For every Aveda salon, in the month of April we celebrate Earth Month. Our Earth Month mission: Clean Water for communities around the globe. We celebrate by raising funds for initiatives that will have an immediate impact on bettering people lives.
Did you know for $12, the cost of Aveda’s limited-edition “Light the Way” candle supports:
• A year’s supply of drinking water is provided to a person in Madagascar
• 8 meters of piping is purchased to transport drinking water in Morocco
• A year of water conservation, health and hygiene education is provided for families in Tilwari, India
• An activist is works to fight dam construction that will flood a community in Chile
But what about our own communities and neighbors?
One of our local partners is Lower Mississippi River Keeper. LMRK has been working for 10 years to protect and improve the Mighty Mississippi River.
The river is the industrial superhighway of Louisiana. Facilities in Louisiana have an extensive impact from permitted discharges as well as an unfortunate history of accidents, spills, and vulnerability to weather events. As Louisiana faces continued industrial growth and increasingly severe weather impacts from climate change and sea level rise, the environment and the communities who inhabit this environment face severe consequences to their health, safety and sustainability.
Meet Josh:
Josh is our neighbor in North Baton Rouge. He and 43 of his neighbors recently won a 17-year battle, a complicated and contentious situation, in which the Baton Rouge Metro Council voted to move the residents away from the foul-smelling North Baton Rouge Waste Water Treatment Plant.
The LMRK is the #1 advocate for Josh and his neighbors.
They first began working with the community several years ago after LMRK identified a dark plume extending into the Mississippi River from the North Waste Water Treatment Plant. LMRK further investigated this dark plume by taking water samples and having them analyzed. The laboratory analysis of the water samples indicated fecal coliform levels that were “too numerous to count.” What began with LMRK’s monitoring of pollution in the Mississippi River ultimately was leveraged to relieve the suffering of the community impacted by the identified pollution.
In March of 2010 suit was filed against the city/parish for violations of the Clean Water Act, and on January 23rd of this year the Council voted to approve a relocation plan for these residents. The funds raised for LMRK through AVEDA Earth Month directly supports the work LMRK is doing for Josh and his neighbors. Learn more.
To learn more about what you can do to help and how to raise funds visit our Facebook page for regular updates on the events and activities taking place all month long!
