Monday, August 22, 2011

Putting plastic out of schools

"Plastic is good," my daughter announced to me one afternoon on the way home. I think my eyes bugged out of my head.

What I didn't realize until we talked further is that that my recycled toothbrush-toting child had interpreted a plastic recycling message into "It's a good thing" after her Earth Day lessons.

But what if our kids were really taught that plastic is a good thing? That's what may be happening in San Francisco, and it's a scary thought. There, the San Francisco Chronicle reports that the plastic lobby has influenced children's textbooks, adding statements like plastic bags are convenient to use and use less energy than paper bags. (Yes, and they hold one to two items, have to be doubled up because they constantly rip out before even one use, and will still be here for generations to come!) You can read other edits the American Chemical Society proposed and were incoporated into school textbooks on the Chronicle's website.

If you live in California, stand up about this interjection into your children's education by signing this petition.


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