Ideals Matter

The thing about toys is that they don't come with the list of ingredient. One can go to the grocery store and look at food or cosmetics or many other products and find out what's in them. With toys, there is no way of knowing that. 

Ecology Center in Michigan has tested thousands of toys and has identified several different chemicals in the toys that have been considered chemicals of concern. The list includes compounds like lead and mercury and cadmium as well as other chemicals known as endocrine or neurotoxins and/or carcinogenic. According to Jeff Gearhart, a Research Director at the Ecology Center, one third of the toys tested contained significant concentrations of one or more hazardous chemicals. The main concern is the frequency of lead in the toys. Acting as a neurotoxin, lead can cause several defects in the body with major interruptions in the nervous system. And children are particularly susceptible as their nervous system has not yet been fully developed. In the beginning of 2010 it was brought to the general public that in some of the toys (especially in children jewelry) manufactured in China, lead was being substituted with cadmium, a known human carcinogen, that can harm the kidneys and lungs, and can also have adverse effects on motor skills and behavior.

Though both (but unfortunately not the only ones) of the incidences to come out public were related to Chinese producers, according to Jeff Gearhart the location of the toy production does not necessarily refer to the safety or unsafety of the product. Toxic chemicals are used to make toys in many countries. Also, it should be pointed out that it doesn’t matter whether a toy is less expensive or name-brand product. Chemicals of concern have been found in all types of products from all types of stores. Even name-brand and high-end products have been found to contain lead and other hazards. 

Though the detection of some of the chemicals (e.g. lead) in a product does not necessarily mean there has been exposure to these chemicals, it is wise to choose product,that has a safe level (if there is such thing) of chemicals or doesn’t contain hazardous chemicals at all. With shop shelves being filled with a variety of goods making mom and dad colorblind and dizzy, how can one know which toy to prefer? To make it quick, the specialists recommend unpainted wood toys as“good toys”. Needless to say, these are more Earth-friendly too! The fabric (cotton) toys are also considered a good choice.

But if you have more time in your hands, I would recommend a great search tool, a database that offers tips to help mom-dad, grandparents and other potential toy buyers choose safer products. The toy ranking has been made based on test results and the intention is to help consumers make better choices when purchasing toys and other children’s products.

The European Union countries, including Estonia, are not fulfilling  their development obligations and are thereby threatening the international agreement to reach Millennium Development Goals. Such is the conclusion of the report that was published on the 10th of June by the confederation CONCORD which deals with organizations that work on European development cooperation.

The report that was prepared under the initiative of AidWatch "Penalty kick against poverty: more and better EU aid would help achieve the Millennium Development Goals" was published just before the EU leaders meeting at Brussels next week, where the EU positions for the UN court on Millennium Development Goals, that is held in September in New York, are agreed upon.

A week ago Ideals Matter participated in the 2010 World Day (Maailmapäev in Estonian) celebration. The event takes place every year in Tallinn on  the 22nd of May and it is mainly aimed to open people's mind to other cultures of the world, though this year the chosen theme was "Climate Change" and that meant a perfect opportunity for us to participate in it.Take a look at the main website to read more information about it (beware that most of it is in Estonian).

                                   Click on the picture to watch the video made by the people from Bioneer (part of it in Estonian part of it in English)

One of our team's core principles is to walk the talk and we are proud to say that our stand was made from bottom to top considering the three Rs: reduce, reuse and recycle! 

People from the Western culture have a tendency to firmly believe in being the ones who got it right, the ones who know wrong from right and good from bad. As a result of such a high opinion of one's own qualities, the West often takes on the role of the disciplining policeman of the world. While the “weak”, “needy” and “helpless” are guided towards a “better”, more “moral” way of life, mishaps in one's own back yard are often unseen.

Female genital mutilation/cutting¹ has been a controversial issue among authors from various disciplines for a number of decades, the main friction being caused between the ideas of cultural relativity and universal human rights. In this essay I will discuss the FGM/C controversy by comparing it with fundamentally similar practices in the Western cultural context. I will reach a conclusion that FGM/C is inherently no different from many permanent body modification practices in the Western world and it should be treated thusly.

Firstly I will explain what FGM/C is, based on researches done by major organizations. Secondly I will discuss the opposition between cultural relativism and human rights. Thirdly I will demonstrate a double standard present in the Western body modification discourse. Fourthly I will propose an approach towards FGM/C that potentially could address the most negative aspects of the practice while not being culturally insensitive.