Responsible Consuming

[sgoodcore]

I've become obsessed with making sure my purchases, to the best of my ability don't go to line the pockets of despicable human beings. People who make money on the suffering of others. I won't shop at Wal-Mart for example since they make tons of money but don't pay their workers near a livable wage or provide any kind of health coverage. Granted, any place paying workers minimum wage is in the same boat, not paying people a livable wage.

Now before we go any further I'd like to say I know there's no way to be 100% sure of all your purchases. The supply chain is long, drawn out, and tapped at many points along the way.

The point of this isn't to say "I don't do this because I'm better than you." I'm curious as to resources available to people who want to consume responsibly. What do you use, if anything, to make sure your purchases are not going towards entities you have strong aversions to? Or entities whose practices you can not contribute to?

[akross]

www.consumerist.com

I visit there from time to time to read about consumer nightmare stories with places just as awesome as Wal-Mart.

I do my best to avoid Wal-Mart, Best Buy and Game Stop and have lately been looking towards the internet for a good portion of my purchases that used to occur at these places.

[skumbucket]

i live two blocks away from a natural food store that only uses produce grown within our province and stocks certified organic, fair trade goods wherever possible. i've boycotted nike, adidas, and reebok since i was in high school. i don't drive very much, but when i do have to fill my tank i use a locally owned and operated gas station that stocks fuel from a refinery in our city. i buy clothing that is entirely produced in north america (though i know there can still be sweatshops in NA) whenever possible, and i try to minimize my consuming in all areas except music, IE i only own one pair of blue jeans and wear them until they tear in a vital area that i could fall out of.

[kirbypuckett]

www.consumerist.com

I was just about to post this, I go to consumerist every day.

Slickdeals.net is another stop.

My girlfriend and I have made a pact not to go to any chain restaurants on dates. It all started because we were making fun of a friend for taking a date to TGI Fridays on a 1st date. Aside from occasionally visiting Subway on my lunch break I haven't ate at a chain restaurant in a long time.

[sgoodcore]

i live two blocks away from a natural food store that only uses produce grown within our province and stocks certified organic, fair trade goods wherever possible. i've boycotted nike, adidas, and reebok since i was in high school. i don't drive very much, but when i do have to fill my tank i use a locally owned and operated gas station that stocks fuel from a refinery in our city. i buy clothing that is entirely produced in north america (though i know there can still be sweatshops in NA) whenever possible, and i try to minimize my consuming in all areas except music, IE i only own one pair of blue jeans and wear them until they tear in a vital area that i could fall out of.

Where do you go to find credible information on Nike, Adidas, and Reebok? Or credible information about good companies? Like, are New Balance shoes okay?

[kirbypuckett]

...i only own one pair of blue jeans and wear them until they tear in a vital area that i could fall out of.

What do you do on laundry day?

[kurtz]

I try to buy products (not including cars) that are made in America whenever possible.

[skumbucket]

...i only own one pair of blue jeans and wear them until they tear in a vital area that i could fall out of.

What do you do on laundry day?

i usually wear gym shorts or something...i do also have a pair of jeans that are torn pretty much from butthole to balls and from seam to seam across both knees. if i'm just doing laundry in my building i wear those and hope nobody sees me.

[qskapunk]

http://www.newdream.org

"New American Dream helps Americans consume responsibly to protect the environment, enhance quality of life, and promote social justice."

related links:

http://www.responsiblepurchasing.org/community

http://c3.newdream.org/more/partners.php

http://www.newdream.org/ttt/ttt_partners.php

[captainmorgan]

My girlfriend and I have made a pact not to go to any chain restaurants on dates. It all started because we were making fun of a friend for taking a date to TGI Fridays on a 1st date. Aside from occasionally visiting Subway on my lunch break I haven't ate at a chain restaurant in a long time.

This is a really good idea. In general, I think supporting locally owned businesses is a great way to consume (somewhat) responsibly. Like folks have said, it's really hard to by completely "cruelty free" since you just don't have enough information, and everything has to be transported, which takes oil, etc. etc. But at least if you shop at stores owned by people in your community as much as poosible you're helping support those people instead of some random CEO somewhere.

[skumbucket]

Where do you go to find credible information on Nike, Adidas, and Reebok? Or credible information about good companies? Like, are New Balance shoes okay?

it's tough, especially finding up-to-date reports and findings. i try to keep on top of:

~ the Worker Rights Consortium

~ Educating For Justice has a list of international and U.S. anti-sweatshop monitoring groups, including at least one specific to nike

~ the Fair Labor Association can be helpful too.

most such groups have sections dedicated to consumer information, but you can also email them about what you're specifically looking for and they're usually willing to help you find more information.

Also:

OxFam has it's own NikeWatch website to inform consumers and the World Federation of Sporting Goods Industry] has a pdf on it's site that updated a 2004 report on 'corporate responsibility' last year. That might help.

[bouncingsoles123]

I'm lazy. I'll shop anywhere, but try to avoid Wal Mart, but outside of that it's really bad.

I think the problem is not shopping from United States made things but just trying to fix things over seas. Just because they get paid the equivelant of 2 dollars a day here doesn't mean they can't survive on that there?

I think that factory work SHOULD be outsourced for the fact that it will help 3rd world countries industrialize but I believe these countries governments need to take responsibility to protect the people of their country.

I know it's not this simple, but I also believe the UN should play a role in these overseas dealings but they don't because the G8 probably buys them out to not do it.

I don't know shit about politics or anything so I'm probably really wrong in everything.

[sgoodcore]

People should be paid a livable wage. The same wage that's livable in India isn't livable in the states so in that regard people should be paid according to their countries cost of living.

[bouncingsoles123]

Yes, but Sammy often times when you read an article it says "THEY MAKE 30 CENTS AN HOUR IM SO ANGRY!!!" but they never regard to if that's liveable. Just seems like word play to me a lot of the time. I know globalization is going to leave the worker behind but maybe it's not really AS bad as we think?

[sgoodcore]

Yes, but Sammy often times when you read an article it says "THEY MAKE 30 CENTS AN HOUR IM SO ANGRY!!!" but they never regard to if that's liveable. Just seems like word play to me a lot of the time. I know globalization is going to leave the worker behind but maybe it's not really AS bad as we think?

I think its pretty bad. I think people try to get away with as much as possible. I mean minimum wage isn't a livable wage in the US and tons of people make just that. Now you go to a country that's just happy to have a factory, they're certainly not going to impose stronger minimums, relatively speaking, than the US.

[bouncingsoles123]

Yes, I think you have a point.

I am just always as skeptical of the people complaining as the people they are complaining about.

[Guest afsdan]

I ride my bike for personal transportation. I drive a work vehicle, so I'll do my best to do anything I might need to get done (grocery, errands, etc.) while on the clock on someone else's gas. It beats doing it after work on my own dime.

I don't really purchase much though. My food is organic, though not as local as I'd like. However, we're in the swing of farmers market season, so it's a little easier. I rarely get new clothes, and when I do, it's usually a band t-shirt, which tends to be American Apparel, or something like that.

I've been looking into hemp shirts for my label, and we have dyed shirts w/natural dyes and wax. I also use recycled paper, sometimes straight from the dumpster. Paper warehouse dumpsters are pretty clean.

I wear a sweater in the winter, and my underpants in the summer, too

[sgoodcore]

I've heard some bad things about recycling paper and even if American Apparel is sweatshop free the guy who runs it is a total pig.

[Guest afsdan]

recycling paper still uses energy. so it's not perfect. But saving a bunch of paper from the trash is quite helpful.

I have no opinion whether the AA guy likes sex. I do too, but I'm a little more discreet about it.

[sgoodcore]

The stuff I heard about paper had to do with it being worse for the environment from a chemical use perspective to strip off ink than it was to just let the paper degrade in a land fill.

Oh its not about liking sex its about masturbating in front of a reporter and harassing your employees.

[skumbucket]

yeah, but there's all sorts of ethics that some people put into purchasing...supporting a dude who uses his wealth to live that kind of lifestyle might not seem ethical to some.

[sgoodcore]

yeah, but there's all sorts of ethics that some people put into purchasing...supporting a dude who uses his wealth to live that kind of lifestyle might not seem ethical to some.

Shouldn't seem ethical to anyone to be honest.

[kellyjanice]

I am with other people here.

I shop non chain, ma and pa shops as much as possible.

there is a co op market here and a farmers market that I like to go to. the co op and farmers market sells locally grown produce and locally raised meats and eggs (I am vegan but it's good for others)

the co op is also where I buy all my beauty products, cleaning products, and all my other hippy stuff

for those of you that live in the columbus ohio area this is where I go http://www.communitymarket.org/ you get a discount if you buy a membership

I like this place for environmentally friendly products... http://www.reusablebags.com/store/

[kurtz]

I think that factory work SHOULD be outsourced for the fact that it will help 3rd world countries industrialize but I believe these countries governments need to take responsibility to protect the people of their country.

That way of thinking is the #1 reason that I buy American as much as I can.

By outsourcing jobs, the USA is not taking care of the people in it's country. Do you realize how many jobs would be lost if every factory outsourced the work? I come from a very blue collar area and there have been massive layoffs over the last few years because of overseas competition. The unemployment rate is extremely high in central PA right now. It seems like every week I am reading in the newspaper about more factory jobs lost. This might not mean much to you, but I worked in a factory for three years and I know a whole lot of people who still do. Some people like to think that it is a job that Americans don't want to do, but that is completely false. Not everyone wants to go to college and get a white collar job. Plenty of Americans are completely content working in a factory for a living.

[sgoodcore]

I think that factory work SHOULD be outsourced for the fact that it will help 3rd world countries industrialize but I believe these countries governments need to take responsibility to protect the people of their country.

That way of thinking is the #1 reason that I buy American as much as I can.

By outsourcing jobs, the USA is not taking care of the people in it's country. Do you realize how many jobs would be lost if every factory outsourced the work? I come from a very blue collar area and there have been massive layoffs over the last few years because of overseas competition. The unemployment rate is extremely high in central PA right now. It seems like every week I am reading in the newspaper about more factory jobs lost. This might not mean much to you, but I worked in a factory for three years and I know a whole lot of people who still do. Some people like to think that it is a job that Americans don't want to do, but that is completely false. Not everyone wants to go to college and get a white collar job. Plenty of Americans are completely content working in a factory for a living.

I think outsourcing to other countries will soon be a thing of the past. The oil consumption at the current time is such that moving goods from half way around the world to the US will nullify any gains by acquiring cheaper labor. I feel for the people who are out of work because companies moved jobs overseas but I have a hard time reconciling that with free market economics. Granted if the US began to impose tariffs on goods imported a lot of the outsourcing would go away too.