Precautionary Principle

The stuff still sitting on my porch after six uninterrupted weeks is there owing to my deference toward the precautionary principle. What it is, a person's got to question, "If I carry that laundry stuff we used at the beach back into my home laundry, what might be the result?" According to the precautionary principle, if there is no evidence to support the notion that something is harmless, then we should assume that the product is harmful. I could only know that lavender-scented laundry products would not trigger migraine in the neighbors if I went door to door and asked questions. Not having done this, I shouldn't just go ahead and swamp the neighborhood in lavender smell out the dryer vent. The precautionary principle applies the reverse of innocent until proven guilty to products, policies, and behaviors.

OK. I lied. That stuff is just on the porch because I don't want to carry it in. The box will probably still be there on the porch when I drop dead at some future time. I just wanted to use the words 'precautionary principle' in a few sentences. I finished reading Michael Crichton's book State of Fear a few minutes ago and he really does not like the 'precautionary principle', a concept I'd never heard of until reading this book. I've got to find a way to introduce those words in conversation soon. "The fact that you've made a practice of pottying your dog in my yard leads me to believe that you've applied the precautionary principle to the notion that allowing your dog to potty in your own yard will not result in your children picking up dog parasites through their bare feet." Something like that.