 The Worldwatch Institute has just released Good Stuff,
a guide for socially and environmentally responsible consumers. Please
read it -- if you're like me, you'll find a lot of information you
didn't know. You can download a .pdf of the entire guide here.
Following is the essential section: What you can do to ensure you buy
more Good Stuff and less Bad Stuff. Unlike the .pdf, this will fit on
your refrigerator (alongside the Boycott List):
Appliances, Lighting, Electricity:
When buying new appliances, look for energy and water efficiency labels
and
consider models that use less water, detergent, and other resources.
Keep your appliances clean and in good working order, to help them run
more efficiently. Check the age and condition of your major
appliances—especially the
refrigerator. Replace it with a more energy-efficient
model before it dies. Use low-mercury compact flourescent light bulbs.
Use local lights instead of general ceiling lighting. Switch your home
to green power through your local utility or a green
power marketer, or by buying Renewable Energy Credits, also known as
Tradable Renewable Certificates or Green Tags -- but make sure your
Green Power is Certified by Green-e or TerraChoice. Turn appliances,
lights and electronics completely off after use. Educate your work
place, school, church to do likewise.
Baby Products:
If you're expecting a baby or planning on breastfeeding, minimize your
exposure to pesticides, paints, heavy metals, and other toxins. When
changing a diaper, use soaps without strong fragrances, colorings, or
detergents. Avoid commercial baby wipes. Use biodegradable diapers or
reusable cloth diapers. Avoid PVC and plastic baby toys (illegal in
Europe because of toxins released when they're chewed). Buy sleepers
made from organic cotton, toys made from non-dyed wood, and baby soaps
made without synthetic ingredients. Use organic baby food. Get your
baby outdoors and exposed to pets so she builds up natural immunity.
Beverages and Foods:
Refill your water bottle at the tap rather than buying a new one. Buy
large size containers rather than single serving sizes. Buy refillable
rather than recyclable bottles. Don't buy non-recyclables. Recycle.
Organize a recycling program at work. Lobby for mandatory refillable
and deposit-return recycling in your state. Avoid low-nutrition,
high-fat junk foods, and takeout foods in non-recyclable containers.
Stock up on healthy snacks. Get to know local farmers who raise
sustainable and organic meat and other products in your area or buy
them at your local health food store or farmer's market. Cut back on
your meat consumption. Learn more about the factory farm issue. Invite
friends over for a locally grown, sustainable meal. And don't buy or
eat shrimp: Shrimp fishing is the world's main cause of discarded-catch
waste (unwanted sea animals caught in shrimp nets and discarded back
into the sea dead) and of deforestation for seafood farms.
Building Materials:
Use “green” building products, such as less-toxic and recycled paints
or wood that has been reclaimed or sustainably harvested. Use materials
and processes that last. When renovating or doing home maintenance,
avoid exposing your family, neighbors, or pets to lead-based paint
hazards. Test for lead residues, keep surfaces clean of dust and chips,
and if necessary hire a person skilled in correcting lead problems.
Avoid alkyds, oils, and other paints with VOCs (carcinogenous
hydrocarbons).
Cars:
Walk, bike, or take public transportation whenever possible. Encourage
your local community to invest in bike lanes, stoplights that favor
cyclists, and bike safety. Combine several trips into one. Keep your
vehicle well-maintained. Fix oil leaks. Join a carpool or car-sharing
club. Buy a hybrid vehicle.
Chocolate & Coffee:
Most chocolate and coffee production endangers forests, exploits local
farmers, and uses toxic and illegal pesticides. Full-sun coffee
plantations also reduce bird biodiversity and use more chemicals. Buy
only chocolate and coffee that carries a “fair trade” label and that is
organic and, in the case of coffee, shade-grown ('bird-friendly').
Encourage your favourite stores to carry and feature such products.
Cleaning & Health Products:
Use safe, simple ingredients: Soap, water, baking soda, vinegar, lemon
juice, borax, and a coarse scrubbing sponge can take care of most
household cleaning needs. Use baking soda followed by vinegar instead
of drain cleaner. Use vinegar and water to clean glass, baking soda or
cornstarch to deodorize carpet, lemon juice & salt on mildew and
mold, baking soda & salt paste as oven cleaner. Use only
biodegradable and children-and-pet-safe cleaners, and educate friends
and neighbours to do the same. Don't buy thermometers with mercury in
them.
Computers and Cell Phones: Use an earpiece to avoid holding the
cellphone handset too close to your head, and limit use by children.
Lobby for less toxic designs and recycling programs. Use
energy-efficient computers, and upgrade instead of replacing. Donate
old computers to charities or refurbishers. Boycott companies that send
computer garbage to third-world countries.
Furniture:
Opt for second-hand furniture to save trees and reduce landfills. Look
for the FSC (certified sustainable-forest wood) label on all wood
products you buy. Making your own furniture, using recycled or salvaged
wood products. When buying foam-filled furniture, including mattresses,
ensure only wool batting and other natural flame-retardant chemicals were used in their manufacture. Boycott teak and other endangered wood species.
Jewelry: Demand an alternative to 'dirty gold'
and 'blood diamonds' that are produced at the expense of communities,
workers, and the environment. Buy recycled or vintage gold.
Music & Video: Download instead of buying. Buy used. Borrow. Share, trade, donate unwanted disks.
Paper and Plastic:
Buy paper with at least 30 percent postconsumer recycled content, and
encourage your school or workplace to do the same. Seek out nonwood
paper alternatives made from kenaf, cotton, or other fibers. Many
“agrifibers” yield more pulp-per-acre than forests or tree farms, and
they require fewer pesticides and herbicides. Lobby for legislation
requiring manufacturers to take back the packaging waste from their
products. Don't print out your e-mails. Don't use plastic bags. Avoid
plastic containers and products with vinyl (they have the number
'3' embossed inside the recycling symbol). Don't burn garbage or yard
waste.
Personal Care Products:
Buy, and ask your favourite stores to stock, products with organic
contents, certified animal-freindly (leaping bunny logo pictured
above). Avoid using products labeled “antibacterial.” Choose products
with the smallest numbers of listed ingredients, avoiding entirely
products that contain phthalates, detergents, and antimicrobial agents
like triclosan. Avoid overpackaged and non-recyclable-packaged
products.
Bottom Line: Buy durable, buy local, buy used, buy reusable, buy recycled, buy certified, buy energy-efficient, buy non-toxic, and buy less.
About Labels: There are
many labels that claim the products are 'green', 'cruelty-free',
'all-organic' etc. Use caution with these claims. Only a few, like the
5 pictured above, are actually independently certified to meaningful
published standards. If you want to know more about certification, see
the excellent guide to eco-labels maintained by Consumer Reports. It tells you how meaningful each claim is, and who (if anyone) independently verifies it.
(Updates to the Boycott
List: I really regret having bought a Dell. Manufactured, shoddily, in
Singapore, serviced from India, dreadful 'customer care'. Add Dell to
your boycott list. And we've switched foods for our dog Chelsea -- to a
high-protein, low-fat Canadian veterinarian-certified dog food,
|
MADE IN CANADA
trust your
instincts 
