This site is the main home and information source for the Green Stars Project. The main role of this site is to increase awareness of ethical consumerism issues so that we can eliminate corporate practices that are detrimental to our planet and society. The goal is to encourage you, dear reader, to include a green … Continue reading Guide to this site
Hey Folks. I think we all have different ways of dealing with the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery. The first thing for me was to start looking back – to Rodney King in LA, 1991, Oscar Grant in Fruitvale station in Oakland, 2009, Eric Garner in New York, 2014, and Michael … Continue reading Racial equality and ethical consumerism
The Grocery Outlet is a supermarket based mainly on the west coast of the US that specializes in food and wine bargains. It started off in San Francisco when, back in 1946, James Read sold food at a discount that he had purchased from government surplus supplies. The idea is still the same – the … Continue reading Ethical review of the Grocery Outlet
One of the aspects of the meat industry that we don’t think about so much is the impact on humans – in particular, the social impact of slaughterhouses. We talk about the impact on the planet (climate change, land use, deforestation, pollution) and on the animals themselves, of course, but there’s also a very real … Continue reading The social impact of the meat industry
If you’re anything like me, you’re probably approaching burn out on Coronavirus articles by now. Well, prepare yourself for more, from COVID-19’s impact on the economy to fluffy social media posts about how we are changing the way we work and live (Look how my hair has changed after two months of isolation! ). But … Continue reading Coronavirus may be our best chance to save the planet.
Hey readers. Hope you are well, physically and mentally. You’ve probably heard by now of the drug hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) that has been under investigation for treatment of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Recommendations from Chinese doctors to employ it (the initial recommendation, on Feb 18 was to employ chloroquine phosphate, a related drug) were followed by … Continue reading Quercetin – a treatment for coronavirus?
In this post I’m going to do an ethical review of shoes from an Australian brand, Etiko, and decide on an ethical (Green Stars) rating. Since turning vegetarian at 15, I’d relied quite a bit on Converse High Tops as my go-to leather-free shoes. Converse used to make shoes in the US but eventually went … Continue reading Ethical vegan shoes from Etiko
Hi folks! You know, there are many global issues that we could solve through simple changes in our lifestyle. Getting rid of disposable coffee cups is a good example. There has been a big push to find technological solutions to coffee cup waste, focusing on that plastic liner that makes cups hard to recycle. Designing … Continue reading Cafes saying no to disposable coffee cups
Hey Folks! You would think that I’m finished critiquing the Paleo diet after the last post, but I want to focus on one major issue in this post: why are legumes banned by the Paleo Diet? Legumes (peas, beans, lentils, chickpeas, peanuts, etc.) are widely considered to be sustainable and healthy sources of protein, fiber, … Continue reading Why are legumes banned by the Paleo Diet?
In this post I’m going to take a look at the “Paleo Diet” from a few perspectives: Is it based on solid science? Is it healthy? Is it good for the planet? In the last post I reviewed the scientific literature on the impact of low-carb diets on health and found that the evidence overwhelmingly … Continue reading The Paleo Diet: science, health, and sustainability
Continuing on the theme of ethical consumerism and health, I’m going to take a look at the sustainability and health benefits of carbohydrates, and especially on the question of whether low-carb diets are good for you. But there’s a lot of material to cover, so I’m going to first look at scientific studies on low-carb … Continue reading Are low-carb diets good for you? Sustainability and health benefits of carbs
