Silent Spring

In spite of the fact Nicholai's lymphoma finally took him away, in spite of our inability to cure him, in spite of how frightening a cancer diagnosis is; I still believe the answer – the cure – for cancer lies outside of pharmaceutical approaches. It continues to befuddle me that in our mainstream treatment approaches, we add more burden and more toxins to bodies already compromised. As far as I can see, the most critical area for reducing the incidence and fatality from cancer is in prevention. And the most important part of prevention is cleaning up our nest.

Nearly fifty years ago, Rachel Carson wrote a book called Silent Spring. Carson exposed the dangers of pesticide use to the public in unprecedented numbers. "Silent Spring" referred to an eerie kind of silence like the one a gardener described to Carson about a mosquito control campaign that resulted in a mass death of song birds around her home. Those that lay scattered around her DDT contaminated birdbath had perished in a posture of grotesque convulsion: legs drawn up to their breast, mouths gaping open. Published in 1962, her book and the ensuing outcry eventually led to a ban on the use of DDT in the U.S. Sadly, much DDT had already been released into the environment and is still in use around the globe. Those born in the 40's 50's 60's and 70's have experienced exposures during their prenatal, infant, toddler, and for some, teen and young adult development.

The rapid birthrate of petrochemicals began in the 1940's and quickly overwhelmed the ability of government to oversee. In 1972 DDT was finally banned. In 1976, Congress passed the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) which mandated a review of new chemicals. There was just one glitch in this system: the entire inventory – 62,000 chemicals already in use – was exempt from testing. And today, they still are. They still are.

My beloved dog just died of cancer and my dear sister (born in 1958 into a DDT-happy world) struggles against its ravage right now. After four decades, most chemicals in use in our food, clothes, cars, homes; most chemicals invading the soil, water, and the very air we breathe, have never been vetted. This has to change and we have to demand that it change.
Recycled glass instead of plastic

In honor of my Pickle, I will continue my small in-home crusade to eliminate the invasion of potentially toxic chemicals; room by room, looking at paints and plastics, cleaners and containers, air fresheners, fabrics, and ingredient labels for everything.

I cannot, on my own, even begin to hope to purge our home of every toxin. As long as they are used anywhere, chemicals will travel via wind and rain to wherever I am – even the mountain tops and the Arctic Circle now suffer contamination from substances used hundreds, or thousands, of miles away.

But in my little corner of the world, I'll be doing my part to cleanse the nest in which I – in which we – all abide.