A Day Late and a Dollar Short

Ripple teamed up with over 100 organizations nationwide to demand that Dollar Stores stop selling products with chemicals known to cause cancer, learning disabilities, obesity and other serious illnesses. Per our advice, The Campaign for Healthier Solutions tested products, including toys, jewelry, school supplies and other household items, and found that 81% contained at least one toxic chemical. Ripple helped release (and name) the report – A Day Late and a Dollar Short – which generated over two dozen TV stories, plus several high-profile online stories nationwide, including TakePart.com, CafeMom.com, Fox News Latino, Treehugger and Yahoo News. Over half of the coverage was in Spanish-language press – a top priority for the Campaign – including El Diario and La Opinion, the largest Spanish-language newspapers in New York and Los Angeles, respectively. Just two days after the campaign launch, the Consumer Product Safety Commission requested the product testing results, and the Dollar stores were forced to respond. The campaign also sent a letter to the CEO’s of the four largest Dollar store chains — including Family Dollar (tentatively acquired by Dollar Tree on January 22, 2015), Dollar Tree, Dollar General, and 99 Cents Only – urging them to stop the sale of products with hazardous chemicals to communities of color and low-income families, who already live in more polluted areas and “food deserts.”