the
More
you
Know
eco:
Years ago at Thanksgiving, our neighbors Richard and Lula, recounted a discussion they’d
had over the number of feathers she found
while preparing their Butterball turkey. Richard had shrugged and said, “Every industry has
a tolerance policy… there’s probably a 5-feather margin of error on any bird that size.”
At the time, I worked in marketing for an apparel manufacturer and agreed that there was
a shrinkage tolerance on cotton t-shirts. As I
thought about my own words, I realized everyone around me wore the same lost-in-thought
expression. And then Lula’s eyebrows raised as
she said, “Well, shouldn’t the margin of error
on food be more strict than t-shirts?”
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For filmmaker Ed Brown, a similar realization
came one day as he drank a glass of water that
“smelled and tasted like a swimming pool.”
Then he learned that there are “acceptable
levels” of chlorine and other contaminants in
water.
After his wife miscarried twice between having two healthy children (with no obvious
reasons), Ed suspected there was more to the
chemical connection than most of us realize.
So he started asking questions.
Ed went beyond your average online search to
find his answers. He sought out environmental
experts and government leaders, and thankfully, he brought his video camera along the way.
The result is the eye-opening documentary
Unacceptable Levels, www.unacceptablelevels.
com, which carefully explains the chemical
revolution… surprisingly without throwing a
lot of blame around.
We spoke to Ed about the film, his research,
and how he maintains a “we’re all in this together” message throughout.
GCM: So the concept of “acceptable levels” inspired you to make changes in your
own life. At what point did you realize you
couldn’t keep this to yourself?