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Baltic Info Campaign on Hazardous Substances

Many products used in every day life, like toys, cosmetics, plastic products, etc. contain hazardous chemicals. In the Baltic States people are often not aware of this and sufficient regulation is not in place. The overall goal of the project is to initiate a stronger demand at the society in the three Baltic States for products free of hazardous substances via awareness raising activities.

22.09.2011 | WECF Project


Countries: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania
Donors: EU Life+
Partners: Baltic Environmental Forum Estonia (BEF EE), Baltic Environmental Forum Latvia (BEF LV), Baltic Environmental Forum Lithuania (BEF LT), WECF, Environmental Film Studio (VFS), Tallinn University (TLU), Liepaja University (LiepU), Rautakesko AS Estonia (Rautakesko EE)
Issues: Chemicals & Health
Duration: 10/2011 - 03/2015

The overall goal of this project with its slogan “Think before you buy” is to initiate a stronger demand at the society in the three Baltic States for products free of hazardous substances via awareness raising activities.

The project wants to have an impact on society’s behaviour to assist changing it from environmentally passive to active participation in environmental issues. It wants to improve the health protection from hazardous substances by changing consumption patterns at pilot stakeholder groups. The project also wants to communicate these demands to policy makers at national and international level.WECF’s input to the project

Info campaign – WECF expertise on awaireness raising
The project partners want to inform society about substances which are considered at European Union (EU) and national level as hazardous, why so, in which products on the market they occur and where such products are used in everyday life. In the course of the project easy understandable information materials about potential impacts from hazardous substances to human health and environment targeted to the information needs of the particular stakeholder group will be elaborated and published. WECF provides the project with its guides on toys, detergents, body care products, baby care products, renovation materials, EDCs and textile as basis for information material adapted for the countries special needs and for translation into the three national Baltic languages. Download the guides in German here (and here). For the guides in Estonian, Lithuanian and Latvian please see the country pages of the project. Other tools for communicating to the different target audiences such as interactive games, web competitions, video clips etc. are developed and tested during project duration with the aim at addressing target groups in an attractive and inter-active way. A teacher's handbook was published to raise awareness among the youth on how we are exposed to hazardous substances in our everyday life and how our everyday choices affect our health and the environment we live in.

In order to gain more practical experience and knowledge on the possibility to substitute or avoid hazardous substances, the project team made excursions to retailer stores, to stores that sell ecological cosmetics, body care products and textiles, and met a hair dresser who gave a training on ecological hairstyling products.

Training by Birgit Pesin, an ecological hairdresser, Munich October 2013

WECF brought eco hairdresser Birgit Pesin to the Baltic states to give three seminars. And within the framework of the project, a handbook was published, to inform hairdressers on hazardous ingredients in hair products.

WECF trainings on European and International NGO work

The project also offers practical advice to the target audiences on possible individual reduction measures of hazardous substances. The mind setting of the society should be supported by cooperating with educational institutions aiming to integrate the information on hazardous substances to school programmes and by addressing media and provide journalists with background information about the substances of concern and their impacts on the environment aiming at wider broadcasting.

One of the ways to achieve this was by giving targeted support to the Baltic NGOs by giving them trainings to enable them to participate in important environmental policy work on international and EU level.

 

NGO Training in Riga, December 2012

Bringing BEF and BaltInfoHaz into the NGO network

Due to its good connections and cooperation within different NGO networks (EEB, IPEN, INCHES, ROCA, Etc.) and political processes on the issue of hazardous substances (SAICM - ICCM, UNEP, WHO, EU, REACH etc.) WECF brought and brings the BaltInfoHaz project, its ideas, progress, results and experience to the NGO meetings as well as in frame of WECF advocacy work to the political level.


International Network on Children’s Health, Environment and Safety (INCHES), 7th international Conference, Jerusalem 2014

For more information please contact: Johanna Hausmann and Alexandra Caterbow



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