Latest news with #ErikOlson
Business Upturn
3 days ago
- Business
- Business Upturn
Dignity Made Launches to Fight Trafficking with Ethical Coconut Oil
St. Paul, MN, May 31, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Dignity Coconuts, known for its premium, ethically sourced coconut oil, has rebranded as Dignity Made, a powerful new identity that puts its social mission front and center. More than a name change, the launch of Dignity Made signals a bold step forward in using business as a force to prevent human trafficking and empower coconut farmers in rural areas of the Philippines. Rooted in the belief that ethical jobs can prevent exploitation, Dignity Made partners directly with coconut farming communities in the Philippines to provide dignified work, education, and economic opportunity- especially for women vulnerable to trafficking. With each product sold, the brand fuels real solutions to generational poverty and systemic injustice. 'We're not just making coconut oil. We're creating a path out of poverty, one jar at a time,' said Erik Olson, CEO of Dignity Made. 'Our rebrand reflects who we've truly been all along: a company committed to making better products and a better world.' Same Mission, Bigger Vision Originally founded in 2010 as Dignity Coconuts, the company has earned awards for its raw, centrifuge-extracted coconut oil and transparent sourcing model. Now, with a growing lineup of clean beauty and wellness products, the Dignity Made name reflects a broader commitment to both consumers and the communities behind each product. With the tagline 'Better for You, Better for All,' Dignity Made continues its pledge to offer clean, safe products while empowering the people who make them through fair trade, safe jobs, and skills-based employment. Real Impact Where It Matters To date, the company has helped over 200 families rise above subsistence living. Through on-the-ground programs in financial literacy, education, and job creation, Dignity Made is breaking cycles of dependency and trafficking vulnerability—replacing them with dignity, purpose, and hope. 'I used to feel hopeless,' says Angeline, one of the women employed through Dignity Made. 'Now my child is in school, I have peace at home, and I'm always smiling. I can't explain the joy—it's spreading through our whole community.' As a verified member of the Fair Trade Federation, Dignity Made adheres to the highest standards of ethical production and environmental stewardship, including a goal to have zero-waste coconut processing that maximizes every part of the crop. To learn more or explore Dignity Made's product line, visit About Dignity Made Dignity Made is a purpose-driven social enterprise committed to fighting poverty and human trafficking through clean, coconut-based products. By building direct trade partnerships with Filipino farmers and investing in community transformation, Dignity Made goes beyond commerce to create lasting change. Every product supports ethical labor, environmental responsibility, and the belief that everyone deserves the chance to live free from exploitation. Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with GlobeNewswire. Business Upturn takes no editorial responsibility for the same.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Dignity Made Launches to Fight Trafficking with Ethical Coconut Oil
St. Paul, MN, May 31, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --Dignity Coconuts, known for its premium, ethically sourced coconut oil, has rebranded as Dignity Made, a powerful new identity that puts its social mission front and center. More than a name change, the launch of Dignity Made signals a bold step forward in using business as a force to prevent human trafficking and empower coconut farmers in rural areas of the Philippines. Rooted in the belief that ethical jobs can prevent exploitation, Dignity Made partners directly with coconut farming communities in the Philippines to provide dignified work, education, and economic opportunity- especially for women vulnerable to trafficking. With each product sold, the brand fuels real solutions to generational poverty and systemic injustice. 'We're not just making coconut oil. We're creating a path out of poverty, one jar at a time,' said Erik Olson, CEO of Dignity Made. 'Our rebrand reflects who we've truly been all along: a company committed to making better products and a better world.' Same Mission, Bigger Vision Originally founded in 2010 as Dignity Coconuts, the company has earned awards for its raw, centrifuge-extracted coconut oil and transparent sourcing model. Now, with a growing lineup of clean beauty and wellness products, the Dignity Made name reflects a broader commitment to both consumers and the communities behind each the tagline 'Better for You, Better for All,' Dignity Made continues its pledge to offer clean, safe products while empowering the people who make them through fair trade, safe jobs, and skills-based employment. Real Impact Where It Matters To date, the company has helped over 200 families rise above subsistence living. Through on-the-ground programs in financial literacy, education, and job creation, Dignity Made is breaking cycles of dependency and trafficking vulnerability—replacing them with dignity, purpose, and hope. 'I used to feel hopeless,' says Angeline, one of the women employed through Dignity Made. 'Now my child is in school, I have peace at home, and I'm always smiling. I can't explain the joy—it's spreading through our whole community.' As a verified member of the Fair Trade Federation, Dignity Made adheres to the highest standards of ethical production and environmental stewardship, including a goal to have zero-waste coconut processing that maximizes every part of the crop. To learn more or explore Dignity Made's product line, visit Dignity MadeDignity Made is a purpose-driven social enterprise committed to fighting poverty and human trafficking through clean, coconut-based products. By building direct trade partnerships with Filipino farmers and investing in community transformation, Dignity Made goes beyond commerce to create lasting change. Every product supports ethical labor, environmental responsibility, and the belief that everyone deserves the chance to live free from exploitation. CONTACT: Press Contact: Heather Holmes heather@ +1 (828) 332-5307 in to access your portfolio
The Guardian
15-05-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
Trump officials want to cut limits of Pfas in drinking water – what will the impact be?
The Trump administration has announced it would attempt to kill some of the strong new Pfas 'forever chemical' drinking water limits set in April 2024. While the moves would deliver a clear win for the US chemical and water utility industries, it's less clear whether the action will be successful, what it means longterm for the safety of the US's drinking water, and its impact on progress in addressing forever chemical pollution. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is attempting maneuvers that violate the law, observers say, and even if they survive a legal challenge, progress under the Biden administration cannot be fully undone. There's also some momentum in regulatory and legal battles that public health advocates have won at the state level and in courts that will ultimately improve water piecemeal regardless of the EPA's backtracking. Still, the announcement raises a fresh round of questions about the water utility industry, which has led the attack on the new rules. And the announcement represents a blow on a popular environmental and public health issue that has seen notable successes in recent years. 'With this action, EPA is making clear that it's willing to ignore Americans who just want to turn on their kitchen taps and have clean, safe water,' said Erik Olson, senior strategic director for health at the NRDC. The non-profit is an intervenor on legal action on the issue, and lobbied for the limits. Pfas are a class of chemicals often used to make products resistant to water, stains and heat. They are called 'forever chemicals' because they do not naturally break down, and are linked to cancer, liver problems, thyroid issues, birth defects, kidney disease, decreased immunity and other serious health problems. The chemicals are ubiquitous in the environment and thought to be contaminating drinking water for more than 200 million people across the US. The 2024 Pfas rules marked the first time in 27 years the EPA had put in place new drinking water limits for contaminants. The EPA created limits for six Pfas compounds, and the Trump administration targeted four of those – PFNA, PfHxS, and HFPO dimer acid, more commonly called GenX. However, the Safe Drinking Water Act would in theory stop the EPA from simply killing or even weakening the limits because it includes an 'anti-backsliding' rule that prohibits a loosening of restrictions. It states that a revision 'shall maintain, or provide for greater, protection of the health of persons'. 'The EPA can't repeal or weaken the drinking water standard – this action is not only harmful, it's illegal,' Olson said. However, the water utility and chemical industries have sued to attempt to kill the limits for all six Pfas – not just the four covered in yesterday's announcement. The EPA and justice department under Joe Biden began defending the rules, and it's unclear how the Donald Trump EPA's will handle the cases for the four Pfas limits it announced it intends to undo. Kyla Bennett, policy with the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, and former EPA scientist, said she suspects the agency and the justice department will, in effect, try to lose the case. 'The DOJ could stop defending and do a shitty job and make the court say: 'These limits aren't science-based,' then strike them down,' Bennett said. It would then be up to legal intervenors like NRDC to defend the rules. Olson detailed the agency's other legal options, which involve revising the rule. That could take more time than the Trump administration has in office, but it delays the rules' implementation. 'It's going to take years and years, and they're going to kick the can down the road because they dont give a shit,' Bennett added. While the proposal shreds blanket protections against the four Pfas, it leaves in place limits for PFOA and PFOS. Reverse osmosis systems utilities are installing to remove PFOS and PFOA would catch most of the other Pfas, as well. However, not all water utilities are installing systems that can catch smaller Pfas, like GenX. Moreover, Chemours is responsible for high levels of GenX pollution around its Pfas plants in North Carolina and West Virginia. The consent agreements in place use EPA limits as the standard for cleanup and requirements for the company to provide impacted residents with safe drinking water. The full impact on those communities is unclear, but the EPA's plans are 'right on the bullseye of what Chemours wanted', Olson said. The development also highlights the need for reform of the country's water utility industry, which is leading the charge against the limits. What happens when the largely public industry charged with ensuring the country's water is safe opposes clean water rules, as it has repeatedly? 'It's definitely a huge problem,' Olson said. 'Most people would be shocked to hear that their water utility is spending precious dollars on lobbying, litigating and fighting against public health requirements, rather than using the money to install better water systems.' There are few good quick answers, advocates say. Still, there's some momentum that the EPA action and utilities won't slow. More than$12bn in legal settlement is already available for utilities that were a part of those suits. Meanwhile, the federal government has made more than $20bn available, and many projects are underway, while states have also enacted their own limits and made some money available. The Trump administration, for its part, wrote in its press release that it is 'keeping [limits] for PFOA, PFOS' and it is 'on a path to uphold the agency's nationwide standards to protect Americans from PFOA and PFOS in their water'. The statement did not impress campaigners. 'It's just lies and that press release was gas lighting,' Bennett said.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
New EPA plans targeting PFAS ‘raise serious red flags,' experts say
The US Environmental Protection Agency has announced a new list of measures targeting per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, which contaminate nearly half the drinking water in the United States. But public health experts have concerns about what that list doesn't include. 'There are a lot of vague promises in what was announced this week, but honestly, it really doesn't treat the PFAS forever chemicals crisis as, frankly, the five-alarm fire for public health that it is,' said Dr. Erik Olson, senior strategic director for health in the environmental health program at the Natural Resources Defense Council in Washington, DC. 'The key decisions that they were supposed to be making on those two things, they're completely silent on.' Called 'forever chemicals' because they don't break down in the environment, PFAS accumulate in our bodies and have been found in the blood of people of all ages, including newborns, said Melanie Benesh, vice president of government affairs at the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit environmental health organization. Hundreds of studies have linked PFAS exposure with serious health problems, including testicular, kidney, liver and pancreatic cancer; reproductive problems; and weakened childhood immunity, Benesh said. Scientists have also discovered links to low birth weight, endocrine disruption, increased cholesterol and weight gain. During the Biden administration in April 2024, the EPA took historic steps to effectively require water systems to remove PFAS from tap water by 2029 and designate two types of PFAS as hazardous chemicals polluters must monitor and clean up under the Superfund law. The two subtypes are perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid, known as PFOS. Industry associations and utility groups filed federal lawsuits against the administration in June, saying the new rules would be too costly, Olson said. The Biden-era EPA responded with briefs defending the rules. Then when President Donald Trump took office, the EPA suspended the litigation so it could decide whether to continue to defend the rules, rescind them, revise them or uphold them — a decision the agency has still not made. The EPA's last deadline for its next steps on the rule regarding the two PFAS subtypes was April 25, but the agency asked for an extension that day. On Monday the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit granted the request and pushed the deadline to May 30. The EPA has also requested an extension of the deadline for its decision on whether to uphold the rule limiting PFAS set last year; the new date is May 12. The actions announced Monday will be 'strengthening the science, fulfilling statutory obligations and enhancing communication, and building partnerships,' the EPA said. 'I have long been concerned about PFAS and the efforts to help states and communities dealing with legacy contamination in their backyards,' EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in a news release. 'We are tackling PFAS from all of EPA's program offices, advancing research and testing, stopping PFAS from getting into drinking water systems, holding polluters accountable, and providing certainty for passive receivers. 'This is just the start of the work we will do on PFAS to ensure Americans have the cleanest air, land, and water,' Zeldin said. Some actions continue what the EPA started within the last few years, but the announcement didn't address the outstanding questions — which Benesh said raises 'serious red flags.' 'The Trump EPA could slow down efforts to limit PFAS in drinking water, let polluters off the hook from reporting or reducing their PFAS discharges, and allow PFAS pollution to keep flowing into our air and water,' Benesh added. 'It could even block states from taking action to protect people from PFAS in everyday products.' While more details about the EPA's announcement are needed, member companies of the American Chemistry Council 'have consistently advocated for a comprehensive approach to managing PFAS, including for the designation of a point person to coordinate across differing programs and agencies,' the council said via email. Biden's action set the first national, legally enforceable standard limiting in drinking water five of more than 12,000 types of individual PFAS. Just two years prior, the EPA had issued health advisories saying the chemicals are significantly more hazardous than previously thought, at levels much lower than previously known. In 2024, the Biden administration also made available an unprecedented $1 billion in funding through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to help states and territories further develop treatment and testing. Colorado-based engineer Dr. Chad Seidel said there are 'critical data gaps about PFAS exposure in drinking water' and that most communities have lower levels of certain PFAS that 'don't warrant attention compared with pressing issues facing our communities' water systems.' Those include increasing numbers of broken pipes and related microbial contamination, and natural disasters that disrupt water from releasing from the tap, said Seidel, president of Corona Environmental Consulting, via email. Corona Environmental Consulting has clients in the water systems industry. The new EPA measures include advancing research, testing and solutions, and choosing an agency lead for PFAS and creating limitations guidelines to stop PFAS from entering water systems via liquid waste or sewage discharged into a river or sea (known as effluent). Others focus on 'initiatives to engage with Congress and industry to establish a clear liability framework.' But if the EPA abandons the Biden-era actions on PFAS, it would be a significant setback for public health, said Brian Ronholm, director of food policy at Consumer Reports, a nonprofit helping consumers evaluate goods and services. On top of that, the announcement occurs in the context of the EPA planning to drastically cut its resources in several ways: by slashing its budget by 65%, firing more than 1,000 employees, largely eliminating its independent scientific research arm, according to the Associated Press, and cutting grants for research on preventing PFAS from accumulating in crops. The agency's office of research and development, the main independent research arm, has played a pivotal role in ensuring PFAS regulations are backed by solid science, Benesh said. 'Overall, it would seem this announcement was more about creating a distraction by appearing to be doing something laudable, but in reality, undercutting any meaningful efforts behind the scenes and delaying taking any action to reduce the levels of PFAS in our drinking water,' Ronholm said. In 2024, the EPA awarded and spent over $63 billion dollars, the agency told CNN via email. The EPA maintains that to 'accomplish (its) core mission of protecting human health and the environment, it only requires 35% of that total' — a claim Olson called 'laughable.' 'If you're going to actually figure out where chemicals are toxic and are harming people, and figure out ways to check whether that's happening, and actually adopt protections and enforce the law, all of which EPA says it's going to do for PFAS — it's not possible to do that if you slash your budget by 65%,' Olson said. 'That's just an impossibility.' For people wanting to limit their exposure to PFAS, 'the first thing I would recommend is to learn what their utility is doing to reduce PFAS in drinking water,' said environmental epidemiologist Dr. Jane Hoppin, a professor in the department of biological sciences and principal investigator of the GenX Exposure Study at North Carolina State University. GenX is one of the several types of PFAS that was targeted by the Biden administration. 'Most public utilities have tested their water for PFAS and should have some baseline data as to the levels,' Hoppin added. At home, you can use a water filter independently certified by the National Sanitation Foundation or another official lab, experts said. Reverse osmosis filters are most effective but are more expensive. You can also avoid using conventional nonstick cookware and opt for ceramic instead.
CNN
02-05-2025
- Health
- CNN
PFAS: EPA measures targeting them lack key details, experts say
The US Environmental Protection Agency has announced a new list of measures targeting per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, which contaminate nearly half the drinking water in the United States. But public health experts have concerns about what that list doesn't include. 'There are a lot of vague promises in what was announced this week, but honestly, it really doesn't treat the PFAS forever chemicals crisis as, frankly, the five-alarm fire for public health that it is,' said Dr. Erik Olson, senior strategic director for health in the environmental health program at the Natural Resources Defense Council in Washington, DC. 'The key decisions that they were supposed to be making on those two things, they're completely silent on.' Called 'forever chemicals' because they don't break down in the environment, PFAS accumulate in our bodies and have been found in the blood of people of all ages, including newborns, said Melanie Benesh, vice president of government affairs at the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit environmental health organization. Hundreds of studies have linked PFAS exposure with serious health problems, including testicular, kidney, liver and pancreatic cancer; reproductive problems; and weakened childhood immunity, Benesh said. Scientists have also discovered links to low birth weight, endocrine disruption, increased cholesterol and weight gain. During the Biden administration in April 2024, the EPA took historic steps to effectively require water systems to remove PFAS from tap water by 2029 and designate two types of PFAS as hazardous chemicals polluters must monitor and clean up under the Superfund law. The two subtypes are perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid, known as PFOS. Industry associations and utility groups filed federal lawsuits against the administration in June, saying the new rules would be too costly, Olson said. The Biden-era EPA responded with briefs defending the rules. Then when President Donald Trump took office, the EPA suspended the litigation so it could decide whether to continue to defend the rules, rescind them, revise them or uphold them — a decision the agency has still not made. The EPA's last deadline for its next steps on the rule regarding the two PFAS subtypes was April 25, but the agency asked for an extension that day. On Monday the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit granted the request and pushed the deadline to May 30. The EPA has also requested an extension of the deadline for its decision on whether to uphold the rule limiting PFAS set last year; the new date is May 12. The actions announced Monday will be 'strengthening the science, fulfilling statutory obligations and enhancing communication, and building partnerships,' the EPA said. 'I have long been concerned about PFAS and the efforts to help states and communities dealing with legacy contamination in their backyards,' EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in a news release. 'We are tackling PFAS from all of EPA's program offices, advancing research and testing, stopping PFAS from getting into drinking water systems, holding polluters accountable, and providing certainty for passive receivers. 'This is just the start of the work we will do on PFAS to ensure Americans have the cleanest air, land, and water,' Zeldin said. Some actions continue what the EPA started within the last few years, but the announcement didn't address the outstanding questions — which Benesh said raises 'serious red flags.' 'The Trump EPA could slow down efforts to limit PFAS in drinking water, let polluters off the hook from reporting or reducing their PFAS discharges, and allow PFAS pollution to keep flowing into our air and water,' Benesh added. 'It could even block states from taking action to protect people from PFAS in everyday products.' While more details about the EPA's announcement are needed, member companies of the American Chemistry Council 'have consistently advocated for a comprehensive approach to managing PFAS, including for the designation of a point person to coordinate across differing programs and agencies,' the council said via email. Biden's action set the first national, legally enforceable standard limiting in drinking water five of more than 12,000 types of individual PFAS. Just two years prior, the EPA had issued health advisories saying the chemicals are significantly more hazardous than previously thought, at levels much lower than previously known. In 2024, the Biden administration also made available an unprecedented $1 billion in funding through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to help states and territories further develop treatment and testing. Colorado-based engineer Dr. Chad Seidel said there are 'critical data gaps about PFAS exposure in drinking water' and that most communities have lower levels of certain PFAS that 'don't warrant attention compared with pressing issues facing our communities' water systems.' Those include increasing numbers of broken pipes and related microbial contamination, and natural disasters that disrupt water from releasing from the tap, said Seidel, president of Corona Environmental Consulting, via email. Corona Environmental Consulting has clients in the water systems industry. The new EPA measures include advancing research, testing and solutions, and choosing an agency lead for PFAS and creating limitations guidelines to stop PFAS from entering water systems via liquid waste or sewage discharged into a river or sea (known as effluent). Others focus on 'initiatives to engage with Congress and industry to establish a clear liability framework.' But if the EPA abandons the Biden-era actions on PFAS, it would be a significant setback for public health, said Brian Ronholm, director of food policy at Consumer Reports, a nonprofit helping consumers evaluate goods and services. On top of that, the announcement occurs in the context of the EPA planning to drastically cut its resources in several ways: by slashing its budget by 65%, firing more than 1,000 employees, largely eliminating its independent scientific research arm, according to the Associated Press, and cutting grants for research on preventing PFAS from accumulating in crops. The agency's office of research and development, the main independent research arm, has played a pivotal role in ensuring PFAS regulations are backed by solid science, Benesh said. 'Overall, it would seem this announcement was more about creating a distraction by appearing to be doing something laudable, but in reality, undercutting any meaningful efforts behind the scenes and delaying taking any action to reduce the levels of PFAS in our drinking water,' Ronholm said. In 2024, the EPA awarded and spent over $63 billion dollars, the agency told CNN via email. The EPA maintains that to 'accomplish (its) core mission of protecting human health and the environment, it only requires 35% of that total' — a claim Olson called 'laughable.' 'If you're going to actually figure out where chemicals are toxic and are harming people, and figure out ways to check whether that's happening, and actually adopt protections and enforce the law, all of which EPA says it's going to do for PFAs — it's not possible to do that if you slash your budget by 65%,' Olson said. 'That's just an impossibility.' For people wanting to limit their exposure to PFAS, 'the first thing I would recommend is to learn what their utility is doing to reduce PFAS in drinking water,' said environmental epidemiologist Dr. Jane Hoppin, a professor in the department of biological sciences and principal investigator of the GenX Exposure Study at North Carolina State University. GenX is one of the several types of PFAS that was targeted by the Biden administration. 'Most public utilities have tested their water for PFAS and should have some baseline data as to the levels,' Hoppin added. At home, you can use a water filter independently certified by the National Sanitation Foundation or another official lab, experts said. Reverse osmosis filters are most effective but are more expensive. You can also avoid using conventional nonstick cookware and opt for ceramic instead.
