Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families

A national effort to protect families from toxic chemicals.

Mike Schade

Mike Schade

Mind the Store Campaign Director

Mike Schade is the Mind the Store Campaign Director for Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families where he coordinates a national U.S. campaign challenging the nation’s leading retailers to transform the marketplace away from hazardous chemicals and towards safer alternatives. For the previous nine years, Mike was the Markets Campaign Coordinator with the Center for Health, Environment & Justice (CHEJ), a national environmental health organization where he led national campaigns to phase out PVC plastic, phthalates, bisphenol A (BPA) and dioxin in consumer products and packaging. Prior to CHEJ, he was the Director of the Buffalo office of Citizens’ Environmental Coalition (CEC), a NY statewide grassroots environmental health organization. Mike lives in Brooklyn, NY where he serves on the Newtown Creek Superfund Community Advisory Group (CAG), the Board of Directors of Neighbors Allied for Good Growth (NAG), and the Community Advisory Panel of the Greenpoint Community Environmental Fund.

Posts by Mike Schade

Toxic TVs: Best Buy’s step in the right direction should go further

Best Buy launched a chemicals policy in 2017 but didn’t publish the list of chemicals it is restricting until recently. While a step in the right direction, the list of chemicals does not go far enough — it is woefully inadequate in addressing harmful flame retardants and other toxics. In the year ahead, Best Buy must significantly expand its list of restricted chemicals and ban toxic flame retardants in the enclosures of all televisions it sells.

Wall Street Journal exposé demands Amazon take more action on harmful chemicals

A blistering Wall Street Journal investigation should be a serious wake-up call for Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and the company’s senior leadership: it needs to focus on ensuring the safety of its products and protecting customers’ health.