The “Funky Winkerbean” and “Ziggy” comic strips, the “G.I. Joe” TV cartoon and a “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” comic book have all told kids not to use spray cam because the CFC propellants eat up the ozone layer. (In 1978 the United States banned CFC propellants from all but a few specialized uses.) A teaching guide for elementary schools and a Girl Scout environment book also incorrectly linked spray cans to ozone depletion.
Kiddie books and TV are so riddled with little green lies that “much of what is taught to children is simple-minded and inaccurate,” says Jonathan Adler of the Competitive Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C. The Scout book advises children to “use biodegradable garbage bags.” There is no such beast: paper and plastic remain intact for decades in landfills. A CBS “Schoolbreak Special” said, “Recycling paper saves trees,” but 87 percent of the paper used in this country is-from tree farms. As more paper is recycled, fewer trees are planted on the farms.
A Roper poll last year found that only 14 percent of those surveyed knew that aerosols don’t use CFCs. Public understanding of other green issues is about as good. If tomorrow’s pollees have paid attention to what TV and comic books teach, look for the same result in 2005.
