In part 1 of this series of posts on the topic of Ethical Consumerism I mentioned the story of how Henry Ford was blocked from doing good things because of the structure of the Ford Motor Company. Well, here it is: In 1916, Henry Ford was paying workers generous wages and had cut the price of the Model T car to less than half the … Continue reading Ethical Consumerism, Part 3: The Corporation
Hi folks! Once again, it’s that time of year where we may be lucky enough to be able to slow down and reflect on life. Here’s an interesting post that introduced to me the concept of liminal space, a pause time between what was and what’s next. Liminal space is a time when your routine is interrupted, either by a major life event (death, divorce), … Continue reading R E S O L U T I O N
I’m going to do a few posts on the general topic of ethical consumerism and this first one will address the claim that there is no such thing. You may have seen this online at some point: There is no such thing as ethical consumption under capitalism If you look at the statement from one angle, you could extract an element of truth from it: … Continue reading Ethical Consumerism, Part 1: Is There Such a Thing?
A few days ago, I came across a National Geographic competition called Chasing Genius. You can submit ideas for Sustainability, Global Health, or Feeding 9 Billion. I decided to enter in the Sustainability category – it requires only a few paragraphs of descriptive text and a one-minute video. I had it on my to-do list for a few days (i.e., procrastinated) and then I wrote … Continue reading Going Public!
One of my favorite non-fiction books of the last decade (actually it was published in 2005 but I didn’t discover it until a few years ago) is A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle. I bring it up because I think it ties into some aspects of the Green Stars Project that I haven’t gone into before, related to living a conscious life and living in … Continue reading A New Earth – Eckhart Tolle & Ethical Consumerism
It turns out that certain companies have been putting little plastic beads into products such as toothpastes and exfoliating scrubs. These “microbeads” are made from polyethylene, the same kind of plastic that’s used to make most beverage bottles. Why on earth would they do this, you might ask? In the case of scrubs they are used as a cheaper alternative to natural exfoliants. In toothpaste, … Continue reading Attack of the Microbeads!!
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!)
Welcome! To begin with, here’s a quick introduction to the site, which is all about a new idea called the Green Stars Project. The project is the result of years of pondering the following question: How can we best address the issue of corporate power? Specifically, how can we effectively mitigate the social injustices and environmental destruction that take place around the world every day … Continue reading Introduction to the Green Stars Project
The Green Stars Project 