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!
In part one, I took a look at some issues to consider when rating textiles from a social and environmental perspective. Here are a few remaining factors to consider, but do make a choice based on what’s most important to you and then share your information with others by writing a “green star” review (of an item of clothing or a store). So, this isn’t … Continue reading Daily Footprint, #6 – Clothing (Sustainable Textiles, Part 2)
Time to get dressed! Clothing is a huge topic so I’ll just go into one aspect here – choice of textile. Hopefully I’ll go into the other main topics in future posts: the human impact of cut-and-sew factories and the environmental impact of dyeing and finishing. Since clothing is one of our major needs in life (besides food, water and shelter) it’s worth putting some … Continue reading Daily Footprint, #6 – Clothing (Sustainable Textiles, Part 1)
I rated Nature’s Gate and Avalon Organic’s 5/5 green stars (they are not perfect but I think they are in the top 20% of shampoo products in terms of impact) and I would rate Clairol’s product 1/5 green stars for social and environmental impact. Continue reading Daily Footprint, #5 – Shampoo + Good Guide Update
So, depending on your priorities, you may want to find soap from a company that doesn’t test on animals and contains simple plant-based ingredients. Soap made from animal fat will have the largest carbon footprint Continue reading Daily Footprint, #4 – Soap
Eco-friendly razors: factors to consider. Continue reading Daily Footprint, #3 – Razor
So, in terms of just the materials used to make the toothbrush, here’s my personal ranking of the options mentioned above:
7th place: Over-engineered soft-grip toothbrush (made from “advanced” thermoplastic elastomers) Continue reading Daily Footprint, #2 – Toothbrush
The next several posts will take a look at the things we use or consume over a typical day from a social and environmental point of view. To keep posts to a reasonable length I’ll just look at a few aspects of each example, but let me know if you want more on a specific topic. So, rise and shine, it’s time to get up … Continue reading Daily Footprint, #1 – Toothpaste
In part one I took a look at the trend of gaining independence from large corporations by making our own stuff. Here, I’m going to take the specific example of making your own food bars (i.e., energy bars, granola bars, fruit and nut bars, or whatever you want to call them). Why make your own energy bars? Why would you want to go to the … Continue reading Energy Bars: Do It Yourself, part two
How ethical are Converse Chuck Taylor high tops? This post examines the social and environmental impact of Converse shoes (made by Nike) to arrive at a Green Stars rating. Continue reading Converse Chuck Taylor High Tops ethical rating (updated!)
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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 star rating whenever you write a review of a product … Continue reading Guide to this site
