READ THIS one.
This is an attempt to get back to educating and being educated about being a responsible shopper.
What used to be responsible shopper
I wanted to just give you a glimpse of the labels that you are buying. I do realize that there are different issues that are more important for each of us. For instance, for some it's if the company is green, for others it's if they are animal friendly, for me it's typically about human rights, and still to others it's about diversity among the company make up. I tried to copy and paste some of each of these things.
Nestle- "The company is also one of the world's largest chocolate producers contributing to child and forced labor problems in cocoa-growing nations."
Aveda- (Aveda is owned by Estee Lauder) "Estée Lauder has not signed the Compact for Safe Cosmetics, which calls for the removal of cancer-causing ingredients from personal care products. In addition, Estée Lauder has been cited for sweatshop labor abuses, toxic dumping, and antitrust issues."
Coke- (This is a general statement, please read further on their website. "Unfortunately, Coke continues to work against human rights, the environment, and the health of consumers, showing few signs of meaningful change."
Gap- "Examples of labor abuse still common include mandatory and unpaid overtime work, sub-poverty wages, and unhealthy working conditions."
Apple- "Apple has consistently lagged behind competitors, particularly HP and Dell, in environmental programs such as recycling computers; phasing out toxic chemicals like PVC from its computers; ensuring transparency and a willingness to talk to environmental groups."
Subway- "However, the company has been accused of aggressively marketing its franchise with little concern for the success of individual franchisees. Critics claim that Doctors Associates leases Subway rights without regard to proximity or market saturation, leading to diminished sales and performance for individual store owners."
Google- "However, the company has disappointed people around the world by catering to government-imposed censorship in China, failing to act against child pornography distribution in Brazil and for allegedly taking advantage of advertisers in the US."
Many of the other companies that you are wondering about are on this website... so go and explore.
posted by Sweet T @ 10:50 AM
8 Comments:
did you have to put aveda on there?
T-Bone,
Thanks for posting this information. Just a heads-up... The Apple information is inaccurate and/or outdated. That's the only company on the list I know much about (although Coke is delicious). Apple has never lagged behind HP and Dell in action, though Apple has lagged behind in announcements about the future. That changed last month when Apple announced its plans to phase out PVC, for example, in 2008. Dell will phase out PVC in 2009.
There are probably some companies that actually do bad things. But who will tell us about them? I wish there were a way to have a less adversarial relationship between environmental/human rights groups and the companies they speak out against. The way things stand, we hear biased information from each side. Companies don't want to admit they're doing anything wrong, while consumer groups exaggerate what's going on. I end up not trusting either side.
Aveda, for example, does a great job. Their parent company doesn't. Should you boycott Aveda? Maybe if more people buy Aveda, Estee Lauder will realize that environmentally-friendly cosmetics can be good for business.
I may be passing through Chicago in the next few days. I will call Chris to see what you guys are doing.
i have a Subway sandwich hanging out of my mouth right now.
injustice with extra mayo = delicious.
I am not worried about the success of the franchise I frequent, however, based on the number of times per day i go there.
While I agree with Bob about the biased information, the portion that i quoted was updated on May 8th 2007. Not only does this site update frequently they also give credit where credit is due. Apple does have good intentions about becoming green and also provides an amazing product, but when you are a leader, more is expected of you... I think. As far as Aveda goes... I don't think I am going to stop using there product, but it's good to stayed updated.
Bob, you are coming to Chicago?! Why? That's exciting, hope to see you.
but.....why is it good to keep updated without action? if you want action, why not action? i am intrigued by your answer.
I don't think keeping updated is just for kicks, but I also don't think Talya was attempting to prescribe action. Action is based on each person's response to the information. I think she's emphasizing the importance of uncovering ignorance and then letting you do with that information whatever you please, whether be driven to action or not.
ignorance is an interesting word...where does that presumption come from? also interested in your take, talya--already know how chris feels on the subject.
i'm just interested in where you get your motivation.
Dear T,
We try to keep up on things like this. I don't support places or companies that promote dangerous or unfair practices but I also think it's not always BLACK and WHITE. Further more I've found though out my life that people who are extreme in their views whether it's religion (the most hurtful) or what companies are or are not doing aren't always the most truthful. It may be easy to 'do research' on the computer but who is to say whether something that has been written is fact or just opinion? In reality, unless I personally see what is happening or I know the source is reliable I take everything I read with a large grain (or shaker) of salt. Just look at the times that people have been so judgemental about Christianity (or Islam). It's all in the interpretation and because of that very many people have been hurt emotionally and hurt physically. The opinions of people regarding company practices are extremely subjective. I totally get that people in China who are working at 50 cents a day may not seem fair to us. But their lifestyle and their cost of living makes that 50 cents seem like $50 to us.
By the way, the fact that Google has 'supported' China's government regarding the internet is not all bad. This is a country where most people don't even know what happened in Tiananmin Square. Isn't a small amount of information better than none at all? Eventually the people will get the picture and change their country. It will just be slow.
As much as we can all dislike former President Nixon for all the horrible things he did, our presence in China was started by him. Of course that works two ways. The Chinese people have been 'freer' and the US has lost hundreds of thousands of jobs. So, it's all from your perspective.
I hope you don't take any offense to my comments. I was just perusing a couple of blogs.....and came across yours. :)
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