A reader responds to last week’s PediaBlog post “Follow The Money”:
“Well, I am outraged and I have been for a long time. So what can I do?”
The gist of that post was summarized by Harvard’s Sheila Kaplan:
A landmark Environmental Protection Agency report concluding that children exposed to toxic substances can develop learning disabilities, asthma and other health problems has been sidetracked indefinitely amid fierce opposition from the chemical industry.
America’s Children and the Environment, Third Edition, is a sobering analysis of the way in which pollutants build up in children’s developing bodies and the damage they can inflict.
At the risk of preaching to the choir, here are some things we can all work on:
- Be a good person. Be kind, not mean.
- Be a good friend, neighbor, and spouse. Remember that no one’s perfect.
- Be a good parent. Teach your children what you know is true (and if you don’t know, learn).
- Be a good global citizen. It’s a small world after all and the only planet we have. Tread lightly.
- Be a good consumer. If you don’t like the way it looks, smells, or feels, don’t buy it! If you don’t like what it does, says, or stands for, ditto. If it doesn’t move you, then move on.
- Be kind to yourself. Don’t clutter your head space with trivial, little stuff.
- Be a voter.
- Be the best you can be. Try to do good but, above all, don’t make things worse!
Finally, use your “optimistic eye” to help keep things in perspective. Everything has a bright side.
Check out this video for a nine year-old’s take on the “optimistic eye” at the excellent blog “A Year To Think.”