The OCEH's goal is to help reduce and eliminate the use and disposal of toxic waste by promoting closed-loop technologies, watch-dogging state agencies, supporting right-to-know legislation and policies at the local and state levels, participating in national campaigns to phase out toxic substances, and working at the grassroots level to help affected communities reduce and eliminate exposures and advocate for safer alternatives. OCEH undertake their mission through grassroots organizing, education, advocacy, litigation and strategic partnerships working together to empower citizens to shift the balance of power away from polluting industries in favor of institutions, practices and laws that are protective of public health and the environment.

Recent Accomplishments:

OCEH has also moved forward with our EcoSafe Home Education and Outreach program. Through this program we have been busy conducting educational outreach on toxics issues with communities in metro Portland and Salem. Our EcoSafe Home class and Green Cleaning classes have been successful in reaching over 600 participants in the past year. Our classes have been proactive in engaging the public to take the steps to detoxify their homes and create a safe and healthy home environment. The EcoSafe Home class provides participants with the necessary information to make wiser purchasing decisions, and avoid products that contain additives such as Phthalates, Bisphenol-A, and Lead. Our Green Cleaning class gives participants a background on conventional cleaners, tips, and recipes to make their own green cleaners. The green cleaning class is highly interactive, and each person makes three green cleaners that they take home with them at the end of class. As part of our outreach efforts we also tabled at a number of events including the City’s Fix-It Fairs, the Better Living Show, and local farm markets. At many of these events we conducted free classes to the public. Our education classes have also helped to promote our EcoSafe Home store, which was introduced in 2008 as a resource to offer non-toxic products to the public. All sales go to help fund all of our programs. The store is a great educational tool to inform the public on what their products are made of and where they come from. We highly vet all of the products that we carry by contacting manufacturers and researching the material they use.

In 2008 we also opened our EcoSafe Home Store to offer products that we have vetted and determined to be safe for both family and environment. We recognized that people want products for their homes and children that have been carefully assessed for their safe, non-toxic and environmentally-friendly qualities. But finding those products can be difficult when most consumer products have no required health and safety testing, are not monitored for long-term health effects, and have inadequate labeling requirements when it comes to toxicity. We opened the EcoSafe Home Store to serve people who want to consider the health and environmental effects of the products they buy, but lack the time to research high-quality, non-toxic options. We offer full disclosure with all the items we carry, and work to educate consumers to look at the full life cycle of the products they purchase. Our green cleaning classes are popular with families looking to make their homes healthier, too!

The Center has also been working to protect the public from dangerous chemicals through our Chemical Policy Reform program. We continued our partnership with Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility, Oregon Environmental Council, and the Oregon Toxics Alliance to push for chemical policy reform in Salem. The group is called the Alliance for A Clean and Green Oregon, and has worked the past year to promote the Call for Safer Chemicals, which was adopted to promote the work the group is doing across the state on Chemical Policy reform. This program benefits all Oregonians, as it works to protect their health and environment from chemicals that have been linked to developmental disorders, leukemia, and cancer. During the recent legislative session we helped lobby for the banning of Bisphenol-A in baby bottles and children’s sippy cups, and fought against two bills that would allow for the burning of garbage to be categorized as "renewable energy". The group has also been responsible in convening the monthly chemical policy roundtable that brings together partners from the Oregon Department of Human Services, Metro, Oregon DEQ, and other public agencies and non-profits to discuss broader approaches to toxics reduction. The roundtable is currently working on a white paper that will be used to enact chemical policy reform at the state level.

We have also introduced our Mercury Reduction program in 2009. The first project for this program is the Thermostat Recycling project. This project works with local Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) contractors and wholesalers to promote a program to recycle old thermostats that contain mercury. The project is a two year partnership with Metro , Oregon DEQ, and The Thermostat Recycling Corporation (TRC) that conducts outreach to the HVAC community, and also works with the general public to make them aware of the proper disposal of mercury. We have worked to sign up contractors and wholesalers to participate in the TRC recycling program, which provides a service to recycle mercury thermostats properly. Mercury is a very toxic substance even at low doses, and many thermostats prior to the program ended up in landfill or incinerator-bound dumpsters, where they have a high risk of contamination.