Kid-Safe Chemicals Act Activist Toolkit

8/14/2019 Kid-Safe Chemicals Act Activist Toolkit

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Go Ahead! Take Action

Were thrilled that you want to partner with EWG to pass the Kid-Safe Chemicals Act.Grassroots action is what it takes. What will you do?

Take Action Online

Sign The Declaration for Kid-Safe chemicals, then share it with friends. Well use itto show how many people want a new law. Sign it @www.kidsafechemicals.org

E-mail your U.S. Representative and Senators. Let them know you want them tobe an original co-sponsor of Kid-Safe. Write your own or use our draft, which canbe found @http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1144/t/1875/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=26526

Blog about it. We have a Kid-Safe blog badge, embeddable video, and facts. Spread the word on your social networks: Facebook, MySpace, Gather, Linked in,

CafeMom, Twitter, you name it. Its quick, non-intrusive and very powerful.

All the tools you need are @www.ewg.org/kidsafe/takeaction.Take Action Offline

Contact your U.S. Representatives and Senators to let them know you want theirsupport. Call, write or - better yet meet in person in their local office. Check fortips on ourContact Your Legislatorguide.

Submit a letter-to-the-editor or opinion piece to your local paper. Refer to oursamples & templates.

Meet with your local newspapers editorial board. Give them our Kid-Safe packetand refer them to EWG with technical questions.

Ask your Governor and Attorney General to support Kid-Safe. They can urge yourCongressional Delegation to support Kid-Safe.

Host a house party. Its an excellent way to spread the word and engage yourfamily and friends in something you care about.

Get your children involved! They can send our kids letter to their U.S.Representative and Senators.

Lobby with us in Congress. A constituent visit to your representatives DC officesis a powerful statement.

All the tools you need are @www.ewg.org/kidsafe/takeaction.


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Go Ahead! Host A House Party

Thank you for partnering with EWG to host this important Kid-Safe event. Grassrootsinvolvement is exactly what it will take to pass the Kid-Safe Chemicals Act. Werethrilled that youve invited us to share some information with your community about thisfederal legislation.

Many people come to this issue out of interest in protecting themselves and theirchildren. So, in addition to discussing Kid-Safe, offer your guests our most popular

environmental health tip sheets.

Your host packet contains thorough, but understandable, information about the Kid-SafeChemicals Act, and a DVD of our 10 Americans presentation. You can show it duringthe party.

Because weve hosted a few of these events ourselves, we have some suggestions forthrowing a fun, interesting and inspirational party.

1. PLANNING: Invitations Audio/Visuals Snacks

Planning is everything. Getting your ducks in a row makes for a smoother party and

happier host. We recommend that you:

Pick a good day and time for your crowd. As you know, gathering busy people inone place is a challenge. Pick a day and 2-hour timeframe that works for yourguests. Thursday evenings and Saturday afternoons sometimes work well. Do aquick online poll if youre unsure. Doodle (www.doodle.com) is an easy and freeway to propose several times and for your guests to respond.

Send your e-vitation 2 to 3 weeks before the party. Timing is everything! Catchguests before their calendars are full, but not so far ahead that they forget, or othercommitments pop up. You can prepare personalized e-vites, track RSVPs andsend follow-up messages on free sites like E-vite.com and Eventbrite.com. Use

our sample invitation language if you like. (www.ewg.org/kidsafe/house-party-sample-invitation-language)

Invite enough people to get right-sized crowd. Between 15 and 20 guests workswell, so send out 25 to 40 invites. And count on a few no-shows. It happens to thebest of us!


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A/V equipment. This party centers around our 10 Americans video presentation,so youll want to show it on a large screen, with good sound, in clear view of theaudience.

Food and drink. A key component of any successful party, right? Let them knowwhat itll be gets em every time.

2. PARTY TIME: Agenda - The Declaration - Contacting Legislators

Make the most of your guests time by informing and inspiring them before they have torun. Let them know what to expect as you welcome them. Our suggestions:

Socialize (25 min). Provide name tags if your guests dont know one another. Aquick round of introductions to learn peoples names, connection to the host andinterests is a great ice-breaker.

Watch and discuss the 10 Americans presentation (35 min). Test your a/vequipment before guests arrive.

Distribute and review Kid-Safe packets (15 min). Show your guests whats inside theyre far more likely to have a look later if they know whats there! Kid-Safe infoon the left, green parent tips on the right. Tip: Share the work ask a guest or yourchild to do this.

Explain and sign the Declaration (10 minutes). This short but powerful statementis a great way to engage your guests. Well use it to show Congress how manypeople support protecting children and well keep signers up to date on kids healthissues. Tip: Have your child ask guests to sign who could refuse?

Contact your U.S. Senators and Representative (15 min). Empower your gueststo get involved. Our draft letter or email should be on your computer screen, readyto edit, so guests can sign and send a letter then and there. Our handy call guide

can help guests call their legislators. Sending a letter is much stronger, especially ifyour party is after business hours.

Take action during the party, when people are focused on the issue. Once theydisperse, they are far less likely to get active.

Discuss next steps (20 min). Tell your guests that youll e-mail links to EWGsenvironmental health tips and Kid-Safe info and actions. Decide what will happennext: Who will throw the next party? Who will join you to meet with your member ofCongress?

3. FOLLOW-UP: Thank Your Guests - Stay Involved - Report Out

Follow-up is essential. Consciousness raising is valuable, but when coupled with action,its the stuff of change. We suggest that you:

Follow up with thanks and an opportunity to stay involved. Personalize our follow-up e-message with your own thank-you note. The message has links to EWGsgreen parenting tips and opportunities to stay involved with the Kid-Safe campaign.

Find one guest to host her own party. When he or she signs up with EWG, wellreward you with a gift.


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Meet with your Congressional representative in his or her district office.Encourage your guests to join you. Let your local lawmaker know that there aremany constituents in the Congressional district who want him or her to support Kid-Safe. Present a packet with signed letters from you and all your guests and friends.Need more help from us? Just ask.

Let us know how it goes! We love feedback! It helps improve our activist tool kitand build momentum for Kid-Safe. Send yours to [email protected]. Take a picture andupload it on our Kid-Safe Flickr group, too. Showcasing parties across the countryis a great way to inspire others.


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House Party Sample Invitation Language:

I hope you can join me for a couple of hours to learn about a topic that interests a lot ofpeople these days: toxic chemicals and your family's environmental health. You'veprobably heard about polluted breast milk, furniture contaminated with toxic flame

retardants and the harmful effects of Teflon. And you've probably wondered whichchemicals you should avoid and how exactly to minimize your family'sexposures. Whether it's BPA, PBDEs (toxic flame retardants), PFOA (Teflon) or any ofthe 80,000 other chemicals on the market today, many people want to understand whythese chemicals are a problem, who allowed them in our consumer products and whatwe should be doing about it.

We'll learn why so many toxic chemicals are on the market, get some simple tips toimprove our families' environmental health and hear about an effective national solution:the Kid-Safe Chemicals Act. If passed, Kid-Safe would overhaul our existing ineffectivefederal chemical policy and ensure that chemicals are safe for kids before they are put

on the market and into the products we use everyday. And it's people just like us whocan speak up and ensure it becomes law. I'm partnering with the EnvironmentalWorking Group (EWG) [www.ewg.org/forparents] to host the party. I sure hope you can

join me for an interesting and inspiring evening.

Sample follow-up/thank you email from host to guest

I really enjoyed having you participate in my Kid-Safe house party thank you formaking the time to join me. I hope that you found it as enjoyable, educational andempowering as I did. Im ready to make a few changes around the house to improve myfamilys environmental health and to start spreading the word about Kid-Safe. Its clearlythe right answer to the toxic chemical problem we have in this country.

There are a variety of actions for us to take something for everyone. Im including afew links that will be useful for you to raise your voice in favor of Kid-Safe. And if youhave any questions, the EWG staff is happy to connect with you. Lisa Frack helped meorganize this party and you can reach her at: [email protected].

More Action Opportunities

Tell your friends that you signed The Declaration for Kid-Safe Chemicals bysharing the link on your social networks: www.kidsafechemicals.org

Host your own house party. Its a fun and effective way to spread the word. Itsall here: http://www.ewg.org/kidsafe/houseparty

Blog about Kid-Safe orshare it with bloggers you know and encourage them topost about it. All the info theyll need is on EWGs Kid-Safe web page:www.ewg.org/kidsafe

Meet with your representatives in Congress. Grab some friends and head totheir local office staff regularly meets with constituents. Identify a Senator or


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Representative and deliver one of EWGs Kid-Safe packets. You can refer toEWGs talking points.

Take action when EWG asks. E-mails, letters and calls to members of Congressreally matter. With them, we can pass this law.

Environmental Health Tips

Enviroblog, EWGs blog on environmental health www.enviroblog.orgEWGs web page just For Parents www.ewg.org/forparentsSkin Deep EWGs cosmetics safety database www.cosmeticsdatabase.com

Thanks again for joining me for such an important conversation.


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Go Ahead! Have Your Children Write A Letter To Congress

[Date]

Dear Senator or Representative _____________,

I am writing to ask you to support the Kid-Safe Chemicals Act. IfKid-Safe becomes law, it will

help keep children like me safe from dangerous chemicals.

Many of the chemicals used everywhere, everyday - in our food and water, furniture and thetoys we play with - contain chemicals that end up in kids bodies. Many of these chemicals arelinked to illnesses that are on the rise among children. No one knows the effects of many others.

I may be too young to vote or run for elected office, but kids voices can and should be heard -especially when it affects us. Chemicals should be safe for me before they are put into productsand my body.

Please join me, and children across the United States, to support the Kid-Safe Chemicals Actand make the world a safer place for my friends and me. Together we can improve how

government decides what chemicals are allowed in the stuff we use.

Thank you for listening. Please let me know that you will support Kid-Safe.

Sincerely,

[Childs Name & Age][Street Address][City, State, Zip code]Include your complete address to ensure a reply!


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Go Ahead! Ask Your Representatives In Congress To Support Kid-Safe

Thank you for your interest in helping to pass the Kid-Safe Chemicals Act. One of the best waysto take action is to contact your Representative and Senators in Congress to urge them tosupport Kid-Safe.

You can call, write, email or meet them in person - all are important ways to communicate yourmessage. Requesting an in-person meeting is the strongest message you can send. Mailing aletter is second best, followed by calling and then emailing.

So choose the tactic with which youre most comfortable, then kick it up a notch! Usually sendemails? Try mailing a letter or calling. Called a few times? Go for that in-person meeting. Itmatters.

Finding your legislator

Use our easy search tool

To locate the names and contact information for your U.S. Senators and Representative, enteryour zip code in our search tool and youll have a list to work from.[www.ewg.org/kidsafe/Contact-Your-Legislator-Guide]

1. Meet in person at a local office

All U.S. Senators and Representatives have in-state offices where constituents can requestappointments and meet with staff. Call the one nearest you (state and district offices are listedon the members web sites) and tell the receptionist that you want to discuss the Kid-SafeChemicals Act and urge the legislator to support it.

There is strength in numbers. If others are joining you, let your elected representatives knowhow many and who they are.

Refer to our Kid-Safe talking points here and hand deliver several of EWGs Kid-Safe

information packets. Be sure to let your contacts know whats inside that makes them morelikely to refer back to it later!

2. Send a letter via snail mail

EWG has a draft letter that you can sign and mail, and personalize, or you can write your own. Ifyou write your own, feel free to use parts of ours. Some other tips:


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Constituent Letter(Please personalize if you want!)

Dear Senator / Representative ________________,

As your constituent and a supporter of the Environmental Working Group (EWG), I hope you willbecome an original co-sponsor of the Kid-Safe Chemicals Act. Kid-Safe would reform the ToxicSubstances Control Act (TSCA) of 1976 and ensure that chemicals are safe for children beforethey go on the market.

The current law is so toothless that the Environmental Protection Agency could not use it to banasbestos. Since its enactment, tens of thousands of untested chemicals have come into use,and more appear daily. Recent studies show that babies are being born already polluted withnearly 300 industrial chemicals, some linked to childhood cancer, obesity, autism, ADHD,learning disabilities, infertility and birth defects.

Childhood cancer, asthma, neurodevelopmental disorders and lead poisoning cost our societyan estimated $55 billion annually. The burden placed on families of children with chronicdiseases and developmental disabilities is immeasurable.

I believe Kid-Safe is one of the most important pieces of legislation before the Congress. Its thebest way to protect the most vulnerable among us and give our children a safer and healthierfuture. Please become an original co-sponsor of Kid-Safe.

Sincerely,

[Your Name]

[Street Address]

[City, State, Zip Code]

*Include your complete address to ensure a reply!


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Go Ahead! Write A Letter To The Editor

Letters to the Editor (LTEs) are an excellent opportunity to share your support for the Kid-SafeChemicals Act and inform your community about it. LTEs are also a chance to support oroppose what you read in the article youre responding to.

1. When to submit a letter to the editor (LTE)

LTEs are published in response to an article that relates to the topic. Keep your eyes openfor articles on toxics, baby bottles or state/federal legislation like the Toxic SubstancesControl Act or Kid-Safe.

Be timely try to respond within two or three days of the articles publication.2. Where to submit a LTE

Send letters to your weekly community newspapers, as well as the larger publications. It isoften easier to get your letter printed in a newspaper with a small circulation.

3. Writing a persuasive letter that will get published

Keep it short no more than 150-200 words. Longer letters are more likely to be edited.Better to you edit it yourself.

Stick to a single subject.Refer to the specific article in the newspaper.Its okay to be passionate, but its not effective to be abusive and rude. Dont attack a person:

argue against (or for) their opinions.

Think of a new way to approach the issue, including offering solutions to the problem.Use facts and figures whenever you can, but dont overuse them.Look at the letter from the editors perspective. Does it offer something new and unique? Will

readers benefit from reading it? Is it easy to read and follow?

4. Details

Be sure to include your contact information. You might receive a call to verify your identity.


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Go Ahead! Write A Letter To The Editor

Type it, double-space it and proofread it. And then do it again.Don't be discouraged if your letter isn't published. Write again when appropriate.

5. Our sample - to get you thinking

I found the story in last DATE paper on TOPIC interesting and alarming. Every day, it seems,there is another story about toxic chemicals harming human health and the environment.Unfortunately, there is little we as individuals can do to prevent our families from being exposed.The loose federal law that regulates chemicals -- the Toxic Substances Control Act(TSCA) of1976 -- is responsible for an entire population of polluted people. The law is considered theweakest of all major environmental laws on the books. It is so toothless that EPA was unable toban asbestos a chemical responsible for 10,000 deaths a year. We need fundamental reformin the way we regulate chemicals. The Kid-Safe Chemicals Act would require chemicalcompanies to prove their products are safe for children before being allowed on the market.Sadly, under the current law, over 80,000 chemicals have gone onto the market and into

products with virtually no safety tests. As a result, babies are being polluted with hundreds ofindustrial chemicals. While still in the womb. (175 words)


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Go Ahead! Meet With Your Papers Editorial Board

Newspaper editorials can have a powerful impact on an issue by educating andinfluencing readers and elected officials. You can meet with members of a paperseditorial board to discuss this important issue and suggest a supportive piece about theKid-Safe Chemicals Act. Follow these steps for a successful meeting:

1. Prepare for the meeting

Request a meeting. Some newspapers have standard times and procedures,while others are less formal. You will probably need to prepare and send a briefemail that explains who would attend the meeting and the topic you want todiscuss.

Identify key points and ensure you have supporting materials (you can downloadthem at www.ewg.org/kidsafe) to make the case for Kid-Safe. You may only have10 to 15 minutes, so it's important to be succinct.

Team up with a community leaderwhen possible. Invite him or her to join youand actively participate in the discussion. You can also invite a national leader to

join the meeting, either in person or over the phone. Your chances of securing aneditorial board meeting increase if you include a known leader.

2. In the meeting

Be prepared to answer serious questions. The editorial board will see you assomebody who cares deeply about the issue. So know your facts. See EWGs factsheets: www.ewg.org/kidsafe.

Suggest next steps. As the meeting winds up, ask if the paper would consider aneditorial on the topic, or offer to submit an Op-Ed piece.

3. Follow-up

Send an e-mail or a hand-written thank-you note to show that you appreciatethe boards time.

Kid-Safe Chemicals Act Activist Toolkit

Documents