We all know October is breast cancer awareness month. It has also been named Pinktober because seemingly everyone everywhere plasters a pink ribbon on their products in the name of awareness. This makes me a little crazy for a few reasons.
1. Everyone is aware of breast cancer. In fact, I believe it would be hard to find a single person untouched by this disease in some way.
2. Many of the items touting the pink ribbon are linked to causing breast cancer.
3. 6 billion dollars will be raised this year in the name of breast cancer awareness! $6,000,000,000. Very, very little of that goes toward research for finding a cure. The percentages donated to research “for the cure” from some of the biggest fundraisers are abysmal- as little as 15%.
I am very passionate about this subject. It hits home for me. No amount of pink washing makes the disease any prettier.
So want can we do?
Do your own research and give directly to organizations that are actually making strides in finding links and not just profiting off of the cancer industry.
One I love is the Breast Cancer Fund.
And check out this post for reducing breast cancer risk: