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. Written by EWG staff.

Follow ewgtoxics on Twitter

DONATE TO EWG!

Help us protect your health and environment!  Please donate $5 to EWG today.

GET EWG'S TIPS & ACTION ALERTS

Sign Up here to receive email updates and tips from EWG and stay informed on the issues that matter most to you.


Environmental Working Group's Facebook Page
YouTube

ENVIROBLOG VIA EMAIL

Delivered by FeedBurner

 Enviroblog in your Reader

Kid-Safe Chemicals Act

Get EWG widgets & blog badges.

Join EWG's live chat with Chef Ann Cooper

School lunch: More fruits & veggies, please!

Texas Schools are Drilling for Dollars

Why do blowouts take so long to fix?

SEARCH ENVIROBLOG

FIND PAST POSTS

FEATURED

Support the 2010 Safe Cosmetics Act. It's Urgent.

Why, oh why is there plastic in my aluminum water bottle?

Cell phone radiation series - Part 2: 8 Ways to reduce your exposure

So what products CAN we use?

Test Your Knowledge of Cosmetics Safety: 8 Myths Debunked

EWG's Tips for Parents: The Series

EWG's Tips to avoid BPA exposure

EWG on TV

Cutting the Pork from U.S. Farm Bill

Toxic Tub?

Sunscreen safety & DC drinking water

Perchlorate in people, kids' personal care products & plastics, and sunscreen

BPA in baby formula & safe cosmetics

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?

Ask EWG Archives

Top Blog Award

Top  blogs award

PEOPLE TALKING TOXICS

Breast Cancer Fund

The Daily Green

Eco Child's Play

Environmental Defense Fund

Green Moms Carnival

Grist

Healthy Child, Healthy World

Huffington Post Green

NRDC's Switchboard

Organic.org

Safer States

TreeHugger

TALK TO US

Did we miss something? Email Enviroblog.

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

EWG intern makes USA Today front page

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 |