How to Write a Letter to the Editor
How Do I Submit a Letter?
• Check your local newspaper’s Letters to the Editor policy, which is usually found under the Opinion section.
• Newspapers like to publish timely articles that respond to current events. Keep an eye out for articles on chemicals in household cleaning products, or related issues. Submit your letter on the same day or the day after the article runs, if you can.
• Don’t worry if you don’t see any articles! Submit your letter anyway.
What Should I Write?
General outline for writing a letter to the editor: 1) Mention some key findings in linking certain chemicals to asthma and reproductive harm. 2) Explain what we’re asking for: full disclosure of ingredients on the product label, and removal of chemicals from household cleaners until they can be proven safe. 3) Write about why this issue matters to you.
• You can refer to our General Talking Points and Sample Letter to the Editor (see below) for ideas, or you can just modify the sample to fit your situation.
• Keep it factual. If you aren’t sure about something, don’t write it, or check the WVE website at www.womenandenvironment.org for accurate information.
• Open your letter with a strong, to-the-point statement, like “I find it disconcerting that companies are not required to disclose the ingredients they use on the label of their household cleaning products.”
• Close your letter with the thought that you want readers to remember, like “Don’t buy cleaning products unless you know what’s in them,” or “Urge the government to require testing of chemicals before they are put into products to assure the health and safety of our families.”
• Reread your letter for errors before you submit it, or ask someone else to read it for you.
• Keep your letter to 300 words or less
• Include your full name, address, and phone number.
Download a copy of this page here (.pdf) (.doc)
Download a General Sample Letter (.pdf) (.doc)
Download a Sample Letter for Moms and Dads (.pdf) (.doc)
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