Over the weekend, the American Red Cross and other volunteers distributed water to the residents of Sebring, Ohio following concerns about elevated lead levels in the Sebring Public Water System. In response to the concern, Sebring’s schools cancelled classes on Friday and held a lead screening clinic for children under 6 and pregnant and breastfeeding women on Sunday. Pregnant and breastfeeding women, infants, and children receiving water from the Sebring Public Water system remain advised to use bottled water for cooking, drinking, and formula preparation, and the Mahoning County Emergency Management Agency continues to distribute water through the Sebring Community Center.
The Business of Social Enterprise: Intro to B Corporations
More than ever, for-profit businesses today are striving to highlight their ethical sourcing, environmental consciousness, and positive influence on society. For consumers, the question of whether they are supporting a true social enterprise or being misled by savvy marketing is sometimes difficult to answer. But, it is a question that businesses can take steps to address upfront. One way businesses do this is through Benefit Corporation designation. For clarity, there are two different types of B Corp designation. The first is a third party certification, similar to Fair Trade. The second is a state-created business entity that requires meeting environmental and social standards not required of a typical corporation. Both types of Benefit Corporation are explored further below.
Lead and Lead Laws in Ohio: A Brief Survey of Responsibilities
Lately we have heard a great deal about the lead poisoning of children in Flint, Michigan, which may have some wondering about lead in their own communities. According to Ohio’s Department of Health, lead poisoning is the greatest environmental threat to children in Ohio, and in the past 15 years 40,000 children have suffered lead poisoning in Cuyahoga County alone.
The Call for Change is an Opportunity to Grow for Ohio’s Agricultural Sector
In 2015, the toxic cyanobacterial algal bloom in Lake Erie was the worst in recorded history. You may not be aware of this, simply because the situation received much less press than in previous years, such as 2014 when enormous clouds of microscopic bacteria clogged Toledo’s public water treatment system. A lot has been done in recent years in Canada and the United States, as well as here in Ohio, to strengthen the laws and regulations designed to protect surface water, in an effort to slow the contributions of chemicals that feed these algal blooms. It is too early to say whether these efforts have succeeded; due to the pollution storage capacity in the lake, it will take years to understand how much effect these efforts have had.
