May 16th Cosmetics Rally Quick Round-Up!
Brrrrr! It was sooooo cold out there today! But a few of us brave souls rugged up and dug out the winter gear - scarves, hats, gloves and at least one thermal I'm aware of... And we stood there to spread the message far and wide, telling everyone that even though we've had cosmetics labelling regulations for 6 months, there is still a long way to go before we're properly informed about the ingredients in our cosmetics.
Despite the wind, the pelting rain and the not-so-spring-like temps, we managed to enthuse a lot of people. The day started well with The Gazette publishing an article (see Gazette Article). Quite a number of people who stopped to talk to us mentioned that they saw this and on several occasions, this great fore-event publicity had some people seeking us out on purpose! One lady crossed the road from her workplace to ask for 5 of everything and one man asked for at least 5 in English and 5 in French to hand out to his family members. While we saw many bleak faces and there was a preponderance of cold hands firmly ensconced in pockets to keep warm, we still had quite a lot of people happy to briefly draw a hand out from this warmth to take a card and information sheet from us. We gave our smiles to them - if the day couldn't be bright, at least we made up for it. And we happily engaged those who were interested in our cause in conversations, some lasting 5 - 10 minutes easily!
The media arrived in the form of CBC and The Suburban newspaper, interviewing Carol, Madeleine and Maychai. They came with film and still cameras in tow, so there'll be news items tonight and later this week no doubt. Thanks to those who talked to the media. This great publicity is an important ally.
At one stage, a high school group passed us and we took the opportunity to engage as many of the students as possible as they waited for the change of lights. Several of the girls seemed very, very interested and we'd love it if they go on to take up the challenge of spreading the information through their school environment and amongst friends.
We also asked workmen going back to their car to take home the information to their families and we asked a policeman to also do the same. Everyone - women, men, girls and boys - was fair game because this impacts all of us! It was always such a thrill to watch people's eyes light up with interest and to see them walking away with the information - our little cards seem to be a big hit and there was no evidence of them littering the walkway anyway - they are so easy to slip into a pocket or a bag!
One woman pulled her car over and asked for information as she was turning the corner. This excited the newspaper photographer no end, but you can also imagine it really thrilled us too because it was clear that our signs, our gathering and our cause had hit a chord even as far as from a car. Here's to crossing our fingers that people on those buses passing by also took it in and will check out the news items and our websites! :)
We also had a Coal Tar Dyes poster listing over 200 different names that fall under the one title of "Coal Tar Dyes". Unfortunately, we were not able to display this as prominently as originally intended because the wind was rather unco-operative but we did hold it up for the media and it is expected to be one of the pictures we'll post here. (And we'll also add the list here for your better knowledge).
All in all, the event felt extremely positive in spite of the injection of winter in spring - we distributed a lot of cards and information, we got media coverage, we talked to a lot of people, we caught the eye of many more.
So, there'll be photos of today posted here soon - they'll show you how grey and blustery the day was but hopefully you'll see past that to the smiles, the willingness of our volunteers to give of their time and the willingness of members of the community to take a brief moment to pause and take in a very important issue of health. If you read this today, watch the news this evening! Otherwise, we'll try and get a copy of it and post it here soon-ish...
Despite the wind, the pelting rain and the not-so-spring-like temps, we managed to enthuse a lot of people. The day started well with The Gazette publishing an article (see Gazette Article). Quite a number of people who stopped to talk to us mentioned that they saw this and on several occasions, this great fore-event publicity had some people seeking us out on purpose! One lady crossed the road from her workplace to ask for 5 of everything and one man asked for at least 5 in English and 5 in French to hand out to his family members. While we saw many bleak faces and there was a preponderance of cold hands firmly ensconced in pockets to keep warm, we still had quite a lot of people happy to briefly draw a hand out from this warmth to take a card and information sheet from us. We gave our smiles to them - if the day couldn't be bright, at least we made up for it. And we happily engaged those who were interested in our cause in conversations, some lasting 5 - 10 minutes easily!
The media arrived in the form of CBC and The Suburban newspaper, interviewing Carol, Madeleine and Maychai. They came with film and still cameras in tow, so there'll be news items tonight and later this week no doubt. Thanks to those who talked to the media. This great publicity is an important ally.
At one stage, a high school group passed us and we took the opportunity to engage as many of the students as possible as they waited for the change of lights. Several of the girls seemed very, very interested and we'd love it if they go on to take up the challenge of spreading the information through their school environment and amongst friends.
We also asked workmen going back to their car to take home the information to their families and we asked a policeman to also do the same. Everyone - women, men, girls and boys - was fair game because this impacts all of us! It was always such a thrill to watch people's eyes light up with interest and to see them walking away with the information - our little cards seem to be a big hit and there was no evidence of them littering the walkway anyway - they are so easy to slip into a pocket or a bag!
One woman pulled her car over and asked for information as she was turning the corner. This excited the newspaper photographer no end, but you can also imagine it really thrilled us too because it was clear that our signs, our gathering and our cause had hit a chord even as far as from a car. Here's to crossing our fingers that people on those buses passing by also took it in and will check out the news items and our websites! :)
We also had a Coal Tar Dyes poster listing over 200 different names that fall under the one title of "Coal Tar Dyes". Unfortunately, we were not able to display this as prominently as originally intended because the wind was rather unco-operative but we did hold it up for the media and it is expected to be one of the pictures we'll post here. (And we'll also add the list here for your better knowledge).
All in all, the event felt extremely positive in spite of the injection of winter in spring - we distributed a lot of cards and information, we got media coverage, we talked to a lot of people, we caught the eye of many more.
So, there'll be photos of today posted here soon - they'll show you how grey and blustery the day was but hopefully you'll see past that to the smiles, the willingness of our volunteers to give of their time and the willingness of members of the community to take a brief moment to pause and take in a very important issue of health. If you read this today, watch the news this evening! Otherwise, we'll try and get a copy of it and post it here soon-ish...
posted by Felicity @ 3:07 PM
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