I recently discovered that you can filter search results on eBay to show only items that benefit charities. Buying used items reduces your impact (carbon and material footprints, social impact) massively over buying new items. Buying used items from a charitable organization is even better. I’ll describe two ways to search eBay for items that benefit charities. Continue reading Supporting charities on eBay
As a follow-up to my last post on the carbon footprint of data, here’s an easy action that you can take: install an ad blocker on your browser. There is a downside: many websites and content creators do rely on advertising revenue to pay the bills. So it’s your call 🙂 Continue reading An ad blocker will reduce your carbon footprint
I quit my home Wi-Fi service from AT&T and am completely happy with that decision. Now I simply use my phone as a mobile hotspot, saving money and reducing my carbon footprint. I’ve estimated the carbon footprint of data at around 0.054 kg of CO2 per 1 GB of data. Streaming HD video is by far the largest consumer of data for most people. Continue reading The carbon footprint of data (& why I quit AT&T Wi-Fi)
Conagra Brands is one of the largest food companies in the world. Conagra’s greenhouse gas emissions and waste generation have increased from 2019 to 2020. The introduction of compostable bowls for frozen dinners is a bright spot in a corporation that’s firmly in the avoid category for me. 1/5 Green Stars for social and environmental impact. Continue reading Conagra – sustainability and ethical rating
This is the second of two posts featuring products made from palm oil. The goal of these posts is to provide examples of how to ethically evaluate palm oil products. This post features Earth Balance vegan butter, which is now owned by Conagra Brands. 1/5 Green Stars for social and environmental impact. Continue reading Case study in palm oil ethics: Earth Balance
Evaluating products that contain palm oil is tricky. This first case study looks at Nutiva shortening, certified by Palm Done Right. Continue reading Case study in palm oil ethics: Nutiva
There are some companies that do genuinely source sustainable palm and they are worth supporting. It’s therefore important to correctly identify the companies that are sourcing sustainable palm oil – and those that fall short. Continue reading Palm oil certifications
We need a global fund and program to offset CO2 emissions because our current carbon budget is getting used up fast and we need more time to meaningfully reduce our emissions. Continue reading Can we offset global CO2 emissions?
To enter the competition, all you need to do is write a review of any product or business that includes an ethical rating. The winner gets a subscription to Ethical Consumer for one year. Ethical Consumer, a UK-based nonprofit, is probably the best resource on all things related to ethical consumption. Continue reading Win a subscription to Ethical Consumer
I looked at a few ways of calculating my carbon footprint and found UC Berkeley’s CoolClimate calculator to be the most useful resource. Offsetting your footprint is a useful exercise but the best place to start is to identify ways to reduce your footprint. Continue reading Calculating and offsetting your carbon footprint
The Green Stars Project 