Annie B. Bond to speak on Green Living at MTU Oct. 18

By Rachael Sturtevant

HOUGHTON -- Do you ever think about how common household cleaners affect the environment? Does the mildew cleaner you use in your bathroom make you cough or irritate your eyes? Many marketed cleaning supplies that we use on a regular basis contain toxins that are both harmful to the environment and harmful to people.

Alternatives do exist, however; and an opportunity to explore these alternatives will be offered through a free lecture and free workshop on using and making healthy, natural and non-toxic cleaners on Thursday, Oct. 18, at Michigan Technological University.

The speaker will be the knowledgeable and insightful Annie B. Bond (aka Berthold-Bond), well known among natural living enthusiasts. Annie’s talk, titled "Green Living Myths vs. Reality," will be held from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. in Room G002 of the Forestry building.

Annie B. Bond will give a free lecture, "Green Living Myths vs. Reality," from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. in Room G002 of Michigan Tech's Forestry building on Thursday, Oct. 18. Following the lecture, the public is invited to a free workshop on natural household cleaners from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the Forestry Atrium. (Photo courtesy Annie B. Bond and Michigan Technological University)

A free workshop will follow the lecture, from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the Forestry Atrium. Come learn how to make your own natural household cleaners! Annie has been recognized as an environmental leader and has contributed over twenty years of experience in writing and editing books and magazines. She is the executive producer of Care2.com’s Green Living channels, a website and membership designed for reaching out to the world and making a difference with the power of passion. Annie shares a passion for educating others on the connections between the environment and personal health, as she has been subjected to chemical poisoning in the past.

She has authored four books: Home Enlightenment (Rodale Press, 2005), Better Basics for the Home (Three Rivers Press, 1999), Clean and Green (Ceres Press, 1990) and The Green Kitchen Handbook (with Mothers and Others; HarperCollins, 1997). She also wrote the chapter on cleaning in The Healthy School Handbook (NEA Professional Library, 1995).

In addition, Annie is founder and editor in chief of Green Alternatives for Health and the Environment, editor of The Green Guide (a publication of Mothers and Others) and is an award recipient of Utne Reader Alternative Press for general excellence in newsletters.

This event is brought to you by Students for Environmental Sustainability (SfES) with support from MTU's Environmental Sustainability Committee and the Undergraduate Student Government. For more information about Annie Bond, please visit www.care2.com.

Editor's Note: Keweenaw Now contributor Rachael Sturtevant is an MTU student in the Department of Biological Sciences. She is studying biochemistry, molecular biology and ecology.