Well, actually, I'm angry with the part of the business world that makes products and sells them to unknowing consumer (that be you and me) knowing there are toxins in their products.
This anger has a beginning.
This week, I wrote about possible anxiety and hoarding disorders that are arising from the desire to go green. Throughout the week, I have come across more and more reasons to worry. From possible lurking dangers in infant car seats to toxins in gardening hoses (that your kids drink from in the summer), my blood can't help but boil.
Then, the slightly good news that companies are being forthcoming with their GMO (genetically modified organisms) labeling. Even Johnson and Johnson is finally making a change in their baby products that have contained carcinogens for years. (You'll find all links to these topics in the resources below).
Why am I angry?
Maybe I wouldn't be so nervous about the decisions I make at the grocery store if I knew that everything was safe. Maybe I wouldn't have to take blueberries off my list and sacrifice my health for fear that the blueberries with pesticides are worse for me than not eating blueberries at all. Maybe I wouldn't spend 10 minutes in the bread aisle reading labels to be sure that all the ingredients are natural. Maybe I wouldn't have to hold my breath as I walk through the cleaning aisle. Maybe I wouldn't lose sleep at night thinking about the mattress I've been sleeping on that has been off-gasing for years already.
I'm really angry that in the year 2012, plastic water bottles continue to be produced, toxic hair products are still used in salons, and that my son's milk is genetically modified.
I'm sick of companies coming out with so-called "green" cleaning products while they still produce toxic ones (and sell them side-by-side at the superstore). I am disgusted that we don't have a choice about additives to food, and I'm really, really fed up of diaper companies pretending to be making a greener version of their diapers when they still contain an absorbent chemical that is banned in feminine products.
I'm angry that people are getting sick worrying about the choices they make for their families. I'm angry that we are second-guessing ourselves as parents and feeling guilty about our past choices when none of this is our fault. None of it.
But, these companies need to hear us.
After calming down, we need to raise our voices, people. Really.
Our vote is made in the products we buy, the companies we support and the even the businesses we follow on social media.
It's disgusting that, in this modern day and age, companies still think that we are fools and that we'll passively keep buying their products. We shouldn't have to fight so hard to have them hear us.
Johnson & Johnson is taking baby steps, but it's not enough. It needs to happen faster and with more and more companies until we no longer need to promote products as being green because it will just be understood that they are. All of them.
There is no reason other than greed that these companies continue to make and sell toxic products.
It needs to stop.
Let's let them have it, everyone.
Are you on board? Then spread the word.
Resources for you:
What's Inside Car Seats? (link to Facebook page to vote for infant car seat testing)
Toxic Gardening Tools are a Growing Problem (article)
10 Companies that Support GMO Food Labeling (article)
18 Companies that Oppose GMO Food Labeling (article)
Johnson & Johnson Makes Historic Commitment to Remove Cancer-Causing Chemicals (article)
Top 10 Food Additives (article)
The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics (a non-profit organization with the goal to get companies to change)
UPDATED Feb 16, 2013: Our Voices Count: Tide Reduces Levels of Carcinogen 1,4-Dioxane
Related articles from this blog:
5 Reasons You Need to Stop Buying Water Bottles Already!
Natural Beauty
Stop Feeling Guilty- I Don't Blame You (An Open Letter to Previous Generations)
It is so true that our vote is in the products that we buy, encouraging them to produce more of the same whatever that may be. I also have been listening to GMO videos this week and learning more there. It's overwhelming and it certainly produces anxiety when I think of of the difference between what is out there and what I wish we had more of. Thank you for making me more conscious of what my role is in all of this.
ReplyDeleteI feel that same overwhelm you speak of, Suzanne. That's why I am expressing anger in this post. I shouldn't have to experience that as a consumer. I should be able to trust everything that made it out there on the market. My only concern should be the features of the product, not whether it's less toxic than the other.
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