History & Accomplishments
History
In 1995, a group of women activists joined forces to create Women’s Voices for the Earth (WVE) in Missoula, Montana. The original goal was to create a model women’s organization that would effectively address leading environmental issues while creating opportunities for women to become agents for social change.
For the first ten years of operation, WVE conducted state-based work in Montana, organizing and providing technical assistance to women fighting local polluting facilities such as pulp mills, incinerators, hard rock mines, cement kilns and large-scale pesticide spraying. Core to the mission of WVE was building strategic alliances and involving women in environmental organizing efforts and decision-making. In 2004, recognizing the unique niche of WVE in bridging the women’s movement and environmental movements, WVE expanded its work to reach women at the regional and national levels.
Today, WVE is a national organization focusing its work on eliminating toxic chemicals that may be contributors to breast cancer, birth defects, asthma, infertility, learning disabilities, children’s cancers and other illnesses. We aim to eliminate sources of toxic chemicals from consumer products, homes, workplaces, and communities.
Watch WVE’s 15th Anniversary video, 15 Years of Educating and Empowering Women!
2011 Accomplishments
- Released Dirty Secrets: What’s Hiding in Your Cleaning Products, a report revealing hidden toxic chemicals in top brand name cleaners.
- Convinced the FDA to warn Brazilian Blowout to stop mislabeling and lower levels of formaldehyde in their popular hair straighteners, and OSHA to issue two hazard alerts.
- Convinced Clorox to become the first mainstream cleaning product company to disclose all ingredients in their products, including a master list of fragrance ingredients.
- Successfully advocated for workers’ rights provisions, including salon workers, to be included in the Safe Cosmetics Act of 2011.
- Garnered Senator Baucus’ (D-MT) first public statement in support of the Safe Chemicals Act.
- Advocated for the Cleaning Product Right to Know Act, introduced in November, which would require cleaning products to bear a label listing all ingredients.
- Met face-to-face with SC Johnson and convinced them to disclose all ingredients (except fragrance) directly on product labels in the next 2-3 years.
- Organized the Congressional briefing “Toxic Exposures in Salons” in support of the Safe Cosmetics Act, and took two nail salon workers and one hair stylist to Washington, D.C. to share their personal stories.
- As a steering member of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, helped convince Johnson & Johnson to remove the cancer-causing chemicals formaldehyde and 1,4-dioxane from their baby shampoo.
- Raised awareness of toxic chemicals and women’s health in the media with coverage of WVE’s work in GreenBiz, The LA Times, Wall Street Journal, Philadelphia Inquirer, Mother Jones, Rodale News, NPR, CBS, Fox News and more.
Why a Women's Organization?We believe that women have incredible social, economic, and political power to change the systems that allow toxic chemicals in products in the first place.
