Living Downstream Newsletter: Having an Impact

This month's Living Downstream Newsletter is all about impact. The impact the film is having, the impact Sandra Steingraber is having, and the impact communities are having in issues of environmental health. Read the newsletter to learn more.

Sandra and Living Downstream featured on Moyers & Company

This weekend, Sandra's work on fracking and environmental health will be profiled on Moyers & Company. Scenes from Living Downstream will also be making an appearance. See a preview for the show here. 

Tracking the Impact of Living Downstream

Tomorrow is the third anniversary of Living Downstream's World Premiere! Help us celebrate by sharing how the film has influenced you and your community. When you complete this survey, you will be helping us to learn about the impact the film has had - and how we can ensure it continues to have...

First Run Features to Distribute Living Downstream on Home Video DVD and VOD

New York, March 21 2013 - Following its recent Gracie Award win for Outstanding Documentary, LIVING DOWNSTREAM, directed by Chanda Chevannes, has been picked up by First Run Features for home video and VOD release later this year. The Gracies are awarded annually by the Alliance for Women in...

Living Downstream wins a Gracie Award

Living Downstream is absolutely thrilled to be the winner of Best Documentary in the 2013 Gracie Awards! As they say on their website, "The Gracies strive to encourage the realistic and faceted portrayal of women in entertainment, commercials, news, features and other programs," and we are...

New Action Alert: 30 Days of Fracking Regs

Join Sandra Steingraber as she takes an Advent-calendar approach to fracking: asking all concerned New Yorkers to join in submitting "a comment a day" for every day of the comment period. With a thousand participants working together they can generate 30,000 comments in 30 days! Take action >

New Action Alert: Ask Zara to clean up its act

Big brands like H&M and Marks and Spencer have already committed to clean up their supply chains and Detox. But so far ZARA, the world's largest fashion retailer, remains silent. Get involved >

Living Downstream on Outside Television

US viewers will be able to see Living Downstream in their living rooms on Thanksgiving evening! The film will air on Outside Television on November 22, 2012 at 8 pm and 11 pm (EST).

Chanda Chevannes in online Q+A with Firedoglake

If you missed seeing Living Downstream's Q+As in action during our recent screenings, now's your chance! Director Chanda Chevannes will be participating in a webchat with Firedoglake. The FDL Movie Night salon is tonight, November 5 2012, from 8:00p - 9:30p Eastern / 5:00p - 6:30p Pacific time....

Celebrating Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring

Read the October newsletter, a celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of Silent Spring, and a look at what we still have left to accomplish. Read the newsletter >

Living Downsteam on tour in Canada

Living Downstream is going on tour! We will be presenting the film in Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Halifax. Each screening will feature a Q+A with filmmaker Chanda Chevannes. For more information, click here. 

This screening tour is made possible in part by a grant from the Ontario Arts...

Living Downstream is going to the Lincoln Center

We are thrilled to announce that Living Downstream will be screening at New York City's iconic Lincoln Center on Saturday, October 20. Read more about this exciting screening, featuring a Q+A with Sandra Steingraber, here.

Appearance at this screening by Living Downstream director Chanda...

New action alert

We have a new action alert on the site. Sandra is calling on New Yorkers to sign a pledge and take political action against fracking: "a defining moment has arrived: we now must all stand together or, assuredly, we shall all be fracked separately." Get involved >

New essays and teaser

We have lots of new stuff today! Check out Sandra's newest essay, "Fracking Truth to Fracking Power," and get caught up on our teasers. 

New teaser: PCBs

"The head of one of the companies responsible for dumping PCBs in Buzzards Bay said, 'You know, we don't really have any real evidence that PCBs are making people sick,' and that was actually a true statement. Since that time, we've learned a lot." —Sandra Steingraber

The Metaphors of Fracking

In her latest essay, Sandra writes about why fracking's "golden age" turns out to be fool's gold.

Read the essay >

Two new teasers

Watch Sandra Steingraber speak eloquently about farmers' children and being a "population of one" on two new teasers. 

Watch the teasers >

Download PDFs of Sandra’s Weekly Essays

Do you like reading Sandra's essays on the Living Downstream website? We recently uploaded PDF versions online for easy saving and sharing. 
In each essay, you can click the link "Download this essay" under "Reposting this blog" in the sidebar for the PDF file. Happy reading!

Read the essays >... Read More

Safe Hydrofracking Is the New Jumbo Shrimp

In her latest essay, Sandra asks if we should be fracking reformists or abolitionists.

Read Sandra's essay >

The Mountains of Mountainfilm

Chanda uses the drive into Telluride's annual Mountainfilm film festival to reflect on the natural spaces around her. 

Read Adventures in Outreach > 

A Poem for the Marcellus

Sandra offers a touching and poetic tribute to the Marcellus in her newest weekly essay.

Read Sandra's essay > 

All Aboard for Healthy Schools!

Liz Armstrong learns what makes Canadians for A Safe Learning Environment such an effective advocate for healthy schools.

Read Liz's blog >

How to Have a Colonoscopy

In Sandra's latest weekly essay, she gives the following hints for having a colonoscopy: "Go for June, skip the drugs, embrace Descartes."

Read Sandra's essay >

Celebrating Community

Chanda's latest blog post, in which she celebrates the contributions of the environmental health community to her work on Living Downstream, and especially her most recent project, Living Downstream ~ In the Community.

Read Adventures in Outreach >

Resources from Living Downstream ~ In the Community

See new resources on the website that have been excerpted from our publication, Living Downstream ~ In the Community. These resources include an updated "Hold a Screening" worksheet and a comprehensive "Recommended Resources" list.

Bees and Bladder Cancer

We have two new action alerts to check out: sign Pesticide Action Network's petition against neonicotinoid pesticides, and Bladder Cancer Avocacy Network's map of Walks Against Bladder Cancer, taking place on May 5th. Get involved >

Living Downstream ~ In the Community now available

We're delighted to announce that our guide for nonprofit organizations and community groups, Living Downstream ~ In the Community is now available! A second guide, Living Downstream ~ In the Classroom (for educators) will be available by summer 2012. Read more about the guides >

Cancer in the Ransom Note

In Sandra's newest weekly essay, she tells us: "Fracking is a hostage exchange program. Only the carcinogens go free."

Read Sandra's essay >

When Ten Days Becomes Ten Years

On the second anniversary of the world premiere of Living Downstream, filmmaker Chanda Chevannes blogs about her first conversation with Sandra Steingraber and the reasons for their continued work on this project years after the film's completion. Read Adventures in Outreach > 

Living Downstream Newsletter: The Fight against Fracking

Fracking is a method of natural gas extraction. It is beyond risky. It is contamination without consent. Learn more about the fight against fracking, what Sandra is doing, and what you can do too.

Read the newsletter >

Breaking Up with the Sierra Club

Sandra Steingraber's weekly essays on environmental health are back. In her twelfth essay of the series, Sandra calls on the Sierra Club to make reparations for taking money from the natural gas industry. Read Sandra's essay >

Action Alert: SignOn.org

Head over to the action alerts page to tell President Obama to cease FDA ties with Monsanto. Get involved >

Get Involved: Two New Action Alerts

We have two new ways of getting involved on the Action Alerts page, so sign your name and help get lead out of lipstick and carcinogens out of laundry detergent. Get involved >

New: Living Downstream Educational DVD Flyer

We have a new resource available for people organizing screenings, or interested in spreading the word of Living Downstream. Our handsome new 2-page flyer features information about bonus features, pricing, and ordering information for the Educational DVD. Download the flyer >

New: Adventures in Outreach blog post

 While attending a screening of Living Downstream, director Chanda Chevannes reflects on the waters of her childhood and the power we hold when we work together in scary situations. Read the blog >

Get Involved: Two New Action Alerts

We have two new Action Alerts, including a petition for the Canadian federal government to ban fracking. Check them out and get involved here >

Get Involved: 2012 is a Year for Action

Head over to the Action Alerts section to find four brand new ways you can make your voice heard. From weedkiller-resistant corn to safer cosmetics, we can all help make our world a safer, healthier place. Get Involved >

Get Involved: E-Questionnaire About Pesticides For Cosmetic Use

The provincial government of British Columbia is looking for input about the cosmetic use of pesticides. Make your voice heard through their e-questionnaire, and help limit the pesticides we're all exposed to. Take the e-questionnaire >

Growing Gardens - and New Ideas

Focusing on one specific topic in environmental health, this month, the newsletter is dedicated to the efforts of those who are working to protect their communities from potentially dangerous pesticides. (Updated on Dec. 5: Get involved online) Read the newsletter >

New Book, New Awards, New Ways to Connect

Our latest newsletter was just released. Take a look to get updates on Living Downstream. Read the newsletter >

Learn About the Making of Living Downstream

For the next week, follow the Facebook discussion with director Chanda Chevannes as she shares stories from the making of Living Downstream. Follow the discussion >

A Tale of Two Nursing Mothers

Read filmmaker Chanda Chevannes' new essay in On the Issues Magazine. This piece is a personal exploration of environmental health, motherhood, and filmmaking. Read the essay >

A Tale of Two Nursing Mothers

Read filmmaker Chanda Chevannes' new essay in On the Issues Magazine. This piece is a personal exploration of environmental health, motherhood, and filmmaking. Read the essay >

Educational DVD now shipping!

New website goes live

The Living Downstream website, www.livingdownstream.com, connects the global community of individuals and organizations who are using the film as a catalyst for change. Become a member.

New screenings announced

Living Downstream will be screening for the first time in several cities and towns in California, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Ohio, Ontario, and Quebec. See our list of film screenings.

Learn how to hold your own screening of the film >