I Want Safer Products When I Visit the Store

When you walk down the isles of many grocers and retailers you will likely be overwhelmed with all the product choices you have. You may walk into the store with the idea to buy a bottle of laundry detergent but that becomes difficult when you realize you have 100+ product options for something that essentially performs the same function…cleaning your clothes. As if that wasn’t already headache inducing you also need to be aware that many of those products mat not be a safe choice to launder your clothing with and they won’t be labeled in way that clues you into this. We have to be savvy shoppers nowadays and do our research at home and so we know before we walk into the store what kind of products and ingredients we need to avoid for the health and safety of our family.

Many ask…why are stores permitted to even carry products that can be potentially harmful or hazardous? Great question. There is no good answer other than that our legislative bodies move incredibly slow and they often turn to advisers and scientists who have a vested interest in the chemical ingredients being investigated. This is why the US is a-okay with products containing ingredients that are banned in most other developed countries. Profit comes before human safety. This means it is up to YOU, the consumer, to research the products and find the safe ones. We vote with our dollars every day for the products we want to see on the market and we also try to move legislation in the right direction as well.

We also have another action we can take though and that is to start speaking out to our local retailers and telling them about our product concerns. We can vote with our dollars and use our words to urge them to take action. If we aren’t loud and clear about our desire to see safer products in the stores what motivation do they have to make change? They say that it is the squeaky wheel that gets the grease. Well, we don’t have to be squeaky in an annoying sense but perhaps we could be a positive voice chirping in their ears now and again so that they start to see just how many customers want to see change.

This is why I adore the The Mind the Store campaign which is asking the some of the biggest retailers (the top 10) to get tough on the Hazardous 100+ toxic chemicals and remove products that contain them.

The targeted retailers are :
Target
Walgreens
Lowes
CVS
Best Buy
Costco
Safeway
Kroger
Walmart
Home Depot

As a blogger I decided to join the campaign by visiting my local Kroger and speaking with the manager about the campaign and leaving with her the formal letter that can be obtained from the site. I kept it friendly and non confrontational. It helps that I actually shop there from time to time and live just down the street so when they see I am a concerned mom and customer they respond. This is actually the chain I grew up with, although it is called Fry’s in Arizona. I have been a shopper at Kroger’s since I was a kid. I really like the store and every year I am pleasantly surprised by how many greener and healthier options they have. They can do more though to protect their customers who may not have the time or inclination to do all the research required to know which products are safe and which are not. I asked that my letter be forwarded on to the decision makers within the company and this is something we can all do. Easy peasy. Target is making news for starting to carry more non-toxic brands too so writing a letter of encouragement to them is a good option. I’m even starting to see more Target coupons and promo codes for some of these brands so that’s a very positive step.

Our government has overall done a sucktastic job up to now protecting us from us from the corporations who poison us with consumer products. We need to help the process along. Part of that is to become educated consumers and vote with our dollars to direct the market to where we believe it needs to go. Another part of that is highlighted by this amazing campaign…to be loud and clear with the retailers and tell in them in no uncertain terms that we demand healthier products. We need to let them know certain products and hazardous chemicals have no place in products offered to the public and that we think they need to step up and remove these items to protect their customers. We scratch their backs all the time with our heard earned dollars. We need a little scratching in return.

Please join the cause! Ask these retailers to Mind the Store to protect ALL families from toxic chemicals.