Consumptivity
Shopping with a Conscience
Simple intro to ethical consumerism
I normally steer clear of overview texts, but I have to say this book, part of the "Rough Guide" series, is an excellent, refreshingly straightforward resource on how to consume with higher ethical standards. Granted there is some overlap with Worldchanging: A User's Guide for the 21st Century, but this book -- a cheaper paperback (printed on paper made from 100% recycled fiber) -- focuses less on interesting cultural tidbits and inspirational sketches of specific communities. Instead, it's a no-nonsense look at the in's and out's of the plethora of choices you can make to change and manage your impact. There are very concise, instructive passages on topics like ecotourism, local vs. organic, clean cosmetics, socially responsible investment (SRI) -- including a four-step plan for "Greening your pension fund" -- as well as the benefits of switching to solar, wind and/or micro-hyrdo systems (For instance, did you know the Database of State Incentives for Renewable Energy [DSIRE] maps the tax incentives and grants available in various states?). Overall, it reads like one of those "Complete Idiot's Guide" books, which is precisely why it's so useful. The sections are short and the language is clear. Considering how much info is floating around online, this book could really help cut through the noise and arm you with the basics.
-- Steven Leckart
Shopping with a Conscience
Duncan Clark & Richie Unterberger
2007, 344 pages
$12
Available from Amazon
Sample Excerpts:
The 'e' word is without a shadow of a doubt subjective, morally loaded and often problematic. And it's easy to make ethical consumerism sound laughable by taking it to its apparently absurd logical conclusions. But, while you could spend hours arguing over the subjectivity of it all, semantic nit-picking is not really very good grounds for ignoring the effects we have on the rest of the world. And, while we have all our own specific ideas of what should and shouldn't count as accepted standards, it's probably fair to say that we all aspire to some common idealsŠIt's surely more constructive to ask how these standards can be achieved than to argue over whether or not ethical shopping is an oxymoron.
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Babies may account for a small percentage of family biomass, but when fitted with disposable diapers they generate roughly half the contents of a household's trash. A typical baby gets through around 5000 disposables during its diaper days; across the US, this adds up to an astonishing 20 billion each year, enough to cover a football field with a three-mile high pile.
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Certain volunteering projects aside, there's no point in deluding ourselves that we're saving the world by going on vacation; but if tourists and travel companies act and operate with an eye on social justice and environmental sustainability, there's no reason the destination countries can't reap more of the benefits and bear fewer of the costsŠ Advocates of ecotourism claim that the sector has contributed a great deal both to conservation and economic empowerment of people in remote regions. However, the term has been tarnished by criticism from a range of commentators. One issue is that ecotourism has no legally binding definition, which means there's nothing to stop an unscrupulous travel agent from slapping the label on any nature-focused holiday, regardless of the damage it may cause.
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Be mindful, too, that many of the companies that offer "green" power alternatives are sometimes subsidiaries of larger companies that own nuclear and coal power plants, like Southern California Edison, which offered "Earthsource" through its Edison Source division. And some of the companies with green options are themselves large and notorious financial powers - Enron, for instance, offered a green "EarthSmarth Power" plan to California consumers when that state was open to competition, though it was scrapped just a few months later after it proved unprofitable. Standards across the whole green energy field remain so erratically defined and enforced that vigilant customers would do well to heed the Union of Concerned Scientists' advice about dealing with green electric suppliers in general: "Be skeptical and ask questions."
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Compared with clothes production, shoe manufacture tends to be more industrial and hi-tech - something that usually means longer-term contracts and more leverage over labor conditions for brands and retailersŠ[However] There is still not a single company in the Fair Labor Association specializing in non-sporting shoes, so this industry clearly has a long way to go. Right now, just about the only shoe shops that seem concerned with ethical matters are specialists producing non-leather shoes.
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The mortgage industry is a huge part of the US economy; in 2002 alone, it financed $2.5 trillion in loans. Considering what a massive business it is - and how the building of "green" or environmentally responsible real estate is itself a rapidly growing field - it's rather astonishing that there are virtually no companies or financial institutions specializing in "ethical" mortgagesŠThere is one company that does make a clear commitment to supporting environmental and social causes as part of its standard operation. MortgageGreen based in Marin County near San Francisco, earmarks 10% of its profits for a dozen organizations devoted to environmental sustainability and progressive social change, including the Rainforest Action Network, Environmental Defense Fund, Earthjustice and Adbusters. As with socially responsible credit cards, this could take a while to add up to a substantial sum, though as the company points out in its literature, if just one in a thousand US mortgages were funded through such a program, $5 million would be generated annually. MortgageGreen says it will beat any mortgage lender's total loan package cost, and contribute $400 to its social and environmental activism fund in the borrower's name if it can't meet that obligation for any reason.
