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One of the oldest cities in the U.S., Providence is also the capital and most populous city in Rhode Island. Grand historic buildings populate a thriving downtown and many delicious restaurants and cafes are within easy walking distance of City Hall (built 1878). Providence also shares Rhode Island’s affinity for coffee and boasts the most coffee and doughnut shops per capita of any city in the country. The city is home to many urban farms and community gardens, and the City’s Botanical Center

Salt Lake City (SLC) recently won a $5,000 grant from Stonyfield Organic to be used towards organic turf management. SLC began taking steps towards organic landscaping over a year ago through Pesticide Free SLC — a project that helped to establish its commitment to organic lawn care long before the Stonyfield grant. Pesticide Free SLC is a pilot project developed in collaboration with SLC’s Bright Cities partnership. “The pilot we did with Healthy Babies Bright Futures made us a great candidate

Mosquitoes seem to take over our yards this time of year. Mosquito control companies are offering treatments for suburban yards — twice monthly, yard-wide spraying — to kill both mosquitoes and ticks. These mixtures are effective, but they aren’t necessarily best for children, pregnant women, pets and pollinators. Risks and safer steps for insect control include: Avoid yard-wide sprays, misters and foggers All chemical sprays come with potential hazards. Consumer Reports recommends avoiding

New cities include: Jackson, Mississippi Providence, Rhode Island Tempe, Arizona Healthy Babies Bright Futures (HBBF) today announced that three new cities have joined the “Bright Cities” program. These three cities join the existing seven cities in customized, strategic efforts to eliminate toxic chemical exposures to babies and children. New cities include: Jackson, Mississippi; Providence, Rhode Island; and Tempe, Arizona. The program is also continuing its work in seven cities including

Yesterday, U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Ed Markey introduced their Green New Deal to address climate change and create jobs. If their joint resolution turns into new federal law and appropriations, it will also go a long way to protecting babies’ brains. The Green New Deal sets out a 10-year national mobilization that includes eliminating pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. The actions necessary to accomplish this goal will lower the levels of air pollutants that

Are there toxic flame retardant chemicals in the padding of the Macy’s rocking chair you want to buy for the baby’s room? Is the Giant grocery store doing anything about the level of arsenic in the infant rice cereal they sell? Are there toxic phthalates in the yoga mat at Nordstrom’s that you’re thinking about buying for your prenatal yoga class? Many well-respected retailers can’t give you an honest answer to these types of questions because they don’t have a program in place to get answers

What do Minneapolis, Dearborn, Salt Lake City and Seattle all have in common? They’ve each committed to working with Healthy Babies Bright Futures on actions to minimize exposures to dangerous chemicals for their youngest and most vulnerable residents through our Bright Cities program. And we’re recruiting for our second cohort of Bright Cities now. You may wonder what city governments have to do with chemicals and babies brains? Actually, many cities are already working on actions recommended

It’s not the fishes’ fault. And it’s not the fault of women who eat the fish. But, millions of women of childbearing age who eat mercury contaminated fish have enough of the toxic chemicals in their bodies to harm a developing child. “55% of the global sample of women measured more than 0.58ppm of mercury, a level associated with the onset of fetal neurological damage.” This is the finding of a new, first of its kind report on mercury levels in women of childbearing age in 25 countries by HBBF

From the moment I first learned of the Bright Cities program, I knew it would be a great fit for the City of Minneapolis. In 2014, Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges instituted the Cradle to K Cabinet program, a major initiative focused on developing a plan to eliminate disparities for children in the City of Minneapolis, prenatally to three years old. With a significant overlap in missions between our city and with HBBF’s Bright Cities, our partnership has proven to be a great opportunity for us to help give babies the best start in life.

For the past year, SLCgreen (the Sustainability Department of Salt Lake City, UT) has been pleased to partner with the Bright Cities program as part of Healthy Babies Bright Futures (HBBF) to determine how we can reduce or eliminate children’s exposures to neurotoxic chemicals when they’re at the most vulnerable stage of their development.