Swiss teamwork creates non-toxic apartments

by | Oct 19, 2010 | Chemical Sensitivity News, Electrical Sensitivity News, Featured, NEWS | 2 comments


Foto: Andreas Zimmermann Architekten AGsource: swissinfo.ch

Almost three years ago, a group of about fifty people suffering from chemical sensitivities in Switzerland joined together to create a cooperative called “MCS Health Habitations,” with the goal of building affordable non-toxic housing. The project is scheduled to be completed in 2013 and will provide fifteen apartments that run about $1,411/month for a two-bedroom apartment. The architectural firm of Andreas Zimmermann Architekten AG has designed the complex.

The completed project will cost over $6 million USD (SFr 5.8 million) and is being built in an area chosen for its low electromagnetic fields (EMFs). The predominant building material will be natural stone. An area for detoxifying will be located at the entrances of all buildings to minimize chemical infiltration into the building. This is the first project of it’s kind in Europe and SFr 1.3 million is still needed to complete construction.

Christian Schifferle, president of the building cooperative, says about the project: “It wasn’t easy. The process has lasted 20 years, during which time we have tried to explain what our life is like and how important it is to have adequate housing. It is of vital importance, not a luxury.”

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Author

  • Julie Genser, founder of Planet Thrive

    Earthwalker is the username that PT founder Julie Genser created for her online interactions so many years ago when first creating Planet Thrive.

    Julie's (Earthwalker's) life was derailed over twenty years ago when she had a very large organic mercury exposure after she naively used a mouth thermometer to measure the temperature of just-boiled milk while making her very first pizza at home. The mercury instantly expanded into a gas form and exploded out the back of the thermometer right into her face. Unaware that mercury was the third most neurotoxic element on Earth, Julie had no idea she had just received a very high dose of a poisonous substance.

    A series of subsequent toxic exposures over the next few years -- to smoke from two fires (including 9/11), toxic mold, lyme disease, and chemical injuries -- caused catastrophic damage to her health. While figuring out how to survive day-to-day, and often minute-to-minute, she created Planet Thrive to help others avoid some of the misdiagnoses and struggles she had experienced.

    She has clawed her way over many health mountains to get to where she is today. She is excited to bring the latest iteration of Planet Thrive to the chronic illness community.

    In 2019, Julie published her very first cookbook e-book called Low Lectin Lunches (+ Dinners, Too!) after discovering how a low lectin, gluten free diet was helping manage her chronic fascia/muscle pain.

    View all posts

2 Comments

  1. Alexa

    Great initiative, but could they not have located it somewhat further back from the roads?

  2. Annette Tweedel

    Hi,

    Are there any floors plans for these apartments?

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