Over the last 100 years, rising cancer rates have paralleled the use of chemicals in everyday life—skyrocketing since the world wars, when chemical weapons companies transitioned their work into daily American life. The average undersink household cleaners in America today are far more toxic than the average pre-WWI laboratory.

You know this. This isn’t news.

What is news is that Lance is gone. He was wry, and sharp, and he was a father, and a husband, and he was just getting started. When he first had to shave his head his whole office shaved theirs, in solidarity.

What is news is that Liz’s mom is in Stage 4.

What is news is that Tashi survived Stage 4.

What is news is that today I learned Wendy, mother and wife and yoga teacher and studio owner, is gone, too—another pillar of knowledge and community. I’m sick of cancer, I hate it, I fear it.

Funny thing is, it’s a monster easily defeated by living in harmony with that which we are: Nature.

So let’s spend less time painting chemical pink on our faces and doing Walks for the Cure, and more time nipping dis-ease at its root.

As the largest fire in Colorado history burns, destroying our homes, our fortunes, our economy…as the like-clockwork afternoon rains of my childhood hometown have been replaced by 100 degrees (in early June),

as the rate of cancer has, nationally, doubled in one generation to 41% of our friends and loved ones and friends…

…now, more than ever, it’s clear that driving, spraying tables we eat off of with chemicals to clean them, turning lights off when not in use, conserving water…

…and making this eco-responsible way of life fun is a truly, deeply, painfully, sadly, and joyfully bipartisan issue.