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Parents – Are You Awake?
Christopher Gavigan
Monday, February 01, 2010
With parenthood comes a most spectacular wake-up call. Are you awake?
For almost 20 years, Healthy Child Healthy World has witnessed the “light-bulb moment” of millions of parents when they learn that their homes, their environments, and their own bodies have been unknowingly contaminated by toxic chemicals. Its unthinkable that the government hasn’t been protecting our families, and that industry has greedily swept aside concern for public health in the face of profit.
Parents soon feel betrayed, they feel vulnerable, they feel alone.
That’s where we come in. Healthy Child is there to help parents understand this new reality, to teach them how to minimize risk, and to provide the tools so they can do something about it.
But its time to really shake things up, by waking parents up. Please help us send a universal wake-up call to inform parents about the dangers of toxic chemicals in our world, and get a movement of parents activated to do something about it in 2010!
Few of us can afford to be full-time activists. But here at Healthy Child Healthy World, we’re fond of this little mantra: “No one can do everything but everyone can do something.
Here's what you can do: spread the word and wake-up another parent. Share this video with your co-workers, send it to your child's school community, post it on Facebook and Tweet it to your network. Please hit send!
"Together, we can change the world…one home at a time."
Posted by bsluka on 02/05/2010 at 02:42 PM
I agree with you. I think the video is great, and I did forward it around. I know there are chemicals in my body and therefore my milk and I still think it’s the best option. I just worry about the broader, less aware members of the public who might think the video is suggesting that milk is contaminated, and therefore, a poor choice or a choice to be avoided. The site, clearly, doesn’t lead one in that direction, but there are plenty of people who will watch the video and never visit the site. I just think the issue of breast milk (which is complex in some regard) isn’t very clear in the video. That’s all I was trying to say.
Posted by C. on 02/05/2010 at 05:35 AM
Video is great reminder that chemicals are everywhere in our homes. Including breast milk in the video is reasonable. I, as a human being, am contaminated. It is passed from me to my children through breast milk. Despite this, I have no regrets; it was the best option for my family.
Posted by Janelle Sorensen on 02/04/2010 at 03:26 PM
Thanks for the comments and bringing the issue to light, so we can clarify our stance. We are huge breast feeding advocates. And, we feel the contamination of breast milk is an unethical trespass of one of our most fundamental human rights - to safely feed our babies the way nature intended. We couldn’t go into the issue of contaminated formula, cow’s milk, or bottles because it’s only a 3 minute video. But, if you peruse our website, you’ll see that we discuss the issues and emphasize that regardless of contaminants, breast feeding is healthiest. We also highlight safer bottles and formulas knowing that not every woman can breast feed exclusively - or sometimes at all. Thanks again for your support - and for commenting on the issue so everyone can learn from our discussion!
Posted by bsluka on 02/04/2010 at 02:07 PM
I think it is a great video, but I feel the message about breastmilk is unclear. I realize you encourage breastfeeding, and I think this video is a great way to get the conversation started about toxins in our homes and environment. I just wish it wouldn’t lead some people who will watch (but not necessarily browse your site) to think it is unsafe to breastfeed.
Posted by Chandra on 02/04/2010 at 01:24 PM
I love this video, but I wish you had included formula as being just as tainted as breastmilk.
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Posted by Jennifer Palermo on 02/07/2010 at 10:25 PM
I too am dismayed by the framing of breast milk in the video. I am also further dismayed by the response that the video is only 3 minutes and therefore couldn’t accommodate images conveying the toxicity of formula and cows milk. The pastiche images of bed, yard, food, are 10 seconds or less; the video is very creative and a creative solution to clarifying the issue could be found - OR the text about breast milk deleted all together.