Beyond Toxics

Climate Equity, Air and Water Quality: We are working to achieve a society where everyone has equitable access to a stable climate and clean air and water, and underserved communities are included in decision making processes that affect them. We fight to end damaging environmental and climate pollution while collectively working to support leadership in the most impacted communities, restore public health, and maintain ecological resilience and balance. We initiated the successful campaign to require continuous dioxin and heavy metal emissions monitoring for waste incinerators, launched the Bethel Clean and Just Energy Project for a J40 community and conducted groundbreaking research on indoor air pollution from the use of gas appliances.

Pesticide Policy Reform: Beyond Toxics works to expose and reduce the damaging impacts of pesticides on the health of Oregonians, streams, natural lands and wildlife. From pesticides that harm farm workers to systemic chemicals that kill bees, Beyond Toxics takes action to educate decision makers and the public about the dangers of pesticides and advance policy changes that restrict or reduce pesticide use, ban unsafe uses, and protect those who are most vulnerable. We played a key role in Oregon becoming the fourth state to phase out the use of insecticide chlorpyrifos.

Environmental justice: Beyond Toxics is a statewide environmental justice nonprofit. We work to eliminate systemic inequities by building a grassroots environmental justice movement in marginalized communities to collectively restore community health and ecological balance. Our work starts with community-led organizing, leading to legal, regulatory and policy victories that end damaging environmental practices and reduce legacy pollution. We initiated legislative adoption of Oregons Joint Resolution on an Environmental Justice Framework and introduced the concept for equity criteria in land use.