While it would be nice to have the time to devote to our favorite causes every day of the year, this just isn't possible. However, passive activism can be a powerful tool in making our voices heard. How we choose to live, the investments we make, the companies we support, and the products we buy all send strong messages and work to express our desire for a healthy lifestyle and a better world. One of the most powerful tools you have to express your wishes is your wallet. Never underestimate the power of the almighty dollar!! Our dollars often speak louder than words.
Companies are beginning to recognize that there is a market for more environmentally friendly and cruelty-free products. Tom's of Maine, Kiss My Face, and The Body Shop, for example, have become very successful largely due to meeting such consumer demand. It is far easier to find healthy, wholesome products displaying the Leaping Bunny logo (no animal testing, no cruelly-derived animal products) than just a few years ago.
Other companies have chosen to join in partnerships that create more earth-friendly products. Partnering with the National Wildlife Federation, Recycline (creator of the Recycline toothbrush for adults) is debuting the Preserve, Jr. Endangered Species Collection, a new line of recyclable toothbrushes for children. A portion of sales helps to support the National Wildlife Federation's conservation efforts. All of Recycline's products are made from recycled materials, such as Stonyfield Farm yogurt cups, and are completely recyclable with a postage-paid recycling mailer provided by the company. The packaging features fun facts about each species and encourages children to visit
Recycline's website. The site features endangered species profile pages where kids can learn more about why it is so important to support their protection.
Two other companies who are working to improve their environmental report cards are Norm Thompson Outfitters and United Parcel Service of America (UPS). In October 2001, Norm Thompson Outfitters, in partnership with the Alliance for Environmental Innovation (AEI), a nonprofit environmental group, announced that it has switched to paper with a minimum of 10% post-consumer recycled content in all of its catalogs.
AEI calculates that this move will annually save 4,400 tons of wood and 20 billion BTUs of energy, avoid the release of 11.7 million gallons of wastewater and 2,041 tons of greenhouse gases, and eliminate 990 tons of solid waste. Norm Thompson Outfitters is also making improvements to its paper practices, like minimizing unwanted, misdirected, or undeliverable catalogs.
AEI has also partnered with UPS to create and promote more eco-friendly packaging. Their new designs include:
- Nearly doubling the amount of post-consumer recycled material in the UPS box, and using at least 80 percent post-consumer recycled material in the Express Letter.
- Eliminating the use of bleached paper in all express packaging.
- Reducing overall waste and pollution from production of shipping materials by an average of 13 percent.
- Introducing post-consumer recycled material into UPS' plastic PAK and reducing each PAK's weight by almost 10 percent.
Care2.com has partnered with Coop America to report on the social and environmental behavior of over 200 companies. They have also developed the Green Thumbs-up social/eco-insight icons to empower every person to spend their money with companies sharing similar philosophies. The Green Thumbs-up also generates donations to help environmental causes, paid for by the stores. For example, Care2.com's Race to Save Primates is partially funded by Green Thumbs-up. Finally, to further encourage responsible shopping, Care2.com agrees to protect one square foot of rainforest every time the icon is used.
Another peaceful and effective method to create a better world is Socially Responsible Investing (SRI). SRI considers both the investor's financial needs and an investment's impact on society while putting those dollars to work building healthy communities, promoting economic equity, and fostering a clean environment. Integrating personal values and societal concerns with investment decisions is financially and morally responsible.
Websites to research Socially Responsible Investing:
Green Money Journal
Ethical Investing
Socially Responsible
There are many ways to be effective using passive activism, even if all one affects is a tiny corner of the world. It's important that we give back in a time of ease as well as a time of dis-ease. We make a difference when we actively pursue important issues, but speaking with our dollars and other forms of passive activism are also effective tools in bringing about change.
Simple Extra Tips:
- Invest in a home water purification system rather than buying individual water bottles.
- Be a responsible shopper by buying products with minimal packaging, or buy in bulk to help decrease waste associated with consuming. Say "no" to paper AND plastic by bringing your own canvas bags to the store.
- Next time you need a light bulb, replace it with a fluorescent one which will last 10 times longer and use significantly less energy.
Visit a "click-to-donate" site the next time you are online. Easy and fast, you can also easily access a list of their sponsors to get more shopping ideas.
- Choose to live and eat low on the food chain (vegetarian/vegan), buying organic, bulk and gmo-free foods whenever possible.
- Support your local small businesses and farmers markets.
- Drive only when you really have to, and drive a high gas mileage car (I have a Toyota Prius, the hybrid car, it gets almost 50 MPG and is a GREAT car).
- Keep a travel mug in your car so you'll never need to use a paper one.
- Remember the 3 "R's"-- reduce, reuse, recycle, in that order!
--Lisa is the devoted vegetarian aunt to her veggie niece (4 1/2 year old Whitney), and nephew (1 year old Ethan). She credits all of her awareness and compassion for the animals & the environment to her mother, the kindest and most sensitive person she has ever known. Lisa's email address is Bardgirl@aol.com
