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!
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. Continue reading Too Good To Go – an app to reduce food waste
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. Continue reading Re-Up Refill Shop in Oakland
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. Continue reading Dairy vs vegan butters in Europe
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. Continue reading The ethical issues with dairy farming
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… Continue reading Butter and vegan alternatives in Ireland
Blackstone Group bought a 10% stake in Oatly, back in 2020, and this incited a lot of talk of boycotting @Oatly products. Should we not be supportive that @Blackstone took steps in the right direction? Or do we want them to be “bad” forever? Continue reading Blackstone’s investment in Oatly
Peet’s Coffee launched a plant-based menu this month – about five vegan savory and sweet items are on offer, plus new vegan coffee drinks. It’s probably the biggest effort to encourage plant-based diets that I’ve seen from a coffee chain in the US. Continue reading Plant-based menu at Peet’s Coffee
Should you always support vegan brands? More specifically: Should you support vegan brands owned by less ethical parent corporations? I’ll take a look at some brands, and look at reasons to support them and situations where you should not. Continue reading Should you always support vegan brands?
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
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
