CH_2: Never use another plastic bag

"Never" is a big word, an absolute term. I try not to use it, because it invariably makes me a liar. Unfortunately, "never" is true when applied to the biodegradability of most plastics, including plastic bags. According to the people at Green Genius, virtually every piece of plastic ever made is still in existence. That's a mind-boggling amount of waste.

Recently, I was listening to a radio interview in which an environmentalist stated that if you ever visit a metropolitan landfill, you will never use another plastic bag. They are blowing everywhere, stacking up, and they're not going to disappear any time soon.

Green Genius tallies Americans using 3 billion pounds of plastic bags every year, most of which end up in landfills. 3 billion pounds of plastic bags would cover the island of Manhattan to a depth of 16 feet.

The new set of questions I've been asking as a consumer includes: "What can I do to help solve the problem?"

In this case, I changed the way I approach and use plastic bags. For grocery trips, I bought two large, canvas "elephant" bags at Whole Foods for an affordable $3.99 each. (For about $20, a family of four could make their grocery shopping a plastic-bag-free experience.) I keep at least one bag in the car at all times for unplanned stops.

In terms of home plastic bag use, Green Genius makes a line of biodegradable trash bags that are comparable in price to nonbiodegradable bags. They also sell biodegradable zipper sandwich bags, freezer bags, and food storage bags. Their products are available at Whole Foods, and in New England, Shaw's has decided to stock their products.

There are even biodegradable bags for pet waste cleanup. I found cornstarch-based bags by Pooch Pick-up at Centinela Pet and Feed, but after some research, it seems like these bags by J-Trend are the best bet in terms of price and true biodegradability.

The bottom line is that there are plenty of affordable, easy options to reduce plastic bag use. If you need any further convincing on why this is important, do a google image search on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, then check out this infographic.

If you're interested in further action, you can contact your local city council and ask them to ban single-use plastic bags. Here in Southern California, a ban was recently enacted (but does not include Los Angeles) and will take effect in 2011.

As a fun last word on a serious subject, here's a music video to promote banning single-use plastic bags. Go forth and use less plastic!

Site_Find: CatalogChoice.org

CatalogChoice.org is on online non-profit offering an opt-out service for people receiving catalogs and junk mail. Their mission is "to help people reduce unwanted mail, save natural resources, reduce clutter, and take control of their mailbox." Launched in 2007, CatalogChoice.org is a free service which serves over a million members and thousands of companies.

They are funded by multiple grants from private foundations, such as the Overbrook Foundation and the Merck Family Fund. In addition to helping consumers, they also offer services for companies to help them be effective and respectful direct marketers, while reducing environmental impact.

By creating an account, I was able to cancel all of the catalogs I receive. The site also made it easy to block junk mailings from Chase and other credit card companies.

Best of all, their site keeps track of waste saved by their efforts, as well as your personal contribution. Just by blocking my Chase junk mail, I saved 1 tree, 36 pounds of solid waste, and 6 gallons of water. Think what we could do if we eliminated all junk mail!

Prod_Find: Sustainable Converse Alternative

Lately, I've been changing the questions I ask when I'm buying products like clothing and shoes. Instead of which color to get, I'm thinking about where the item was made, who made it, and how were they treated. I'm also thinking about what the product is made of, and what resources went into the material's production.

When I needed to replace my worn out Converse sneakers, I read the label and found that they were made in China, where labor practices are notoriously poor. After some searching online, I found a sustainable Converse alternative, made by a UK company called Ethletic, and distributed by Autonomie Project, a purveyor of organic, sweatshop-free, vegan products.

The sneakers are made with fair-trade certified organic cotton, and the soles are made of FSC-certified all-natural and sustainable latex. Their site notes that this means that "the rubber was tapped from a tree in a well-managed and growing forest, rather than being made from chemicals, like other rubber products." The rubber growers and the shoe-stitchers both receive a fair-trade premium.

As far as cost, the sneakers are $54.00. Typical Converse sneakers run from $40 to $60. The price for this pair might be a few dollars higher than the Converse pair I was considering, but I'm willing to pay the extra money. I wore my last pair of Converse for three years, so the extra bucks on this end to ensure fair labor and sustainability will be more than amortized over time.

Autonomie Project also sells plain cotton tees in women's and men's styles for $16--a great deal on staple of my wardrobe--plus printed tees and baby clothes. They have a terrific blog that serves as a resource for fair trade news and consumer tips.

"If not us, who? If not now, when?"

In the October 19, 2010, edition of the New York Times, there was an interesting and disturbing article tucked away at the back of the A section. The article details how a group of the "ultrawealthy" hold political planning meetings two times a year. Organized by Koch Industries, these retreats provide a forum for determining the Republican agenda for the coming campaign years, as well as key issues they'd like to influence.

Here's an excerpt from the article entitled "Secretive Republican Donors Are Planning Ahead":

"The invitation, sent to potential new participants, offers a rare peek at the Koch network of the ultrawealthy and the politically well-connected, its far-reaching agenda to enlist ordinary Americans to its cause, and its desire for the utmost secrecy.

With a personalized letter signed by Charles Koch, the invitation to the four-day Rancho Mirage meeting opens with a grand call to action: "If not us, who? If not now, when?”

The Koch network meets twice a year to plan and expand its efforts — as the letter says, “to review strategies for combating the multitude of public policies that threaten to destroy America as we know it."

Those efforts, the letter makes clear, include countering “climate change alarmism and the move to socialized health care,” as well as “the regulatory assault on energy,” and making donations to higher education and philanthropic organizations to advance the Koch agenda."

Koch Industries owns foresting and paper companies, including Georgia-Pacific (makers of Quilted Northern and Brawny) as well as Koch Carbon (minerals and petroleum), Koch Fertilizer, Invista (makers of Lycra and Stainmaster carpet), Matador Ranching, and Flint Hill Resources (petroleum). Check out Kochind.com, their corporate website, for a list of their products and full descriptions of their various industries.

CH_1: Know who I'm really supporting (Part 1)

For my first post on a choice for change, I'd like to address corporate campaign contributions, and how to unravel the trail of funding from the corporations we do business with.

During the last election cycle, the Target corporation donated $150,000 to a group that was running ads to support Tom Emmer, a conservative Republican gubernatorial candidate who was running on an anti-gay platform. I would not choose to donate my own money to support Tom Emmer, yet by shopping at Target, I had done so nonetheless. This made me wonder about who else I'm supporting without knowing it.

I went to FollowTheMoney.org, and entered the names of my cell and internet providers, as well as the names of other businesses where I typically shop. I found out that, via Verizon Wireless, I had unwittingly supported Meg Whitman's campaign with a healthy donation. On the other hand, I found out that Charter Communications, my internet provider, supports mostly Democratic candidates with their donations.

FollowTheMoney.org provides a record not only of a corporation's donations to parties, but also to individual candidates and ballot measures. The search results can be a little difficult to navigate, so feel free to leave questions in the comment section of this post. The site also offers a tutorial that uses Verizon as an example.

Some other great resources on who's giving and who's getting in politics include OpenSecrets.org and the Federal Elections Commission at fec.gov. The Reynolds Center for Business Journalism also has a great article on tracking campaign funding.

Solutions to big issues start with small choices

I started this blog as a direct result of a class I'm taking called "Advertising and Propaganda" taught by John Brumfield at Art Center College of Design. Many of the documentaries he's shown, including "The Corporation" and a documentary on Third World garment workers, have made me realize that one of the most powerful means of activism at my disposal is my role as a consumer.

When I spend money, I am essentially casting a vote in favor of the companies who make and sell the product. I am also casting a vote in favor of that company's policies, and how they distribute their profits. I also realized that in most instances, I am completely uninformed as to that information.

This blog is a response to the helplessness I felt when I learned that, through consumerism, I'd participated unwittingly in substandard business practices. I started this blog to track the new set of questions I'll ask and the choices I'll make that will ultimately alter the way I participate in the marketplace. I live on a small, student budget, so I also look forward to dismantling my personal perception that making responsible consumer choices involves spending extra money.

I want to make decisions as a consumer that support what I believe in, and that includes environmental preservation and sustainability, fair wages and work practices, and social accountability in service of humanitarianism.

Those are big issues, but the solutions start with small choices.

I'll be posting a new choice for change frequently, as well as resources I find and information I uncover. I believe that when substandard social and environmental practices cease to be profitable, corporations will change their practices. As consumers, we have the power to affect this change.