Community Grants 2006

Green cleaners in Boston schools - now in its second year, The Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health, Dorchester, will continue its Healthy Boston Schools Janitorial Project that engages custodians, Boston Public Schools, and the larger school community in an effort to reduce the use of toxic cleaning chemicals in schools and promote healthy policies and procedures in Boston and across the state.

Healthy cosmetology - New Ecology, Inc., Cambridge will implement the Vietnamese Healthy Nail Salon Initiative Project to evaluate the performance of safer products with salon owners and promote alternative products to salon suppliers and salons in Greater Boston and Western Massachusetts.

The Lower Pioneer Valley Career and Technical Education Center, East Longmeadow will initiate the Model Cosmetology Salon Project to incorporate toxics use reduction into the curriculum and building design of a new state-of-the art vocational school in West Springfield slated to open in 2005.

Pesticide use and alternatives - the Town of Westford Water Department will build public awareness about pesticide use with the Bridging Pesticide and Human Health Awareness with Water Resource Protection Project. The goal is to improve communication among town departments regarding pesticide use reduction, recommend safer alternative methods for lawn care, and bridge pesticide use reduction with water resource protection and human health impacts.

The Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences will seek to identify and reduce long-term pesticide exposures in humans and wildlife with the Massachusetts Wildlife and Human Health Initiative: Focusing on Exposure to Current-Use Pesticides Project. The Center will present a synthesis report and recommendations in a workshop with land managers, scientists, regulators, and educators.

Other past TURN Grant accomplishments include TUR literature for food service establishments; training for health officers; a citizen's guide to the Children and Families Protection Act; and bi-lingual information on household toxics and TUR. A listing of new projects and many of the past projects and products are featured on TURI's Community website.