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Let’s face it. We are rebels! We stand up against mainstream ideology when it comes to the safety of the food we eat, the products we put on our skin, what we clean with, and what we bring onto our homes. We are willing to question “authority” figures who maintain the safety of their products despite proof to the contrary. We challenge government to strengthen the safety net in the market place. We vote every time we go to the store with the products we buy (and don’t buy). In short, we are willing to fight for what’s right so that our children will have safer, healthier lives and brighter futures.

I’ve really been struggling with being a “rebel with a cause” lately. I suppose because it is such a challenge to live in a world that largely doesn’t meet up to my standards. Our air is at unhealthy levels where I live; our soil is contaminated with everything from toxic sludge to e-coli. Our water is burdened with chemical waste. Our children’s products are laden with toxic chemicals. Our fabrics are sprayed with fire retardants. Our homes are chemically burdened. Our children are the guinea pigs.

I used to think that as long as I made good choices in my home then I was doing enough. In fact, when I was named 2009 Mom on a Mission by Healthy Child Healthy World I was still able to believe that one person fighting alone can make a difference in their home and in their community. But I was only half right.

There is strength in numbers. In fact, the public nuisance laws are created so that a significant number of people within the community must complain in order for the nuisance to be stopped. I found this out during my No More Tar Roofs Campaign. Just because the chemicals were in the air didn’t mean a thing unless people complained about them. Since I was the only person brave enough to complain I had to attack my tar-wielding opponents from all angles: through the media, through the online petition, through local and Federal government.

I have some bad news my friends. A few weeks ago, I received notice that my campaign to get The Arbors to switch roofing materials succeeded in getting them to apply two TPO roofs last year and that they have decided to resume the work this spring using hot asphalt roofing tar instead of the eco-friendly alternative I’d worked so hard to get them to change to. They are claiming that the Cool roofs are too modern for such old buildings.

So here I am again, on the verge of a fight that I thought I’d already won. It will be a tough battle but as a “rebel with a cause”, I’m willing to challenge the system that allows this practice to be legal at all. That a corporation is allowed to choose a roofing method that pollutes the air and makes residents sick despite strong warnings from the governing agency needs to be changed. But first thing first, I have to prove the validity of alternatives to hot tar, and I have to inspire my neighbors to have the courage to speak up this time around.

What I have seen though in the last few years has been a willingness from more Americans, as well as others throughout the world, to stop being in denial that the government is protecting us and would not allow things to be used around us or sold to us that can harm us. That type of realization is scary. Do you remember when it happened to you? When you realized that the only line of defense between toxic chemicals and your family was you. It is a very vulnerable feeling. But it doesn’t have to be. It can be empowering when you no longer allow yourself to be the victim and you fight back instead.

We are like the little “Davids” with slingshots and our strength in numbers will allow us to take down the “Goliaths” who have discounted our ability to influence changes for the safety of our families and communities. They have gambled with our lives long enough. All of our jobs must be to bring awareness to this environmental and social injustice, to inspire our neighbors to stand up for our children and stop this from happening anymore. I feel as though I’m standing on the edge of a cliff, waiting to find out if others have it in them to be “rebels with a cause”. Just like you, just like me!

The opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and not necessarily those of Healthy Child Healthy World.

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