Just as the springtime blooms are awakening, we too are excited to open up and share the latest BCPP news with you. With your support, we’ve already made big things happen for prevention in 2021! Check out the highlights below and please consider donating today to help us build on this incredible momentum.
NEW BILL: Banning PFAS in Food Packaging
PFAS ‘forever’ chemicals can be found in our food, food packaging, cookware, and many other consumer products. These chemicals are linked to serious health problems – including increased risk of cancers, COVID, endocrine disruption, and birth defects – and never break down in our bodies or the environment. That’s why BCPP is co-sponsoring a brand-new California bill, the Safer Food Packaging and Cookware Act (AB1200-Ting) to ban PFAS in food packaging and force the disclosure of toxic chemicals in cookware!
TAKE ACTION: Toxic PFAS in Burger King Wrappers
When used in grease-resistant food packaging, PFAS ‘forever’ chemicals easily move from food wrappers into our food and then pollute our bodies, water, soil, and air. There, they build up and cause serious health harm. We’re working with our partner, Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families, to call on Burger King to remove PFAS from their food wrappers. In the first week of action, 445 members of the BCPP community sent in letters to Burger King. Didn’t take action yet? Send your letter today!
Spring Gala Recap: Moving Prevention Forward, Virtually
Last month, we held our first ever virtual gala, March Forth, to celebrate and invigorate our movement to prevent breast cancer and create a healthier world for everyone. The evening was filled with amazing energy and featured outstanding entertainment, high-profile celebrity speakers, and leaders in environmental health and justice. Our community showed up virtually and came together strong, raising over $227,500 for prevention! See our blog for show highlights, the gala recording, and extended content from our speakers.
New Biden Federal Policy Agenda
With a new president comes the need for a new federal policy agenda. So, BCPP developed and disseminated an extensive, 22-page agenda for the Biden Administration to reverse the rising incidence of breast cancer in the U.S. This clear set of solutions addresses the toxic chemical exposures Americans face every single day that are contributing to increasing rates of breast cancer and other diseases. Now, we’re in the midst of planning meetings with new agency heads and officials to distribute and advocate for our recommended Executive Orders, reversals of regulatory rollbacks, and new policies. Stay tuned!
Paths to Prevention: Race, Power, & Inequities
Each month we are highlighting key information from our Breast Cancer Primary Prevention Plan. We recently published our first fact sheet on Race, Power and Inequities. Keep an eye out for our upcoming virtual educational events on breast cancer risk factors and what we can do to promote prevention.
Supporter Spotlight: Sarah Reines
Meet Sarah Reines, a participant in 2021 Climb Against the Odds, longtime BCPP supporter, and cancer survivor. Sarah and her 16-year-old son, Max, will climb Mt. Shasta together this summer.
“I feel like one of my main lessons from this Climb Against the Odds is that I can push through fear and come out on the other side. I’ve spent a lot of time feeling afraid since my first cancer diagnosis three and a half years ago. Each time I have bloodwork or a scan, I spend a week worrying about what we are going to see. I’ve turned down a few opportunities because I was afraid that my cancer may come back, and I may not be well enough to realize the opportunity fully. No more. I’m not going to say there isn’t going to be any more fear, but I’m showing myself that I can keep going, despite the fear. I just need to keep breathing and do ‘it’ anyway.”
Safe Cosmetics Webinars
Our very own expert, Janet Nudelman, Director of Program and Policy and Director of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, represented BCPP in two stellar virtual events this past quarter. First up was a Congressional Staff Briefing on the need for federally mandated fragrance and flavor ingredient disclosure in personal care and beauty products. Watch it here! The second was a really fun and informative presentation with City of Hope’s “Bench to Community Program” Salon Conversations discussing safe cosmetics and advocacy. Watch it here!
Science Webinar
Join BCPP and AnticancerLifestyle for our webinar ‘Breast Cancer and the Environment: What We Know and What You Can Do.’ This webinar features Dr. Sharima Rasanayagam, Ph.D., BCPP’s Director of Science. You’ll learn about the link between environmental exposures and breast cancer, what we should be most concerned about from a scientific perspective, concrete steps we can take to reduce our exposures, and how we can work to make our communities and environment safer for all.
Legacy Giving
BCPP’s work to protect our loved ones and the planet from toxic chemicals linked to breast cancer is of vital importance, now and for future generations. Making a planned gift is a powerful way to make a lasting impact and legacy with us that won’t cost you anything today. We hope you will join those who have planned for their future (and ours!) by including BCPP in their will, trust, or beneficiary designations. Writing a will is one of the most important steps you can take to protect what matters most to you.
Partner Spotlight: Innersense Organic Beauty
Innersense Organic Beauty has partnered with BCPP for the past several years, including an advocacy trip to Sacramento, where their CEO, Joanne Starkman, made office visits and pledged support for the Cosmetic Fragrance and Flavor Ingredient Right to Know Act of 2019. Once that bill was passed (hurray!), Innersense Organic Beauty didn’t stop there! From supporting BCPP’s mission through product donations to sponsorship, the team made their largest commitment yet, supporting 7 employees from various states to climb in BCPP’s annual Climb Against the Odds on Mt. Shasta. Not only does this company rally support for BCPP at the Capitol, but they’re also doing it from one of CA’s highest peaks!
What makes them great: Innersense Organic Beauty promises clean chemistry, radical transparency, and a commitment to the environment. Founders Greg and Joanne Starkman commit to professional quality haircare products with safe ingredients validated by the app Think Dirty, while seeking to inform beauty professionals and consumers on the importance of non-toxic haircare.
SPECIAL APRIL OFFER FOR YOU!
Use code BCPPHAIRLOVE to save 15% at www.innersensebeauty.com. This code is good for one use through May 6, 2021!
The journey never pauses for those seeking to create change. Thank you for walking by our side into 2021 – into the next decade of breast cancer prevention. All of us at BCPP deeply value and appreciate your support and commitment to our work!
P.S. Did you miss these blogs? Why Breast Cancer Prevention Matters, Honoring BCPP Heroine Mary Ann Castimore, 3 Tips for Reducing Your Risk in 2021
