Robin Organ
The Massachusetts Audubon Society recently honored Robin Organ for her work in promoting greenSCHOOLS, a program she started after nearly dieing from allergies and serious health issues she says were caused by chemicals and additives in everyday foods and products.
Organ had some health issues over many years but became hypersensitive to food and environmental products after her second pregnancy four years ago. She was allergic to foods like wheat, peanuts, and soy and she became hypoglycemic and had hypothyroidism as well as digestive issues and asthma.
She even had adverse reactions to medicines she was taking to manage her symptoms like the pink dye in Benadryl.
Her children also had multiple allergies, chemical sensitivities, digestive issues, and chronic illnesses.
Organ said there are food additives, chemicals, and dyes in everything from skin care products that are absorbed within 30 seconds to children’s vitamins, lip-gloss, shampoos and even bagels.
Organ ended up seeing a holistic doctor at the Marino Center in Cambridge who was able to help her “put the pieces back together again.”
“Because of the choices we made in our diet and the environment we live in, the kids were able to get off their medications and didn’t need surgery,” said Organ. “Once we were able to control the environment and look at some of the allergy issues, things calmed down.”
greenSCHOOLS
She also worked with her daughter’s kindergarten class to educate them about the cleaning products they used as well as the foods given as snacks to the children. That small start grew into greenSCHOOLS with programs on nutrition, programs on reduce, reuse, and recycle, as well as staff training and parent and community programs.
She says people should educate themselves by reading labels and become more environmentally aware of toxins and how they enter homes. There are many non-toxic choices for cleaners, detergents, and personal care products offered by Method, Seventh Generation, and Melaleuka, many of which cost the same as regular products and work just as well, she says.
Brava!
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