It’s useful to remember that products from the same company can vary widely in terms of social and environmental impact. In a recent post on Ethical Bargains, I compared the impact of Ben & Jerry’s dairy versus non-dairy ice creams, focusing on Steven Colbert’s Americone Dream.

In the post I examine:

• Ben & Jerry’s ownership by Unilever
• Fair trade certification through the mass-balance system
• Breakdown of the carbon footprint of a pint of ice cream
• Green refrigerants
• Daniel Radcliffe’s choice of Americone Dream as his favorite post-coital food

Ultimately, Ben & Jerry’s will fail to meet its 2025 climate goals, largely due to a decline in sales of its non-dairy products. As I’ve been arguing (a lot!) recently, we can steer a company in either a good or a bad direction by our choice of products. Even if there was only one company on the planet, our choices would still matter. Check out the post if you’d like to learn more about Ben & Jerry’s: