These posts take examples of everyday items and examine a few social and environmental factors to consider in each case. The goal is not to be the authoritative guide to ethical consumerism. Rather, the Green Stars Project is all about user-generated ethical consumerism: I eventually want to see Green Stars reviews on the sites we all use (Yelp, Amazon, etc.) so that they are visible to everyone. So, these posts aim to help you to make your own decisions, wherever you live. And please consider incorporating a Green Stars rating next time you review something!
A growing human population threatens to place a burden our planet. Extreme poverty is a root cause of unsustainable population growth and is driven in part by commodity markets. That’s why it’s best to avoid multinational companies that rely on commodity markets and support chocolate companies that work directly with farmers.
Chocolate plays a significant role in deforestation, particularly in West Africa. Avoid mainstream chocolate brands and seek out chocolate made from shade-grown cacao.
I just finished researching a chocolate brand that was new to me – Beyond Good. I’m adding it to the top 10 list of ethical chocolate brands. Don’t forget to vote on the brands!
Here’s a guide to the top 10 ethical chocolate brands. It’s different to other guides in that it will change with your input – vote now! This is an exercise in user-generated ratings for ethical consumerism.
I’m reluctant to create an ethical consumerism guide based only on my own opinion – it would be incomplete. We need a good, reliable guide that relies on user-generated content. The experiment starts next week!
Too Good To Go is an app that allows you to buy heavily-discounted mystery bags of food that would have otherwise been wasted. Here’s more about Too Good To Go, a certified B-Corporation, and food waste in general.
The Re-Up Refill Shop, based in Oakland, California, offers zero-waste solutions for most of the stuff that you need for your home. US residents dump more than their own body weight in plastic every year. Half of it is packaging.
Supermarket shelves are dominated by two kinds of butter: conventional dairy-based butter or plant-based vegan butter made from palm oil. Vegan butters are more sustainable than dairy butter, but ideally should be palm-oil free. I found two that I like.
Still undecided whether to choose dairy or vegan butter? Using cow’s milk as an example, here’s a list of the three most basic ethical issues with dairy farming. Solutions are also explored.
Whenever I come home to Ireland I have the dilemma of which kind of butter to buy: conventional dairy-based butter or plant-based vegan butter. In California, the choice is pretty straightforward – it’s now fairly easy to find good-quality, ethical and affordable vegan butters. In Ireland, however, the choice is not so clear, as I’ll explain over the next couple of posts. Or at least it wasn’t a clear choice at first…
The Green Stars Project 