What Inspired me to Make This Blog

I recently have been listening to the audiobook version of Erin Brockovich's book, Superman's Not Coming, and it really inspired me to make this blog. She talks about all the different ways she's fighting to help people who are dealing with toxic drinking water that's been polluted by big corporations. She said 3 words that stuck with me: I NEED HELP. 

Her book is a reminder to me that we all need to pitch in more, to fight for clean water and water conservation. But we can't do it that these problems exist, or knowing what to do when these problems arise!

When I looked up my water report for Redwood City on the Environmental Working Group's website, this is what I found: 

I posted this information on a local Facebook group for my area, and was shocked to see negative and angry comments from a few people who seemed to be unaware of these toxins, and instead of directing their rage towards the polluters, it was directed at me. They thought I was spreading false information, and insisted that there is no way toxins in our water could be carcinogenic. 

To be clear, I realize there is NO way to be able to prove that any particular person's cancer was caused by cancer. But when you start doing research on toxins like trihalomethanes and hexavalent chromium. it starts looking more and more likely that these toxins could be playing a role in our country's rising cancer rates!

There really needs to be more education about water safety. Water Boards tend to release glossy, nice looking "water quality reports" that give the illusion that everything's just fine, so people rarely think they need to do their own research on water toxins. But they really should. 

I know too many people who have died from cancer over the last 8 years, including my own husband (he had other issues, but I imagine the fact that he'd drank straight tap water for about 15 years, didn't help). 

So much of our soil and groundwater has been polluted by big corporations, including my own husband, and my dear friend and family member, Jeanne. Shortly after Jeanne's death, I learned that the property she'd been living on, in Mountain View, was in the boundaries of a Superfund Site (I didn't even know what that was, until her neighbor explained it to me). This neighbor told me that the groundwater contamination was so bad, pregnant women who worked at the Google building across the street weren't allowed to work on the ground floor! This is because the toxins in the water can be released through the air (this process is called Vapor Intrusion, and you can learn more about it HERE). 

This neighbor also told me that every time she or her other neighbors tried to do posts about the topic on NextDoor, those posts mysteriously disappeared. So it's clear that we need to do more to tal to each other outside of social media!

Why we NEED to Conserve Water!

I live in Northern California, and over the last 8 years, it's been frightening to see how many out-of-control wildfires have broken out in our state.... not to mention in other places in our country, like Maui. 

The mainstream media and our government aren't doing enough to educate the general public on ways we can conserve water and also protect our environment.

I'm going to be adding more to this page and this blog soon, but for now, please have a look at this video so you can see why we need more people to take action NOW!

Erin gives a lot of ways we can get involved to fight for clean water in her book. You can check it out on Amazon by clicking HERE. 

Our Environment is BURNING UP!