Category: Ethical shopping guide

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!

Ethical shopping guide

Laundry Detergent, Part 2: Homemade versus Commercial (Biokleen)

In the last post, I took a look at laundry detergent pods, concluding that they are a step backwards in terms of environmental impact. I believe that there are a few detergents that deserve a high Green Stars rating and that supporting one of these is a happy medium between the extremes of buying one of the bestselling brands (from P&G, Unilever, etc.) and making … Continue reading Laundry Detergent, Part 2: Homemade versus Commercial (Biokleen)

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Ethical shopping guide

Daily Footprint, #27 – Laundry Detergent, Part 1: Revenge of the Pods

Summary: Laundry detergent is as effective as it needs to be and yet is constantly being reinvented for marketing purposes. Any further improvements in detergent should be made on the fronts of sustainability and social impact. Instead, the major detergent makers focus on minor tweaks to improve aesthetics or convenience, addressing first-world problems rather than the real-world problems that they should be tackling. Are laundry … Continue reading Daily Footprint, #27 – Laundry Detergent, Part 1: Revenge of the Pods

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Ethical shopping guide

Daily Footprint, #25 – Ethical Investing

You’ve reached that mid-afternoon slump in your typical day at the office and are trying to come up with something to do that doesn’t involve completely skiving off. Then the idea comes to you – check your retirement funds! Few things cheers you up more than thinking about financial freedom, and it also qualifies as being work-related (kind of). Why you should learn about investing. … Continue reading Daily Footprint, #25 – Ethical Investing

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Ethical shopping guide

Daily Footprint, #24 – Sustainable Water Filter

I got a request from S., author of A Misplaced Pen blog, to cover this topic (thanks for the suggestion!). I don’t use a water filter at the moment, partly to reduce waste and partly because (like Mulder) I want to believe. In my case, I want to believe that safe water is provided for us – it’s the very least we should expect in return … Continue reading Daily Footprint, #24 – Sustainable Water Filter

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Ethical shopping guide

Daily Footprint, #22 – Potato Chips, Part 2: Packaging

Apparently it became all the rage in mid-19th century Saratoga Springs, NY, to carry your potato chips around the spa town, munching along the way. (See part 1 for the dubious origin story.) As restaurants and vendors began selling potato chips around the world they often packaged them in waxed paper bags. Modern bags are made from multiple layers of plastic and foil and are … Continue reading Daily Footprint, #22 – Potato Chips, Part 2: Packaging

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Ethical shopping guide

Daily Footprint, #22 – Potato Chips

It’s good to get back to the Daily Footprint, charting the impact of our epic voyage through a typical day. You’ve just had a stressful meeting at work with lots of Important People (even Mr. McDougall senior showed up!) and you really feel the need for some comfort food. You know you shouldn’t (especially since you had two peanut butter cups earlier) but you really … Continue reading Daily Footprint, #22 – Potato Chips

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Ethical shopping guide

Ethical Guide to Food and Coffee in Davis, CA

Or… Ethical Reviews of Local Businesses (California by Train, Part 2). Since I’ve never really gone into it before, I want to say a little bit about how I research and write Green Stars reviews of restaurants, cafés, bars, stores, etc. I did look at Starbucks in a recent post, but smaller businesses are a different kettle of fish since you’re not dealing with a … Continue reading Ethical Guide to Food and Coffee in Davis, CA

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Ethical shopping guide

Daily Footprint, #21 – Milk, Part 2: Comparison of plant-based milks

Greetings! In this post, I’m going to take a look at the social and environmental impact of several plant-based milks. But since the purpose of the Green Stars Project is to encourage you all to start rating stuff, I won’t attempt to be encyclopedic (not that I could be). Besides, my opinion is just one opinion and my choices are influenced by location. But I’ll … Continue reading Daily Footprint, #21 – Milk, Part 2: Comparison of plant-based milks

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Ethical shopping guide

Daily Footprint, #21 – Milk: Cow versus Hazelnut

A lot of people are unsure of what kind of milk to go for these days. Some are moving away from dairy and switching to plant-based milks for ethical and/or health reasons. So I’m going to take a look at some factors to consider when choosing (or making) milk. First, let’s take a look at cow’s milk. Before that, I want to mention that looking … Continue reading Daily Footprint, #21 – Milk: Cow versus Hazelnut

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Ethical shopping guide

Daily Footprint, #19 – The Evolution of Peanut Butter Cups

You know the phrase, third-wave coffee? Yes, it’s kind of irritating, but it’s a useful concept. You could represent the three waves of coffee with the examples of Nescafé instant coffee (first wave), Starbucks (second wave), and a roaster like Counter Culture (third wave), covered in the post on direct trade. This evolution of coffee also brought social and environmental improvements – which is reassuring … Continue reading Daily Footprint, #19 – The Evolution of Peanut Butter Cups

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