If good science is only ever seen by scientists, it can’t have real world impact. Data doesn’t translate to action without data scientists who use it to tell a story.
So the EWG Science Investigations and Data Science teams talk to the press, hundreds of times a year, as on-the-record spokespeople. Talking with informed press can be especially rewarding; the scientists learn from the reporters how to explain an issue and consider how it will land to their readers, the public. These insights are applied across EWG departments.
The same principles used to convert complicated databases into red and yellow and green buttons that consumers find useful are applied to translation of research and data into TV and newspaper stories about real lives and households.
EWG’s tag line was “the power of information” – Ken appreciated the power of access to data EWG’s mission remains the same today: using information to empower millions of people monthly to make decisions that will protect their families. EWG used data points to transform how people thought about the environment, whether it be the quantity of pesticides our babies are exposed to through baby food, or the amount of pollution in people.
But the internet was still young. Ken needed someone with the expertise to analyze the data, part mathematician and part storyteller. His first hire was Chris Campbell, a data scientist who would go on to transform the way EWG communicated and connected with everyday people.
Telling the story in a local newspaper goes a long way toward public education. But putting information directly in the hands of the people can be even more powerful. Chris calls it “turning data into a retail interaction” – giving people actionable information they can use to shop their way to lower pesticide exposure.
Today it’s possible for EWG to become a database powerhouse channeling information directly to shoppers’ smartphones as they walk the grocery aisles. Back then, before the internet, EWG put the info on laminated cards, refrigerator magnets and shopping bags, letting consumers know the best and worst options for feeding their families.
By connecting personally with people as consumers and parents, EWG today can track thousands of sessions an hour within its databases – Skin Deep®, EWG VERIFIED®, the Tap Water Database, the Dirty Dozen™ and Clean Fifteen™, and the Guide to Sunscreens. All of them help parents choose the safest products for their families and homes.
EWG created the first massively popular EWG Guide to Sunscreens and uncovered the formula that broke the internet by distilling the information the public needed to know into its most accessible form — a Best and Worst list.
Vice President of Digital Strategy Maura Walsh explains what happened next: “We never expected the overwhelming response of the public, but the biggest surprise was the response from brands. We thought we were helping consumers, but we poked the bear – major brands were pissed about being on the worst list.”
EWG changed what consumers expected from sunscreen products, and brands went on to spend time and money to show their product could meet EWG’s sunscreen criteria. Of course, many brands did not meet the scientific standards EWG had set. But the fact they cared so deeply was revelatory. EWG realized there was a market willing to change.
The “best” sunscreens sold out; the clean baby brand California Baby called EWG with thanks. What was supposed to be merely a user-friendly consumer product was instead a powerful engine for market change.
“Sunscreens,” Maura says, “were when we realized people were talking about EWG at the board table, not just the kitchen table.”