Ignorance is bliss??

We really are in a "don't ask, don't tell" sort of society aren't we? People don't like being informed that what they are doing (living, consuming, etc) could be bad for them, and most don't care if its bad for anyone else around them.

I didn't really think I would be one of those 'stand on my soapbox' sort of people but the more I learn the more I feel like its my duty to inform the uninformed. Imagine my surprise that people don't want to be informed and when they are, they prefer not to know or care because they don't want to change anyways.

I'm fairly passionate about things like breastfeeding, cloth diapering, anti-smoking, etc. And, while it makes me sad, I'm used to a lot of my "information" falling on deaf ears, or just being the 'thanks but no thanks' attitude of receiving new information. But now that we are trying to green up our world, trying to find more things to make our lives & the lives of our kidlets healthy, its like we've crossed over in to the realm of extremist.

When I learn things that could be potentially dangerous to my health (like the plastics & bottled water stuff) I feel like this is "big news" that I want to share with others. It seemed eye-opening & shocking to me. Or what I've recently read about teflon frying pans. And we're still learning, daily, as a family, the things that are health hazards and wishing we weren't so ignorant to them in the past few years...

So why does it seem so many people are content with their ignorance? Why do they desperately not want to know? Are they afraid of change? Or do they just not care for their own health? Or the health of others around them?

I'm definitely not out to save the world. I honestly don't give a rat's a$$ about "global warming" or "protecting the environment". I'm troubled by what I see is going on in the world, but my focus is not that big. I want to protect MY environment, my home, my family for our health & well-being & for the longevity of my children. I want them to have less exposure to all the health risks we have been so ignorant to in the past few decades. I want to be more informed about what is in my food, my drinking water, and what chemicals are being let off from my possessions, disrupting the natural balance of our bodies, my children's bodies, and the natural balance of the earth around me.

And once I've learned the facts, I can NOT be ignorant to them. I can't always make immediate changes for the things I learn, usually due to finances, but I make the goal to make those changes as soon as I can, even if its just small steps, I always want those steps going forward, not backwards, and certainly not standing still.

So, if I come across as a bit of an activist, an extremist, or just plain eco-crunchy-hippy-preachy-OUT THERE, then too bad, at least I will not leave you with the excuse that you "just didn't know", because Ignorance is NOT bliss!