chemicals needs a higher profile and people need practical ideas on how to minimize their exposure. This book does an excellent job at both. -- Mike Childs, Head of Policy and Insight at Friends of the Earth A hugely important and informative book, this is essential reading for anyone who wants to reduce their toxic burden on the planet and protect their own health. -- Natalie Fee, author of How to Save the World for Free Cracks open the scam of greenwashing and shines a light on half-truths. While we can easily crumble under the burden of responsibility and flounder awash with marketing cliches, this book has offered up honest, workable solutions. Everyone's guide to taking steps to clean up how we live so nature can have a chance to recover. -- Susie Hewson, founder of Natracare 'This book is a breath of fresh air. Anna explains exactly what chemicals are, and how toxics in everyday products affect us. I love the way she guides us room by room and shows us how to make sustainable swaps. It's the 'small change, big difference' approach. -- Janey Lee Grace, author of Happy Healthy Sober I've learnt more about toxins in the first chapter of this book than I've probably known in all my life. And it's making me think very differently about everything I use / buy / dispose of. It's quite startling. -- Sophie Marple, 'Impatience Earth'