WASHINGTON - March 1 - Since 2006, Environmental Working Group has been building an email list of engaged consumers who sign up to get regular alerts about our latest research and practical tips to help them keep their families safe, healthy and informed. The number of individuals on that list just topped 1 million, underscoring the value that busy people place on having access to solid, science-based information and to straightforward tools that cut through the clutter and allow them to make informed choices for themselves and their families.

In just the last four years, this committed audience for EWG’s work has grown by more than ten times. Watch a message from EWG's Ken Cook: http://www.youtube.com/user/EnvironmentalWG

Americans have lost confidence in many of the products they buy and in the federal government’s ability to ensure consumer goods are safe. Despite waning consumer confidence, industry would rather use its influence and wealth to circumvent citizen concerns and manipulate the levers of Congress than chart a healthier and more sustainable course. For example, the Agribusiness lobby is embarking on a $30 million PR campaign designed to repair their tarnished image.

Consumers want to know what pesticides and other toxic chemicals are showing up in their food, drinking water or household products, what toxic ingredients are being added to sunscreens or children’s shampoos, and just how their tax dollars are being spent – not another misleading ad campaign by the likes of Monsanto and the National Corn Growers. Consumers come to EWG because this kind of information isn’t easy to get from many companies and the government. And once they are armed with the facts, they make choices that move markets and sway manufacturers’ behavior.

“For years, EWG has recognized that consumers are frustrated. We set out to help the wary shopper make the safest possible choices with bulletproof research and information-packed, easy-to-use buying guides,” said EWG President and Co-founder Ken Cook. “Millions of Americans now consult our Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides when buying fresh produce or turn to our online databases to choose the safest personal care products or cell phones and to find out what’s in their tap water.”

EWG’s 1 million supporters come and stay for this kind of helpful consumer information, but they also use our work to speak out on the pressing environmental and public health issues of the day. Our supporters regularly call and send emails to their members of Congress and state legislators, sign petitions and support local actions that directly affect their communities.

“EWG’s subscribers are not only consumers of our research, but able and active advocates who time and again join us to push for important changes in government policies and industry behavior,” said Cook.

Here are some of the EWG tools our subscribers and many others turn to when navigating the policy world and the consumer marketplace:

Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides: http://www.foodnews.org/
EWG’s farm subsidy database: http://farm.ewg.org/
EWG’s cosmetics database, Skin Deep: http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/
EWG’s Sunscreen Guide: http://www.ewg.org/2010sunscreen/
EWG’s guide to low-radiation cell phones: http://www.ewg.org/cellphone-radiation
EWG’s national tap water database: http://www.ewg.org/tap-water/home
Find and print out all of EWG’s health tips here: http://www.ewg.org/Health-Tips