The Informed Consumer

These days I've had the opportunity to take a really interesting course at school: Sustainable Business Practices.  Now, this may seem like a very normal course for someone to take - but for me it's something special because as a hospitality student we don't have much opportunity to study things beyond specifically hotels.  After working on a very interesting project of analysing the corporate responsibility efforts of different brands from Disney to Patagonia all the way to South West Airlines, it made me think of how many businesses are actually participating in CSR movements.

This entire blog is based off of corporate social responsibility - used in a personal manner, yet I have never thought that the solutions to the problems we are facing is using this personal power in conjunction with companies CSR programs.  Let me explain my train of thought, basically I believe if people and businesses could both work together to improve corporate social responsibilty many of the problems of polluting and social injustices in the world would start to alleviate - not neccesarily go away but at least improve.  However, my mistake was in understanding the role of the business and the role of the person.  Personally we can all make efforts to lower our carbon footprint and treat others the way we would like to be treated.  However, this makes a very small impact (but it is still important - so continue doing what you're doing to better the world).  What businesses are doing though, is making CSR changes to their business based on the markets demands.  They are not making 100% of the difference they could if they solely reduced their carbon footprint out of sheer good will; and that makes sense because corporations act in accordance to the market and what makes business sense.

This is where I had been going wrong.  I thought that my efforts were mine alone and that the small actions would add up sooner or later.  While this might be true, a bigger affect I might have had was being lost through all of my irrisponsible purchases.  Of course when I went to the store I was choosing the cheapest item - who wouldn't?  The project made me realize something though, not all businesses were made the same.  If you were to compare Patagonia with any other type of cheap clothing manufacturer there is a huge difference between social policies protecting workers to environmental policies trying to use sustainable resources.  Its hard to imagine that just one purchase at a responsible store versus a cheap vendor would make a large difference, just as using less shower water might not make an extremely large difference in water consumption.  However, this is not true.

When you support a responsible business, these businesses are being supported by your money to continue doing the right thing.  This can affect many many people all the way to secondary suppliers of these businesses.  Of course, one purchase is small but it has two effects built into one.  First, it is giving money to those businesses that are acting responsibly, but secondly, it takes away money that would have gone to potentially irrisponsible businesses.  This positively impacts the market two fold because it allows responsibilty to flourish all the while encouraging those who are irrisponsible to change to be responsible making it a market demand.

So, I am trying to find ways to find which businesses are responsible and which are not.  I would like to (as much as possible) find a way to be an informed consumer.  At the moment the best way I have found is to see which companies are being transparent.  A good method of rating this is by looking at a businesses G4 report lead by the Global Reporting Initiative.  It will detail everything from their human rights support all the way to their environmental policies hiding nothing in between such as supply chain forced labor and child labor practicies and numbers.  Although these are quite bulky reports, they are quite useful when trying to make a decision on who to use as a supplier, who to invest in, and now who to spend your money on.

I know its a long shot to evaluate every single purchase made, so thats why I'm proposing a sort of comprimise.  Anytime we are going to make a rather large purchase, look first, be informed, and choose the more responsible company to support with your money.  The impact can make a bigger difference than our other efforts, and its rather simple in comparison.  No one is perfect and can monitor each and every transaction, but that one could make the difference between a company deciding to implement a more comprehensive CSR stragey - which can affect thousands upon thousands of people down the line.

Let me know what you think about being an informed consumer? Do you think it has such a large effect, and if so which are your favorite responsible businesses?

Meat or Veggies - That is the Question!

This article was kindly written by a guest blogger Michelle Lindqvist.  I'd like to say thank you for such an eye opening article - especially for someone like me who eats both meat and veggies.

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First of all, I am not going to tell you to go vegetarian or vegan right now. It’s actually quite a big commitment and change in the beginning. With this little blogpost I’ve had the honor to write I would like to create awareness. One does not need to eat meat, fish, poultry etc. every single day.

I have been trying and wanting to write this post for so long, because honestly, this is a subject that I have grown to be extremely passionate about. And I’m guessing all of you know what happens when you become really passionate about something? You wanna shout it from the roof tops, and you wanna get all your opinions, thoughts and information out there in one go. The problem is, this post will have no references, nor will it have anything I can back up. This is just me, and my thoughts on why you should try to eat and use less animal products.

In March 2014 I became a vegetarian, and honestly; I have never looked back. I had previously been told by my doctor that I had to cut out red meat as I had just had kidney failure on both my kidneys and it would help me recover quicker. So instead of cutting out just the red meat I decided to become a vegetarian. For me, having lived in the US, by myself, for almost 3 months at this point and eating mostly vegetarian, the transition wasn’t as hard as I previously imagined. These days I don’t like to label myself, as labeling means restricting yourself. I try to stick to a mostly vegan diet, but I do enjoy cheese and things that contain eggs. Many people are scared that by cutting out animal products they will not get all the nutrients you need, but this is wrong. I get enough protein, and calcium and anything else you can think of!

There is also the ethical side of things; many people will cut out animal products from an ethical stand point. The way animals are produced and grown only to be killed off to be eaten or worn is wrong. There is nothing you can say about that. The argument that we are born meat eaters I believe to be incorrect. We are shaped to believe we should eat meat and drink cow milk. Back in the day we had to go out and hunt our on food, because there was no Safeway or Walmart. Now we should be smarter! There are many people out there who are lactose intolerant, and that is because we are not supposed to drink the milk of cows.  Red meat is hard to digest for our bodies, which is why I “joined the dark side” (aka. The world of vegetarians and vegans). Then of course there is a whole other aspect I haven’t even written about yet. Clothes. Fur. Leather. We do not need to wear the skin of animals! That fur coat, will not necessarily keep you warm, the fur should be on the inside! Today the quality of fake leather and fur can actually be quite good. Therefore, if you really want to wear something that looks like a poor animal had to die for it, go ahead: but please buy faux products (fakes).

They say it takes 21 days to form a habit, but come on, we all know that can feel like an eternity! Therefore, I would like to challenge you:

One week. 7 days. Try it.

For one week I want you to try and eat as vegetarian as possible. Not vegan, but vegetarian. That means no meat, no fish, no pork, no poultry and no seafood. Don’t worry though; there are still plenty of things out there you can eat!

If this is too much, please try to have at least one meat free day. That, most of you should be able to do. But the longer you go without meat, the better you will (usually!) feel. My energy levels went through the roof when I first became a vegetarian.

We all have different reasons for cutting out animal products, but in the end your reasons for doing so don't matter to me - it's all up to you. We are all helping to not only pro long our own lives, and of course the animals’ life but we are also helping the planet.

Knitting with Plastic Bags - the Final Product

As you might have read in my previous posts about plastic bags, I took on a mission to knit a mat for the homeless out of plastic bags.  Clearly I didn't think of how many hours it would take me to create a 3 foot by 6 foot piece of knitted plastic fabric, but it definitely took me longer than I thought.  I must have knitted for a good 12 or 13 hours and only got one foot done.  Not to mention how difficult it was to knit something so long - the stitches were truly forced onto my needles not leaving an inch to spare.

In hind sight I really should have woven this material or crocheted (if I knew how) because of how time consuming it is.  None the less the product is finished... well not so much finished as re-purposed. In the end I managed to get three feet across and two and a half feet down - before I had to leave to go off to school.  Unfortunately I couldn't continue knitting at school since there really isn't much of a problem with homelessness there as there is here in California.

So, instead of chucking all of my hard work in the bin, I decided to turn it into a bag.  When I see homeless people around here it seems they are always looking for bags to carry their supplies and belongings around - so to make it easier for them this works to keep their stuff dry and is also extremely durable and flexible.

I decided to take the rectangle and fold it up and weave in some of the plastic yarn I made to tie it shut at the bottom and on the side.  Then I needed something to carry it with so I created a long strap about 6 stitches wide so it is durable.

To test it out I went to the grocery store with it so that I didn't have to take even more plastic bags home.  Everyone who saw it couldn't take their eyes off of it - they even asked if they could buy one off of me.  I was a bit shocked to see how many people liked it since it's just made out of plastic bags.  The store clerks really appreciated that they could even pick out which bags were from their store.

I still fully intend to give this to a homeless person to use as they have a lot to deal with this winter season here in California.  Especially while they suffer through El Nino.  However, I am thinking that when  I return if people are still not using reusable grocery bags I might as well start making these bags for people. That way they get something cute, fun, and ethical for their shopping trips.

If you are interested in the details of the knitting process watch my tutorial video here: https://youtu.be/FfHSk75-AsE

Persuading Others to Go Green

Ever tried to tell someone how easy it is to recycle just to be brushed off, or in some instances be called a hippie?  These days people take it as if you are trying to spread a political message when you are trying to teach people how to be green and eco-friendly.  I am writing this post not to convince people to shove "going green" down peoples throats, but instead help people understand why we all should be green.

One of the arguments business owners use to explain why they continue to pollute is because many are convinced that there is no such thing as global warming and that it's simply a natural phenomenon not at all impacted by human behavior.  To them this nullifies the idea that humans are able to make a sizable impact on the earth through their pollutants and eco-friendly ways equally.  Even if this is your view, I completely respect your ability to decide for yourself what you agree with or disagree with.  However, you don't need to be convinced of global warming to go green just as people don't need to be convinced they are fat to get healthy. Just in case that you are wrong, or just by realizing that we have technologies that allow you to do the same job without polluting wouldn't you want to do that instead?  Isn't it nicer to breathe fresh air instead of smog, not just for future generations but for yourself as well?

Another one of the common arguments for not making a change is that one action by one person isn't going to save the world.  While that is true, this argument is invalid since there are already many people making the efforts needed to reduce the pressure on the environment.  Each and every other helping hand will start to make a bigger and bigger impact upon our polluting ways.  If they are able to get their entire company involved this means that not only are they themselves reducing their carbon footprint but they are reducing their consumers carbon footprints as well.  Our actions don't just follow a straight line to their consequence, everything is interlinked and by making one change many other elements are affected as well.  Thus if you take a mug instead of a disposable cup for your coffee every day not only are you saving many pieces of plastic from being thrown out, you are also slowing down the demand for their production, saving an animals life, reducing the need to drill oil, creating jobs for mug vendors, and so much more.

Going green is easy if you take small steps.  Many people believe that its expensive and you need to buy heavy duty equipment such as solar panels to even make a dent.  Although those products do help, you are doing just as much good by recycling, purchasing bio products, and spreading awareness.  Businesses are afraid that high numbers on their sustainability reports are going to make them look bad in comparison to other businesses and thus they completely give up on going green.  Instead I suggest making small cheap changes until you are ready to make the larger changes to get better numbers.  This should not be considered a competition - being good to mother nature is good no matter how much or how little you do as long as you are trying to make a difference.

I am no stranger to people opposing my ways, these are just some of the arguments that I use to convince people otherwise to understand being green from my perspective.  Unfortunately there will always be certain groups of people that don't want to hear any of our "nonsense" because they have better things to do than protect the planet, they have other places to consume consume consume, they are above going green.  They are not the reason to give up, they are the reason to continue to be green because you know not only are you making up for your waste but you are making up for theirs too.  In a perfect world everyone would come together to start making changes because they realize the gravity of the situation but until we find the solution for  a perfect world keep progressing through the difficulty and be the one to stand up and do the right thing.

If you are struggling to find supporters to your green movement, or you are trying to convince your business partners to go green... don't forget if it doesn't work now sooner or later the laws will catch  up to them and that's when real change will start happening globally; when its no longer down to choice but up to necessity.

10 Topics You Must Cover on Your Responsibility Pledge

These days I find that most people are setting goals to achieve personal success.  Goal setting is a great tool to use, when used properly.  However, most people are setting more than one goal at once or even 100 mini goals at once.  The problem with this is that you typically start to fall through on your plans and eventually burn out.

To aid in your goal making process and to make your plan stick I advise using a pledge to yourself.  This isn't just something you say to yourself, or think everyday.  This is a physical paper in which you list exactly what your goal means and then you sign it so that you can see exactly what you stand for.  This becomes even more powerful when you sign one with a group of people because when you make your goals public, you tend to stick with them longer.

In the green club at my school, we are beginning to implement a Green Pledge for our school where we encourage our students to sign a certificate stating exactly how they will help the environment and others around them - hopefully this will keep the recycling high and the waste low!

Without further adieu:

Responsibility Catalyst's Pledge:

Protecting our Beautiful Earth One Step At A Time

1.  Waste - Waste is the number one factor you can control.  This goes beyond just plastic bags but into food waste, water waste, electricity waste, etc.  This is one of the most important factors for your pledge as this will get results quickly for everyone to see and be motivated to continue not to waste.

2. Water Conservation - This is one of the fastest ways we waste.  On average 2.2 gallons of water per minute out of the shower means that by the end of the morning you are already using about 22 gallons if you are taking 10 minute shower.  Turn the water off when not in use, the amount you save can be drinking water for weeks.

3. Electricity Conservation - 10 watts here, 60 watts there.  One can save electricity in such simple ways that it makes no sense NOT to participate.  Flip the switch when you leave a room, unplug unused appliances, and ensure your machines are energy efficient.

4. Fuel Use- Most of us need to travel in some form to get to work.  Be conscientious of your modes of transportation and the amount of fuel they burn.  The benefit of public transportation is that the 7mile/gallon busses are being shared by 30+ people.  Make the responsible choice, and if you must use a personal car - drive it as little possible, and as efficiently as possible.

5. Buying Power -  We as consumers have the ability to influence the economy by changing our spending habits.  If we all make sure to buy from sustainable companies and demand responsible practices more and more businesses will start to follow suit.

6. Community Service - We all have needed help at one point in time.  Giving back to the community is not only a thank you for everything they have given you but its also a way for you to help someone in need.  Small things make the most difference from picking up a piece of trash on the beach to tutoring kids that are struggling in school.

7. Standing for Your Beliefs - Many people have become so set in their ways they refuse to change.  Many don't understand the need to make a difference by living responsibly.  You must have the determination to do good and stand up for what you believe in and not let the naysayers get you down.

8. Tracking Progress- This gives you a sense of accomplishment and the encouragement to keep making small changes.  If you can't see that taking a 5 minute shower instead of a 10 minute shower saves you 11 gallons of water then are you really understanding your full impact?  Its important to know where you began and where you are headed.

9.  Encourage Others - Its amazing that you have taken the next steps to living responsibly, but are others around you struggling to make a change?  Encourage beginners by helping them out, or by giving them tips and tricks on how to make responsible living easier.  Its always nice to have a community to support you, so be those open arms.

10. Always Find a Way to Improve -  The most important thing to realize in life is that there will always be someone better than you and also someone worse.  Even if you have become the best at the moment, someone is just waiting to come around and take your place.  With this understanding we can change the negative thoughts into a positive statement.  There will always be something more that you can do to help the world. Smile more, help more people, recycle more - its a never ending challenge to give back to the Earth.

I Rachel here by virtually sign the Responsibility pledge on September 3rd, 2015.

If you believe in these actions then please "sign" and post them near by so that you can hold yourself accountable.  Its a promise to do better for the world - why not take the plunge? Good luck in your quest for a responsible life!