I'll be participating in a panel discussion and open conference call on Thursday to discuss plastics safety. It's hosted by Healthy Child, Healthy World, and here's the description of the event from HCHW's blog:

Join us for an open, non-judgmental conversation about plastics (we all have our Achilles’ Heel). Janelle from Healthy Child Healthy World will be giving a quick background on the issue; Jennifer from The Smart Mama will share her Journey to Glass; Jeremiah from ZRecs will talk about assessing the risks and benefits of plastics, and how bloggers can influence corporate behavior and affect change in the marketplace; and Beth from Fake Plastic Fish will discuss the impacts on the environment and living without.

You're welcome to join us, because after we each talk for a bit we're going to focus on questions and discussion points from whoever is on the line. A few words of advice:

• DON'T call in and ask me about the safety of a particular bottle, bath toy, or other item you do or don't see in the ZRecs Guide. You will get a blank stare, and blank stares translate very poorly via phone.


• DO call in and ask me about whatever else you want relating to plastics - thoughts on a particular plastic type, recent issues in the news, mainstream media coverage of a plastics issue, or about a position we've taken, or haven't taken, here on Z Recommends. I like being grilled.

I'm going to spend the time I have the floor talking about what I believe the precautionary principle should mean when it comes to plastics in our daily lives, and about how bloggers can make companies change by doing research and reporting. Others on the panel know a thing or two about this, so I'm hoping we all get to do some serious dialoguing. Yep, not a real word.

You can call in at 10 a.m. PT/1 p.m. ET at (218) 339-3600, then punch the access code 1036416 to get in on the conference call. And if you call in and ask a question, mention you're a reader and what your name is. I'd love to put a voice to a name!