This is an older post from a Blog I no longer run. While this interview was done some time ago, it is still great and I wanted to re-post it and continue to support Jillian in her efforts.
What is the Chemical Free Community all about?
The Chemical Free Community is out to prove it is easy to live in a ‘Chemical Free State of Mind’ where every product you buy and services you use is the least toxic option. We know you can never be toxic chemical free in today’s world, it’s about minimising your exposure. We are an online resource for education and awareness about the chemicals in everyday products. Our online global directory, ChemFreeCom.com makes it easy for everyone to find non-toxic and less toxic alternative products and services. We are focused on transparency and want to help the chemical-free industry grow, through education and the sharing of knowledge.
What made you start Chemical Free Community?
I was the ‘one’ in the crazy 1 in 8 statistics for breast cancer and am now a 7-year ‘Breasty Graduate’. While I was evaluating how I would reduce the risk of the cancer reoccurring, I made the connection between toxic chemicals and cancer, particularly EDC’s (Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals). That led me into looking for safer alternatives across all aspects of life. It started with food, but the list got longer; dry cleaning, paints, and carpets, mattresses, clothing, accommodation. From a deeper perspective, cancer tends to make you re-evaluate life and its purpose. I realised I wanted to leave a legacy that contributes to the health and wellness of our global community. So I said farewell to corporate consulting and threw myself into the chemical-free journey.
How can people use your service to improve their lives?
We have a lot of new parents connecting with us, who are starting to question what they are putting in, on, and around their children. They are using our library of information (videos, books, and apps) to become more informed than our directory to find non-toxic alternatives. The website is accessible to everyone and it’s free to search our:
- Directory to find safe, no/low toxic products and services
- Library for videos, apps, books, and information
- Events calendar to see what chemical-free orientated events are happening in your area
- Facebook events list all the workshops and seminars, movie nights etc that our supplier members are presenting.
We have a lot of people attend our ‘First Steps to Chemical Free’ workshops and movie nights. Many of our audience experienced OMG moments throughout the presentation. Our aim is to raise awareness about the toxins we are exposed to in our everyday environment, stimulate the desire to question what’s in the things we use daily, and share some very simple steps we can take to minimise exposure. Everyone walks away with their own personal action plan. These events are promoted via our events calendar and FB events page. Although www.chemfreecom.com is free to use we recommend you create a login and get your members dashboard so you can save all your favourite businesses to your ‘Favourites’ folder. This will save you time finding them again. We also have some cracker discounts for our members on the ‘Member Rewards’ page on the Dashboard.
If you had a short message you could give people what would you want to say?
According to Chemical Abstracts Service (https://www.cas.org/) there are 129 million chemicals registered for use. There are approx. 200,000 new approved chemicals each week, most not tested for human safety and where do you think they end up? In our food, shampoos, baby products, clothing, toys, packaging… It’s the combined effect of exposure to all these chemicals that are impacting our health and the health of future generations. By avoiding toxic chemicals where we can and boosting our body’s natural systems to remove these toxins, it is possible to lessen the symptoms of existing diseases and lower the risk of developing them in the first place. Even though Chemfreecom.com is in its infancy, we have many safer alternatives available in our directory, and we have only just started. There is really no excuse to be using toxic products in your home and on your body and in your environment these days.
To access safe products, check out chemicalfreecom.com and greenlivingaustralia.com.au
As always, live well.
Valerie