Worcester Roots Project

From Worcester Activist wiki

Contact: Phone: (508) 736-5822 Email: info(at)worcesterroots.org Web: http://WorcesterRoots.org

Our mission is to work with communities facing environmental injustice to build healthy spaces for living, working, and playing.

The primary purpose of the Worcester Roots Project is direct action to remove contamination by lead, other heavy metals and hydrocarbons from Worcester soils. We are concerned about lead poisoning in children, especially those in low income neighborhoods. We are using phytoremediation, which is a low cost way to use plants to remove toxins from the soil. Certain plants absorb contaminants as they grow. These plants can then be removed and safely disposed of in lined land fills. Our target sites are low-income neighborhoods throughout the city, which have some of the highest levels of soil pollution and largest number of lead-paint contaminated dwellings in the nation.

Worcester Roots Project also engages in community organizing, education, and outreach. We organize workshops to share skills and knowledge on the problem of soil contamination. Our aim is to empower communities to protect their environmental health.

We incubate Green Worker Cooperatives, such as the Toxic Soil Busters Co-op: http://worcesterroots.org/tsbgeneral.html

We are part of the Worcester Green Jobs Coalition: http://worcesterroots.org/greenjobs.html

We are founding members of the Worcester Lead Action Collaborative, and the Worcester Partnership for Racial and Ethnic Health Equity.