What's in the products you use every day? The lining in a can of food? The mattress you slept on last night? Your children's toys? Or even the computer you're reading this on? In fact, the public has very little information about the chemicals in the products we use or their potential impact on our health or our environment.

More often than not, even the companies that made these products don't have this information because their suppliers won't tell them!

One of the major reasons for this is that chemical manufacturers have abused legitimate legal protections by claiming that this basic information is a trade secret or confidential business information.

What are all those chemicals in your shampoo? Your lipstick? your aftershave? And what do they have to do with asthma, breast cancer and learning disabilities?

Learn, share and help change this toxic mess: Watch The Story of Cosmetics, a 8-minute film exposing the ugly truth about personal care products - brought to you by Clean Water Action, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, Annie Leonard's Story of Stuff Project and Free Range Studios, and take action to help pass the Safe Cosmetics Act.

Shrek glasses with cadmium?! Canned food contaminated with the sex hormone bisphenol A?! Cancer-causing formaldehyde in furniture?! This week we ask you to join us in a nation-wide call in campaign to Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House to make sure that manufacturers stop using toxic chemicals in the products we use everyday.

The Toxics Chemical Safety Act was just introduced in Congress. It aims to protect families from harmful chemicals by overhauling outdated chemical laws. The current draft of the bill is a good first step, but it's missing some key provisions, like phasing out the worst chemicals first and ensuring that chemicals are tested for safety before they are allowed on the market.

The reasons to support a stronger Toxic Chemicals Safety Act keep mounting. Research shows that chemicals found in everyday products are linked to negative health effects including cancer, early puberty, learning disabilities, and sexual dysfunction. A few weeks ago, the President's Cancer Panel released a damning report underlining the acute need for stronger toxics laws. The report specifically recommends removing cancer-causing chemicals and other toxins from our food, water, and air that "needlessly increase health care costs, cripple our nation's productivity and devastate American lives."

A critical committee vote on the bill could happen any day and Speaker Pelosi needs to hear from you. Please call her today and tell her to put health first by getting rid of the worst chemicals first!

Help protect California from this common source of plastic pollution.

When you get a "free" plastic grocery bag at the check-out stand, it's not really free. The retailer is passing 3 cents per plastic bag and 10 cents per paper bag on to you in the bill!

In addition, California's government spends billions of taxpayer dollars each year cleaning litter from streets, beaches, parks and storm drain systems. Since plastic bags are a huge part of the litter problem, you pay for them twice - at the store and in your taxes. Take action now: Ask your State Senator to support a state-wide ban on plastic bags at grocery stores, pharmacies, and convenience food stores.