Community Action

Since we know that we can’t wash away this tidal wave of toxicity that surrounds us without serious policy change, we hope to help empower you to engage in local and national action to advocate for fair environmental health and protection policies. Together we can change the marketplace and policy so all women and families are safer.

Search by STATE to find environmental health and justice organizations near you or groups working nationwide to make meaningful change for toxic free living! And if your organization would like to be added to our list, send us a note: info@mysafetynest.com!

Project TENDR
United States

What do they do?

Project TENDR is a unique collaboration of leading scientists, health professionals and children’s and environmental advocates. The organization came together in 2015 out of concern over the now substantial scientific evidence linking toxic environmental chemicals to neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder, attention deficits, hyperactivity, intellectual disability and learning disorders.

How can I get involved?

Project TENDR’s scientists, medical professionals and children’s and environmental advocates are proposing a broad set of policy measures that governments, corporations and health care institutions should take to lower children’s risks for developing neurodevelopmental disorders. There are also things that we can do in our homes to reduce exposures to the chemicals that can harm the developing brain, find them here!
Children's Environmental Health Network
Washington, DC

What do they do?

Children's Environmental Health Network (CEHN) is a national multi-disciplinary organization whose mission is to protect the developing child from environmental health hazards and promote a healthier environment.

How can I get involved?

Use CEHN’s website to get involved; the network possess resources for child care professionals, healthcare professionals, parents, families, and other child advocates. You can also subscribe to the CEHN newsletter.
Cancer Free Economy Network
United States

What do they do?

The Cancer Free Economy Network is a dynamic collaborative multi-sector network, led primarily by leaders from BIPOC and disproportionately impacted communities, seeking solutions that are broader and deeper than what can be accomplished individually. Their strategies are derived from an in-depth cross-sector analysis of the “system.” The organizion emphasizes that the U.S. economy is entrenched in a codependent relationship with hazardous chemicals.

How can I get involved?

Use the website for CFE resources to guide the reduction and elimination of toxic chemicals from the places we live, work and play and the products we use. You can find a variety of resources (apps, factsheets, toolkits, reports and more) developed by members of the CFE network here.
Plastic Pollution Coalition
Washington, DC

What do they do?

Plastic Pollution Coalition's expansive global alliance includes more than 1,300 organizations and businesses, and more than 14,000 individuals who have the shared goal of helping to create a more just, equitable, regenerative world free of plastic pollution and its toxic impacts.

How can I get involved?

Use the website to get involved in events, take the pledge to Say ‘No’ To Single-Use Plastic, sign the organizations petitions, and utilize curated guides to stay plastic free.
Clean and Healthy
Albany, NY

What do they do?

The organization's ultimate goal is to create a just and sustainable society, in which every community and neighborhood is free of toxic chemicals.

How can I get involved?

Use the website to send emails, phone bank, and make a donation. You can also become a corporate partner.
Environmental Integrity Project
Austin, TX and Washington, DC

What do they do?

The Environmental Integrity Project seeks to serve environmental justice communities by engaging directly with residents, making air and water pollution data more accessible, and reducing pollution through environmental permit reviews and advocacy work.

How can I get involved?

Donate to the Environmental Integrity Project here
Women's Voices for the Earth
Missoula, MT

What do they do?

WVE drives action towards a future free from the impacts of toxic chemicals rooted in gender justice alongside those historically and presently ignored by the environmental health movement by leveraging an intersectional solidarity approach based on organizatinal expertise in research, advocacy and organizing.

How can I get involved?

Donate or sign up for the WVE newsletter here
The Environmental Justice Health Alliance for Chemical Policy Reform
Brattleboro, VT

What do they do?

EJHA is a national collective of grassroots Environmental Justice groups located around the United States. They support a diverse movement towards safe chemicals and clean energy that leaves no community or worker behind.

How can I get involved?

Take a look at the list of EJ resources listed here
National Black Women's Reproductive Justice Agenda
Washington, DC

What do they do?

In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda is a national-state partnership focused on lifting up the voices of Black women leaders at the national and regional levels in our fight to secure Reproductive Justice for all women, femmes, and girls.

How can I get involved?

Sign up to receive updates, follow the organization on social media -- Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, send in a video for the website, work with their eight partners throughout the United States, and donate to support regional and state-based organizing.
National Hispanic Medical Association
Washington, DC

What do they do?

Established in 1994 in Washington, DC, the National Hispanic Medical Association is a non-profit association representing the interests of 50,000 licensed Hispanic physicians in the United States. NHMA is dedicated to empowering Hispanic physicians to be leaders who will help eliminate health disparities and improve the health of Hispanics.

How can I get involved?

Become a member or sign up for the NHMA newsletter.
Moms Clean Air Force
New York, NY

What do they do?

Moms Clean Air Force is a community of over one million parents united against air and climate pollution to protect children’s health.

How can I get involved?

Donate to the organization, sign a petition, learn about legislation supported by the organization, read over the clean air action guide, register to vote, attend an event, or work with any of the available programs -- EcoMadres, Community Equity Health, and Indigenous Communities programs, which can all be found here.
Environmental Defense Fund
New York, NY

What do they do?

EDF delivers bold, game-changing solutions to help people facing climate threats today while curbing climate pollution for a better tomorrow.

How can I get involved?

Sign up for informational alerts, donate to the EDF, and speak up for the health and safety of the environment and people everywhere.
Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments
Mount Rainier, MD

What do they do?

The Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments (ANHE) is the only national nursing organization focused solely on the intersection of health and the environment. The organization's mission is to promote healthy people and healthy environments by educating and leading the nursing profession, advancing research, incorporating evidence-based practice, and influencing policy.

How can I get involved?

Check out the action items on the organizations website here.
Environmental Working Group
Washington, DC

What do they do?

The goal of the environmental working group is to empower individuals with breakthrough research to make informed choices and live a healthy life in a healthy environment.

How can I get involved?

There are a myriad of ways to get involved with EWG. You can sign petitions, donate, invest, and more!
Climate Action Campaign
San Diego, CA

What do they do?

Climate Action Campaign writes, "our Five Fights tackle the biggest local drivers of the climate crisis. Focusing on these specific policy areas will most effectively protect public health, improve our quality of life, create family-sustaining jobs, and achieve racial and social justice".

How can I get involved?

Join the mailing list, donate to the organization, join the Fight for the San Diego Green New Deal, sign up for Climate Action Campaign's regular E-blasts that include Calls to Action, and follow the organization on social media.
Physicians for Social Responsibility
Los Angeles, CA

What do they do?

PSR's programs equip doctors, nurses, public health workers, allied health care professionals and students with the tools they need to successfully advocate for policies that foster healthier, stronger communities across Southern California and beyond.

How can I get involved?

Join the PSR newsletter, become a member, and/or become a part of the Health Ambassador Program
CinnaMoms
Los Angeles, CA

What do they do?

CinnaMons aims to create a cultural space that promotes empowerment and self-transformation for Black and African American women. CinnaMoms comes together to share and advocate for breastfeeding/chestfeeding, parenting, and health for the entire life course.

How can I get involved?

Utilize the CinnaMoms knowledge hub to access a list of articles, newsletters and publications that are relevant to CinnaMoms and WIC, advancing the mission of health and racial equity. Donate to support CinnaMoms, and/or become an ambassador.
Central California Environmental Justice Network (CCEJN)
Bakersfield, CA

What do they do?

The mission of CCEJN is to empower Central Californian communities and secure children’s future by eliminating negative environmental impacts in low-income and communities of color.

How can I get involved?

Donate to CCEJN to support them.
Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN)
Oakland, CA

What do they do?

Asian Pacific Environmental Network is an environmental justice organization with deep roots in California’s Asian immigrant and refugee communities. Since 1993, APEN has built a membership base of Laotian refugees in Richmond and Chinese immigrants in Oakland. Together, APEN has fought and won campaigns to make our communities healthier, just places where people can thrive.

How can I get involved?

You can donate or sign up for newsletters, but APEN needs long-term volunteers who are fluent in Mandarin, Cantonese, Mien, Khmu, or Lao or have professional filmmaking, photography and/or graphic design skills, or are from Oakland Chinatown or Richmond’s Southeast Asian communities. Reach out to APEN here. APEN also has internship opportunities available for students. To apply, contact info@apen4ej.org.
We Act for Environmental Justice
Harlem, NY

What do they do?

WE ACT’s mission is to build healthy communities by ensuring that people of color and/or low income residents participate meaningfully in the creation of sound and fair environmental health and protection policies and practices.

How can I get involved?

Get involved by donating, taking part in events, getting a membership, taking part in education, and taking actions as suggested on the We Act website.
Bayview Hunters Point Community Advocates
San Francisco, CA

What do they do?

The Advocates' programs combine community organizing with education, advocacy, and direct services. They seek to build Hunters Point's capacity as a self-determining, fully autonomous force for social change in today’s San Francisco. The Advocates’ work has always connected residents with environmental justice issues in the neighborhood, seeking to increase community participation in environmental decision-making and to build skills in the community to support a cleaner environmental future.

How can I get involved?

Programs include the The Southeast Community Council and Bayview Community Co-op. Get involved with the Public Health Outreach opportunities or the Unhoused Outreach opportunities on their website
Sierra Club
Oakland, CA

What do they do?

The Sierra Club describes itself as the most enduring and influential grassroots environmental organization in the United States. The Sierra Club amplifies the power of their millions of members and supporters to defend everyone’s right to a healthy world.

How can I get involved?

Sign petitions on the website here, read articles, and donate to the Sierra Club.
West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project
Oakland, CA

What do they do?

West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project builds resilient communities through environmental justice. We use a collaborative model of power sharing to equip residents with the skills and expertise to drive change in their own neighborhoods.

How can I get involved?

Community members can get involved with WOEIP programs via their website
Bayview Hunters Point Environmental Justice Response Task Force
San Francisco, CA

What do they do?

The Bayview Hunters Point Environmental Justice Response Task Force is a community-led, multi-stakeholder collaborative effort and is part of the growing IVAN (Identifying Violations Affecting Neighborhoods) Network. The Task Force brings together residents with community, environmental justice and health organizations, businesses and government agencies in a multi-stakeholder, problem-solving task force to remedy environmental pollution problems in the low-income community of color of Bayview Hunters Point, San Francisco.

How can I get involved?

Use IVANS community-based monitoring system to report environmental problems.
Green Science Policy Institute
Berkeley, CA

What do they do?

Green Science Policy Institute collaborates with leading scientists on policy-relevant research projects and translates scientific information to educate decision makers, the press, and the public. They promote safer use of chemicals and chemical policies that protect public health.

How can I get involved?

Check out the website for events, or look at the resources on the organizations website.
The Center for Environmental Health
Oakland, CA

What do they do?

CEH protects people from toxic chemicals by working with communities, consumers, workers, government, and the private sector to demand and support business practices that are safe for public health and the environment.

How can I get involved?

Sign a petition, sign up for email updates, and make sure to check the website for events coming up!
Campaign for Safe Cosmetics
San Francisco, CA

What do they do?

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics (CSC) leads the movement to make beauty and personal care products safer for all. CSC sends out information to provide safety information to all people.

How can I get involved?

Donate, and sign up for updates from the campaign.
Green Action for Health and Environmental Justice @ Hunters Point
San Francisco, CA

What do they do?

Greenaction mobilizes community power to win victories that change government and industry policies and practices to protect health and promote environmental, social, economic, racial, and climate justice.

How can I get involved?

Get involved by donating online or via mail, sign up for volunteer opportunities and email alerts, and join in on events!
Physicians for Social Responsibility - San Francisco Bay Area Chapter
San Francisco, CA

What do they do?

SF Bay Physicians for Social Responsibility works to protect human life from the gravest threats to health and survival. SF Bay PSR promote public policies that protect human health from the threats of nuclear war and other weapons of mass destruction, global environmental degradation, climate change, the epidemic of gun violence, and additional social injustices in our society today.

How can I get involved?

SF Bay’s PSR chapter has many ways to get involved on their website. Using their website you can sign petitions, volunteer with SF Bay PSR, teach at a variety of schools, intern, or join the speakers bureau. You can join PSR local committees if you become a member, and use advocacy tools compiled by PSR.
Breast Cancer Prevention Partners
San Francisco, CA

What do they do?

Breast Cancer Prevention Partners (BCPP) is a national organization working to eliminate toxic chemicals and other environmental exposures that lead to breast cancer.

How can I get involved?

Join in on events, join with BCPP as a business partner, or fundraise to support the organization.
Coalition for Clean Air
Los Angeles, CA and Sacramento, CA

What do they do?

CCA is a California wide clean air organization. The mission is to protect public health, improve air quality, and prevent climate change.

How can I get involved?

You can get involved on the CCA website, under the advocacy tab. Most recently, you can "call on the Californians to be a vocal advocate in the fight against train pollution and for advocating for everyone's right to clean air".
Black Women for Wellness
Los Angeles, CA

What do they do?

Black Women For Wellness is committed to the health and well-being of Black women and girls through health education, empowerment and advocacy. Black Women for Wellness works in programs pertaining to both environmental justice and health in the built environment as well as in salons and via products.

How can I get involved?

You can donate to BWW, as "donation fuels our ongoing fight to expand healthcare access for black women and girls, reduce toxic chemicals that are prevalent in our community and build political advocacy". You can also become a member, subscribe to the BWW newsletter, and/or sign up to volunteer.