Category: Social and environmental issues

Ethical shopping guide, Social and environmental issues

Amazon’s Dash program tells you all you need to know about the company

It’s already three months since I asked you to vote in the poll: How Ethical is Amazon? In this post I’m going to show the poll results and also ask myself that same question. I came to realize that Amazon simply doesn’t value sustainability. I had a growing feeling of unhappiness with Amazon that spanned various topics but the last straw was the introduction of Amazon Dash buttons. Continue reading Amazon’s Dash program tells you all you need to know about the company

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Neonics and bees, Social and environmental issues

Risk-benefit analysis of Bayer’s imidacloprid

Bayer’s imidacloprid is one of the most widely used insecticides and belongs to a group of pesticides known as neonics (or neonicitinoids), which target insects’ nervous systems. Following extensive research I present a risk/benefit analysis for imidacloprid. Neonics are often used by default, for example as seed coatings, and yet offer no benefit in many cases. The risks, on the other hand, are sobering and demand immediate action. Continue reading Risk-benefit analysis of Bayer’s imidacloprid

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Seresto flea collar and imidacloprid. A package containing a Seresto flea collar is shown, bearing the Bayer logo. The product is now sold by Elanco, which bought Bayer's animal health division in 2019.
Neonics and bees, Social and environmental issues

Seresto flea collar & imidacloprid

Earlier in March, USA Today reported that bestselling Seresto flea collars have been linked to 1700 pet deaths in the US – and that’s just going by the number reported to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); the actual number is expected to be higher. The story originated from Johnathan Hettinger at the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting, a non-profit newsroom focused on agribusiness and related … Continue reading Seresto flea collar & imidacloprid

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Ethical shopping guide, Social and environmental issues

How to help the Uyghurs

Canada and the US have recognized China’s treatment of the Uyghurs in Xinjiang as genocide. Up to 1.8 million Uyghurs have been detained in camps for “re-education” under brutal conditions. At least two investigations have found that Uyghurs are subjected to forced labor in companies that supply and manufacture electronics and textiles for major multinational companies. Three of them, Apple, Nike, and Coca-Cola, have been lobbying to water down the proposed Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. Continue reading How to help the Uyghurs

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Social and environmental issues

Ethical Investing – Carbios recycles polyester clothing

Carbios, a small French company that specializes in green chemistry, announced yesterday the recycling of waste polyester clothing into clear water bottles. This is exciting news because options for recycling of polyester or mixed-fiber clothing are very limited – usually limited to down-cycling rather than true recycling. I’ll get to the technology in a moment, but first a quick primer on polyester. What is polyester? … Continue reading Ethical Investing – Carbios recycles polyester clothing

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Social and environmental issues

California fires and climate change

Wherever you live on this planet, you’ve probably seen images of the orange skies that we witnessed over the San Francisco Bay Area a few days ago. They are caused by the California wildfires which, we have little doubt now, are increasing due to climate change. Today seems better in that the sky is merely grey – I was even excited to see a few … Continue reading California fires and climate change

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A close-up of Bill Ackman, Founder of the SPAC, Pershing Square Tontine Holdings
Social and environmental issues

Pershing Square Tontine Holdings – An Ethical Investment?

Bill Ackman, activist investor and founder and CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management has today launched a new enterprise. Pershing Square Tontine Holdings (PSTH) had its IPO today but doesn’t yet have a business – it’s a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) that first raises money through an IPO and then later invests that cash in an existing business. So we’ve no idea yet what … Continue reading Pershing Square Tontine Holdings – An Ethical Investment?

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Racial equality and ethical consumerism. A mural of the words 'Black Lives Matter" painted in yellow on a road in Washington DC, 2 blocks from the White House, pointing to the Washington Monument.
Social and environmental issues

Racial equality and ethical consumerism

Hey Folks. I think we all have different ways of dealing with the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery. The first thing for me was to start looking back – to Rodney King in LA, 1991, Oscar Grant in Fruitvale station in Oakland, 2009, Eric Garner in New York, 2014, and Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, less than a month later. The … Continue reading Racial equality and ethical consumerism

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The social impact of the meat industry. The image depicts a soldier with the words Meat is Murder written on his helmet. The image was used on the cover of The Smiths' 1985 album, Meat is Murder.
Social and environmental issues

The social impact of the meat industry

One of the aspects of the meat industry that we don’t think about so much is the impact on humans – in particular, the social impact of slaughterhouses. We talk about the impact on the planet (climate change, land use, deforestation, pollution) and on the animals themselves, of course, but there’s also a very real and tragic impact on the human race. I’ve been meaning … Continue reading The social impact of the meat industry

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