Consumer awareness is about empowering the consumer to make informed decisions regarding products and services in the marketplace. This includes understanding features, important product information, your rights, and how to make a complaint if you are unhappy with a product or service. It also involves being aware of potential safety hazards.
Why consumer awareness is important:
- Increased Confidence: Knowledge empowers you to navigate the marketplace with confidence, knowing you’re making informed decisions.
- Protection from Unethical Practices: Knowing your rights helps avoid scams, misleading advertising, and unfair contract terms.
- Promotes a Fair Market: Consumer awareness fosters a marketplace where businesses are held accountable for fair practices and quality products.
- Safety: Consumer awareness campaigns often target important safety issues to protect consumers from harm.
Many resources from the Federal government are available to help you become a more informed consumer about home renovation and paint safety. The following are two best-selling publications from the Government Publishing Office Bookstore that offer consumers valuable home safety protection information.
Lead-Safe Certified Guide to Renovate Right. This booklet provides basic facts about lead and your family’s health and how to choose a contractor if you are a property owner. It includes information on preparing for the renovation or repair job and what to look for during and after the job.
Protect Your Family from Lead in Your Home describes the hazards of lead-based paint in homes built before 1978, shows how lead gets into the body, the health effects of lead paint, what you can do to protect your family, and where to go for information. It lists State health and environmental agencies, EPA regional offices, and Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) regional offices. Spanish version available here.
By becoming a more aware consumer, you can protect yourself and your family and make informed choices.
The GPO Online Bookstore – Easy Access to Federal Publications
HOW DO I OBTAIN THESE RESOURCES?
Sign up to receive promotional bulletin emails from the US Government Online Bookstore.
Shop Online Anytime: You can buy a vast majority of eBooks or print publications —with FREE Standard Shipping worldwide— from the U.S. Government Online Bookstore at https://bookstore.gpo.gov.
- Click here to purchase The Lead-Safe Certified Guide to Renovate Right
- Click here to purchase Protect Your Family From Lead In Your Home
- Click here to purchase Proteja A Su Familia Contra El Plomo En El Hogar
Order by Phone or Email: Call our Customer Contact Center Monday through Friday, 8 am to 4:30 pm Eastern (except US Federal holidays). From US and Canada, call toll-free 1.866.512.1800. DC or International customers call +1.202.512.1800. Email orders to ContactCenter@gpo.gov
Visit a Federal depository library: Search for U.S. Government publications in a nearby Federal depository library. You can find the records for most titles in GPO’s Catalog of U.S. Government Publications.
Find more than a million official Federal Government publications from all three branches at www.govinfo.gov.
About the author: Blogger Trudy Hawkins is the Senior Marketing & Promotions Specialist in GPO’s Publication & Information Sales Office supporting the U.S. Government Online Bookstore (https://bookstore.gpo.gov).