Pinkwashing – Please Think Before you Pink

October 18, 2011 by Alia 4 Comments

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month.  It’s the month when everything turns pink, there are pink ribbons on everything, and everyone starts donating part of the proceeds from their pink products to breast cancer research.

Unfortunately, many of the companies that are throwing pink ribbons on their products continue to produce products with toxic and carcinogenic ingredients.  That means that many of the times that you will support the campaign by purchasing a product decorated with a pink ribbon, you will actually be buying a product that contributes to the possible causes of cancer.

The practice of putting a pink ribbon on products in the name of breast cancer awareness when the ingredients of that product are linked to cancer is called Pinkwashing.

I’ve seen pink ribbons on everything from skin care products to perfume to alcohol!  Can you imagine?   When I saw Mike’s Hard Pink Lemonade, I couldn’t help but share the article on my Facebook page.

There are organizations and companies that are genuinely working towards prevention of all cancers.  You have to do your research to sort out the genuine companies from those that are just part of the media campaign.

This October, please think before you pink!  Try not to get sucked into the media hype around this campaign.  Instead, do your research and support the companies that align with your values, regardless of the colour of ribbon that they are waving around.