ABOUT

Smart discussion of the latest science and news on toxins in your food, water, and air, and what government agencies should be doing to protect public health. Enviroblog is a project of EWG Action Fund.

About our authors.


FEED

 Subscribe in a Reader

Subscribe by Email


Mixed Greens
An EWG podcast for environmental health news on the go.


FOLLOW US ON TWITTER

    TIPS

    Did we miss something? Email Enviroblg.


    BLOGROLL


    STAY CONNECTED

    Get our monthly eNewsletter, action alerts, & environmental tips. [Privacy policy, About EWG]


    Healthy Home Tips for Parents

    Eco-nomics, the new kind of economics

    Please don't disrupt my endocrines!

    Taking pollution personally


    FEATURED

    Please don't disrupt my endocrines!

    Healthy home tips for parents

    Consumers to FDA: Be there or be square

    Lead: Celebrate its ban, but don't cross it off your list

    Cheatsheet: Bisphenol A

    7 ways to reduce your exposure to PBDEs



    Ask EWG

    What can I do about fluoride in my water?

    What is new carpet treated with? What can I do?

    What is "fragrance"?

    Which infant formula is best?

    Are stainless steel water bottles safe?

    Is mineral-based makeup safer?


    SEARCH


    ARCHIVE

    « In the news: October 24, 2006 | Main | In the news: October 25, 2006 »

    EWG intern makes USA Today front page

    By Matthew

    October 24, 2006

    gen-large.jpg

    Alex Wells explains the Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce while staffing the EWG booth at this year’s Green Fest.

    Today’s USA Today profiles (on the front page no less) EWG intern Alex Wells. According to USAT Alex may be pretty typical of Generation Y. Research suggests she and other millennials — those in their mid-20s and younger — are civic-minded and socially conscious. A recent survey of 13-25-year-olds finds that:

    • 61% feel personally responsible for making a difference in the world.
    • 81% have volunteered in the past year.
    • 69% consider a company's social and environmental commitment when deciding where to shop.
    • 83% will trust a company more if it is socially/environmentally responsible.
    The article posits that tragedies like 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina have had a measurable influence on Gen Y’s burgeoning activism. An activism which is, in most cases, not learned in the home, where many young activists’ parents are unfamiliar with current events, don’t vote, and are “civically illiterate.”

    Harvard public policy professor Robert Putnam says that volunteerism and the new crop of activism are an upper middle class phenomenon further dividing those with and without college degrees. The “have-nots,” he says, are less engaged than ever before.

    Enter GenerationEngage, a 2-year-old non-partisan, youth civic engagement initiative focused particularly on bringing non-college students in to the political and activist fold. The group organizes events where young people can meet face-to-face and online with leaders and politicians, such as Al Gore and Newt Gingrich.

    « In the news: October 24, 2006 |