Who’s Who in Green: Deirdre Imus

Why are so many of our kids so sick? That’s what Deirdre Imus – wife of shock jock Don Imus – wondered to herself after spending a day helping out at one of her husband’s annual radiothons for kids with cancer. It was then that she began to suspect a link between children’s health and environmental pollutants – and act on it.

Children’s health quickly became her passion, leading to her founding the Deirdre Imus Environmental Center for Pediatric Oncology. Imus is also a cofounder and codirector of the Imus Cattle Ranch for Kids with Cancer, and has authored several books including Green This! Greening Your Cleaning, Green This! Growing Up Green and The Essential Green You!: Easy Ways to Detox Your Diet, Your Body, and Your Life.

In an article for Newsweek about why it’s so important to provide nontoxic environments for kids, Deidre wrote,

In 2000, still not satisfied that I had done all that I could, I began investigating how toxins in the home and hospital environment affected our children’s health. I was concerned about the number of supposedly safe products used in our everyday living. We are exposed to more than 82,000 chemicals in our environment. Yet the EPA has reviewed fewer than 2 percent for their safety. Environmental hazards are not always obvious and yet they are real and affect us all…especially children. Regrettably, it is our children who are the most vulnerable to many environmental insults. In fact, studies have shown a 30 percent increase in various cancers in children result from exposure to toxins in our environment.

From the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat, numerous toxic substances from a variety of sources are bombarding our children each day. Not enough is known about how all of these toxins, interact with one another and our body chemistry. Taking any step to reduce or eliminate toxins in our environment is simple common sense and is often easy to do.

The Deirdre Imus Environmental Center for Pediatric Oncology is one of the first hospital-based programs to identify, control and prevent environmental factors that may cause adult and, especially, pediatric cancer and other health problems with our children. In addition to educating the public about environmental toxins, the Center developed the ‘Greening the Cleaning’ institutional program to help eliminate toxic cleaning agents and replace them with safer, non-toxic alternatives.

For her dedication, the Audubon Society rewarded Imus in 2007 with the Rachel Carson Award for Women in Conservation, calling her “a pioneer inspiring parents and schools to clean using non-toxic products… [convincing] more than 200 institutions nationwide to switch to green cleaning products and her work has led directly to three ‘Green Cleaning’ executive orders that will vastly improve the health of millions of children.” She has also been awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree by Pace University in recognition of her advocacy on behalf of children’s environmental health.

Deirdre Imus’ Green Score: 28,558

Related Posts:

Who’s Who in Green: David Suzuki
Who’s Who in Green: Sara Snow
Who’s Who in Green: Rachel McAdams
Who’s Who in Green: Josie Maran
Who’s Who in Green: Woody Harrelson