Ever hear about voting with your dollars? It’s true. The world we live in today is controlled by big business. I think it’s becoming more and more apparent how tight their grasp is on our current government, our media, our television, our lives. (Can anyone even remember when there used to not be any commercials before movies in the theatre?) The money we spend lets them know if their total and complete invasion is working.
Alternatively, if we spend our money on crazy alternative, sustainable, fair trade, or all-around good for you products, there’s a good chance that big business will still listen. But, with all the greenwashing that we’re bombarded with every day (really, BP?), it’s hard to tell truth from green stretching of the truth. Here are some triee-and-true options for all of us trying to make our footprint a little lighter in our daily actions:
Ecoscene: Coming right out of my own ‘hood, Aimee Heilbrunn and Carmen Ramson-Herzing offer up reviews through their weekly e-magazine of different green products out in the market, often comparing them to their more mainstream counterpart. What I love about this website is that they offer up these reviews in a very digestible, easy to understand way, listing out the pros and cons of the product, followed by some final thoughts. All of the products they interview must be accessible to anyone through the Web as well as sustainable. These ladies are still pretty new on the scene, but I encourage everyone to sign up to get their weekly emails and even contribute, if you’re so inclined.
Co-op America: This organization has been rocking the sustainable lifestyle since 1982. Their mission is “harness economic power—the strength of consumers, investors, businesses, and the marketplace—to create a socially just and environmentally sustainable society.” Not only do the put on one hell of a Green Festival, but they’ve now created a Responsible Shopper website where you can search for a company profile by name or industry and get their corporate responsibility profile. Not only that, but you can sign onto campaigns to demand more responsibility and sustainability in corporate America. Easy as that!
So, next time you’re looking to make a purchase, big or small, and want to know which way your dollars will vote, make sure to check out these amazing resources. Little by little, we can start to make the results swing in our favor- Mother Earth’s favor.
2 comments
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July 2, 2008 at 5:44 am
ethicalandgreen
Hi,
I totally agree that business will only take green issues seriously if we vote with our wallets. At the end of the day companies want to make a profit and to do so they have to give the consumer what they want.
Certainly the fashion industry is an example of how it is taking on board what consumers want.
My only concern is that with the credit crunch people may turn away from ethical and green products as they can be more expensive.
Thanks.
July 2, 2008 at 2:14 pm
Carmen
Hey Shayne,
Thanks so much for mentioning Ecoscene! While money talks, our weekly subscription is FREE! We welcome everyone to go greener.
http://www.ecosceneinc.com