About Amy
Amy Todisco, green expert & green consultant, is an early pioneer of green living. She started her green journey when she was pregnant with her daughter, now 18 years old.
Toxic chemicals in every day household products, including food? How can this be legal? Can they affect my health? Or my baby-to-be?
Those were some of the questions that popped into my mind as I read the book, The Nontoxic Baby. It was 1992, and I was a few months pregnant. Like many new mothers-to-be, I wanted to do everything I could to make sure my child would be healthy. Prenatal vitamins? Check. Organic whole foods? Check. Exercise? Rest? Check, check. Toxic chemicals in my shampoo? What the heck?
Yes, it’s true. There are toxic synthetic chemicals in everyday supermarket brand household products. What’s worse though is that some of those same chemicals are in the brands marketed as “natural” and “organic” that you find in natural food stores. This was too much for me to believe. So, the conscientious mother-to-be that I was went on a research crusade to find out which products really were natural and nontoxic. Not an easy task.
Most of us don’t have the time or energy to research and test stuff out for ourselves. We all need a “green” fairy godmother to read all of the labels, research the ingredients and the companies that make the products, use the products, compare the brands, and then share the findings. That’s where I come in. Well, I’m not a fairy godmother (too young and no wings) but it has become my life’s work to research “green” household products, and green living techniques, and share what I’ve learned with people like you. What grew out of a desire to find the safest, most environmentally friendly products for my family blossomed into a full-blown passion. I have become a voice for those of us (a growing number) who are looking for truly organic and natural household products, not hype.
Want to learn more? Check out Amy’s ebook series, her Greener Life Guides: Organic Food On A Budget, Fun, Affordable Green Travel, and Return To Earth- Green Burials.
During the Vermont growing season, Amy also runs an organic cut flower business via her boyfriend, Dave’s, farm. Amy had an excellent flower season this year, selling at the weekly Waitsfield Farmer’s Market, Dave’s farm stand, a downtown Waitsfield flower location, and to weddings and special events.
Check out our farm blog: www.hartshornfarm.com
She began her work as a community activist in MA in 1995, where she created community educational events, founded and co-founded several nonprofits; served as Executive Director for two nonprofits; provided presentations on household toxics; consulted with private and public schools; churches, community groups, local boards of health, and the MA State Department of Public Health; written on the topic of household toxics for newspapers, newsletters and websites; and been interviewed on TV, radio and cable TV.
She’s a member of the Coming Clean Network of environmental health focused nonprofits, a founding fellow of the EcologoTM Procurement Think Tank, and a mentor for the Green Flags Healthy Schools Network for Center for Health Environment and Justice.
