We can eat organic grapes, buy wooden toys, and wash our hair with natural shampoo.
But what can you possibly do when your home is named America’s Most Toxic City?
Oh, yes. The city of brotherly love – the same city that plays ping pong with my heart, barraging me with business taxes and then buttering me up with solar powered recycling bins – has just been deemed the worst place for air and water quality by Forbes Magazine.
“Philadelphia could be considered the capital of toxicity, since the city and its environs ranked No. 1 on our 2011 Most Toxic Cities list. One big reason: The sprawling Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), including parts of four states (Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and one county in Maryland), is pocked with more than 50 Superfund sites — areas no longer in use that contain hazardous waste.”
We also got hit with the worst water ranking. Sounds good, since I only drink about nine gallons a day. I only hope my Pur filter is up for a challenge.
Soon after this study hit, I received an e-mail from my mother-in-law suggesting that we pack our things and move. But where? The #1 toxicity site stretches about 100 miles, and New York and California didn’t fare much better. We’ve got a mortgage to pay and jobs to show up for – we ain’t going anywhere.
So what is a concerned resident to do when they want answers but turn to Facebook. My response from the Philadelphia’s Office of Sustainability:
“We are looking into the various methodologies used for this study and will post when we learn more.”
I certainly hope so.
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