These posts take examples of everyday items and examine social and environmental factors to consider in each case. The goal is not for this site to become the authoritative ethical shopping guide. That’s too much responsibility for one person or organization. The goal is for us to collectively decide on the most ethical choices, as consumers.
We increasingly rely on user-generated content, whether looking up reviews of a restaurant or trying to purchase a new laptop. User-generated content can make use of our various perspectives and backgrounds to come to a consensus on ethics – see this post for more on the topic of why we need user-generated ethical ratings.
So, the Green Stars Project is all about applying user-generated content to integrate an ethical shopping guide into our daily lives. The vision is that Green Stars reviews will soon be visible on the sites we use (Yelp, Amazon, etc.) so that they are visible to everyone. Many don’t have the time or energy to consult dedicated ethical shopping guides so the goal is to bring ethical consumerism to a wider audience and also to make it a democratic process.
The posts in this category aim to provide guidance that will help you to make your own ethical decisions, wherever you live. Importantly, please consider incorporating a Green Stars rating next time you review something! Contact me if you do, as there’s a recurring competition to encourage readers to write ethical reviews – you can win an ethical prize and be featured on this site!
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Dean Foods, the largest dairy company in the US, filed for bankruptcy this week. Sad news for employees, but perhaps a positive indicator for ethical consumerism. Is the myth of the ethical consumer becoming a reality? (The myth of the ethical consumer refers to the idea that, while many of us prioritize ethical choices in … Continue reading Dean Foods bankruptcy and ethical consumerism
Ecosia is a green internet search engine that uses revenue from advertising to fund tree-planting projects. So, let’s take a look at the ethics and utility of Ecosia in more detail.
Tofurky (made by the charmingly-named Turtle Island Foods, based in Portland, Oregon) has been around since the 1980s and is still a family-owned company. Founder, Seth Tibbot had this to say about the journey: Armed with my life savings of $2500 and a passionate love for soybeans, I rented a small space in the back … Continue reading Daily Footprint, #35 – Tofurky
I was going to cover a specific soy-based product for this fourth post on meat-alternatives. However, I think it’s best to cover soy in general as the topic requires a post to itself. So, as a proxy for soy, I’m going to cover the most common meat-substitute in the world: tofu! A note about terminology: … Continue reading Daily Footprint, #34 – Tofu
Continuing on the theme on meat alternatives, I’m going to take a look at No Evil Foods, which began in 2014 by selling homemade products in farmers’ markets in North Carolina and has grown since then, recently expanding to Whole Foods markets across the US. They make a range of high-protein products to cook with … Continue reading Daily Footprint, #33 – No Evil
Hey folks! I’m continuing to look at the social and environmental impact of meat-alternatives; last time it was a newcomer, Beyond Meat, and now I’m going to take a look at one of the originals: Quorn. Since the 1960’s there has been a lot of interest in the idea of reducing our dependence on meat … Continue reading Daily Footprint, #32 – Quorn
Hi Folks! In a return to the Daily Footprint posts, I’m going to spend some time looking at plant-based meat substitutes. They are definitely catching on: last year, in the US, sales of meat rose by 2% while sales of plant-based meat-substitutes rose by 24% (and sales rose even faster than that in Europe). Over … Continue reading Daily Footprint, #31 – Beyond Meat
Tom Szaky, founder of Terracycle, is about to launch a new enterprise called Loop that aims to tackle the problem of packaging waste by delivering products in reusable containers. How important is packaging in ethics? Packaging is usually one of the factors to consider when deciding on an ethical (Green Stars) rating for a product. … Continue reading The Problem with Loop
Hi folks! I’m going to take a look at the social and environmental impact of cat litter, which provides a good example of why we need user-generated reviews. I think that most people want to make ethical choices, but researching the sustainability of something like kitty litter never quite becomes a priority. Green stars reviews … Continue reading Daily Footprint, #30 – Sustainable and Ethical Cat Litter
Project Drawdown brought together experts in several fields to come up with a ranked list of solutions to climate change and, somewhat surprisingly, refrigerant management was #1 on that list. This applies mostly to air conditioning (AC) units and any form of freezer/refrigerator. Starting in 1989, under the Montreal Protocol to reverse damage to the … Continue reading Daily Footprint, #29 – Refrigeration
