I prefer to focus on the positive over the negative. Blame my interest in positive dog training, but I'd much rather use something positive to do encourage a behavior I want (whether it's from a person, an animal, or an entity) than using something negative to discourage a behavior I don't like. Hence my preference of a buycott over a boycott.
A lot of the companies that I want to avoid are big companies. Procter and Gamble, for instance, has an enormous advertising budget and produces a long, long list of products. Groups have been encouraging boycotts of Procter and Gamble for a long time and I know people who do avoid their products because of their animal testing policies, but it doesn't seem to affect their bottom line. Point blank, unless a lot more people decide to take a stance against Procter and Gamble products and are willing to spend a little extra money and time to find alternatives, then Procter and Gamble isn't going to change due to even a substantial minority of consumers avoiding their products.
So why bother?
The obvious answer is that everyone has to decide where to draw the line. For a lot of people, their decision to refuse to buy certain products or patronize certain businesses doesn't come from a belief that a boycott will actually make the company change. Instead, it's making about making choices that you can live with. Regardless of what everyone else does, they choose to follow their conscience when it comes to shopping. This is good and admirable and if more people did it, we might see more change.
There's a second thing to consider, though. Very often, companies that don't test on animals or that produce a green product are smaller and every little bit of business helps. Frequently, shopping is a zero-sum game since most consumers only use one toothbrush or one bottle of shampoo at a time. Buying a product from a company you don't support means that not only does that company get your money, but you're also taking money away from a company that might better match your ideals.
Furthermore, in addition to supporting these companies, there's also the matter of supporting the stores that carry the products. Unless you live in a larger city, it might be hard to find a lot of green and cruelty-free products on the shelf of your local grocery store. If you're committed to buying these products, you can check Amazon or go out of your way a bit. However, it's important to encourage local stores to carry these products because while you might be willing to go the extra mile to find the "good" products, other people probably won't be. Some of them might scan the shelves for cruelty-free or green products and buy one them if they're readily available, but others might not bother to check, instead choosing products based on packaging, price, efficacy, and other factors that don't relate to the companies stance on animal testing or green products. It doesn't matter why the consumer is buying the product, though. What matters is increasing the number of times a consumer buys a "good" product over a "bad" product, regardless of their reasoning. If the products aren't on the shelve, then the consumer won't have a chance to buy them. If a store can't sell the products, they won't be on the shelf.
While it might be tempting to focus on the negative in all of this and do everything in your power to not only avoid products from companies you disagree with, but also to encourage everyone you know to do the same, that's not the only consideration. Punishing a company like Procter and Gamble for the stance on animal testing is tempting, but it's equally important to focus on supporting a company like Seventh Generation. That's why my primary goal is to support the "good" companies instead of penalizing the bad and why I prefer buycotts to boycotts. Anything that helps increase the choices available to consumers is a great thing in my book.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Introduction
Starting (and naming) this blog was something I spent a lot of time debating. The issues I'm going to discuss and the things I want to do are rooted pretty far back in my childhood, so in a way, this has been a long time coming.
In a nutshell, I really liked Captain Planet as a child. I realized even at the time that the show was a huge oversimplification of a lot of complex issues. When a classmate bought PETA information to school, despite knowing a good portion of it was propaganda designed to cause outrage, I fell into the trap and got outraged. For a long time, I even tried to avoid using product that were tested on animals, but that didn't last long, simply due to lack of information and options at the time. Even recently, when I visited the memorial to Martha, the last passenger pigeon, I teared up a little. (In my defense, that exhibit was designed to be a tearjerker.)
Despite the fact that I'm fairly easily outraged and I want to make a difference, it usually didn't last long. I think that I'm more aware of things like animal cruelty and environmental issues than a lot of people and that I make more of an effort, but that isn't saying much. For example, I remember leaving a classroom and watching several classmates toss soda or water bottles in the trash even though they had to pass the recycling bins to get to the elevator or stairs.
I had a lot of good reasons for not doing much. First, for a long time, there was a lack of recycling in the area. A local school attempted to collect newspapers for a while, but their hours were erratic and despite trying to collect and recycle newspapers, that fell through. As I said earlier, I attempted to boycott companies that tested on animals, but didn't work since it was hard to find out which companies were the worst offenders and even then, there were some products that I had to use and finding an alternative was next to impossible. I may not want to buy a toothbrush from a company that tests on animals, but I also don't want to stop brushing, so necessity frequently won out.
I've spent the past few years being a semi-conscious consumer. I wouldn't think of buying anything from a pet shop that sold puppies. I support rescue. I recycle where I can. I've eliminated meat from my diet, though that's actually more a matter of preference than ethics. And I spend a lot of time feeling guilty for doing enough, but I push it down.
So what changed? A few weeks ago, I read a blog entry about how some beagles were given a second chance at being released from a lab. Beagles. I try to keep things in perspective. I don't agree with the PETA quotes about how a human's life is never more important than an animals. I may not like the idea of an animal suffering, but I realize the issue is extremely complicated and I know that a lot of people are alive because of animal testing. If I had to sum it up, I'd say that I can handle animal testing provided there's no reasonable alternative, that it's medically necessary, and that the animals are handled as humanely as possible. But while I realize that the issue is complicated when it's life-saving chemo drugs, I'm perfectly comfortable with saying that I absolutely oppose the idea of animals suffering so that women can have fuller eyelashes and longer wearing mascara.
After reading that, I did a bit of internet research and realized that now there are a lot of lists of cruelty-free companies and that a lot of those products were available locally and even more were available on Amazon. Plus, the prices were comparable to non-cruelty-free products in a lot of cases. It makes it a lot harder to justify using products from companies that test on animals. I continued my research and realized that a lot of the products from cruelty-free companies were also green.
To make a long story short, I don't like knowing that a lot of the choices I make are harming the planet, animals, and (in some cases) other people...especially when in a lot of cases, it's pretty easy to make a choice that does less damage. So, I'm committing to making better choices now.
I decided to start the blog not because I plan to be a shining example of how everyone should always make the hardest choices. In fact, I'm starting the blog for the exact opposite reason. I firmly believe that it's possible to be conscious of your impact on the planet and related issues without going off the deep end. I also believe that, despite the fact that some products are more expensive, it's possible to make the environmentally conscious and socially responsible choice while still sticking to a reasonable budget. In fact, I think that in some cases, it's probably significantly cheaper.
I also plan to keep track of the products I use and hopefully save a few people some research. I don't plan to get on a political soapbox in this blog or to try to guilt people into giving up meat or boycotting certain products by posting disturbing stories and photos. One thing I've noticed is that there are two types of people when it comes to these issues. The first group really doesn't care and no amount of gut wrenching photos and outrageous stories is going to change their shopping habits. The second group cares a lot and nothing is accomplished by showing them photos of suffering animals. In fact, as someone who falls into the second group, the fact that I run the risk of stumbling on websites that will haunt me for days when I search for information on cruelty-free products makes me dread looking for information and more inclined to just go on the old way and try hard not to think about it.
I don't know how this project will go, but I truly hope that I can succeed in making big changes through small steps and that I can possibly provide valuable information to other people who feel the same.
In a nutshell, I really liked Captain Planet as a child. I realized even at the time that the show was a huge oversimplification of a lot of complex issues. When a classmate bought PETA information to school, despite knowing a good portion of it was propaganda designed to cause outrage, I fell into the trap and got outraged. For a long time, I even tried to avoid using product that were tested on animals, but that didn't last long, simply due to lack of information and options at the time. Even recently, when I visited the memorial to Martha, the last passenger pigeon, I teared up a little. (In my defense, that exhibit was designed to be a tearjerker.)
Despite the fact that I'm fairly easily outraged and I want to make a difference, it usually didn't last long. I think that I'm more aware of things like animal cruelty and environmental issues than a lot of people and that I make more of an effort, but that isn't saying much. For example, I remember leaving a classroom and watching several classmates toss soda or water bottles in the trash even though they had to pass the recycling bins to get to the elevator or stairs.
I had a lot of good reasons for not doing much. First, for a long time, there was a lack of recycling in the area. A local school attempted to collect newspapers for a while, but their hours were erratic and despite trying to collect and recycle newspapers, that fell through. As I said earlier, I attempted to boycott companies that tested on animals, but didn't work since it was hard to find out which companies were the worst offenders and even then, there were some products that I had to use and finding an alternative was next to impossible. I may not want to buy a toothbrush from a company that tests on animals, but I also don't want to stop brushing, so necessity frequently won out.
I've spent the past few years being a semi-conscious consumer. I wouldn't think of buying anything from a pet shop that sold puppies. I support rescue. I recycle where I can. I've eliminated meat from my diet, though that's actually more a matter of preference than ethics. And I spend a lot of time feeling guilty for doing enough, but I push it down.
So what changed? A few weeks ago, I read a blog entry about how some beagles were given a second chance at being released from a lab. Beagles. I try to keep things in perspective. I don't agree with the PETA quotes about how a human's life is never more important than an animals. I may not like the idea of an animal suffering, but I realize the issue is extremely complicated and I know that a lot of people are alive because of animal testing. If I had to sum it up, I'd say that I can handle animal testing provided there's no reasonable alternative, that it's medically necessary, and that the animals are handled as humanely as possible. But while I realize that the issue is complicated when it's life-saving chemo drugs, I'm perfectly comfortable with saying that I absolutely oppose the idea of animals suffering so that women can have fuller eyelashes and longer wearing mascara.
After reading that, I did a bit of internet research and realized that now there are a lot of lists of cruelty-free companies and that a lot of those products were available locally and even more were available on Amazon. Plus, the prices were comparable to non-cruelty-free products in a lot of cases. It makes it a lot harder to justify using products from companies that test on animals. I continued my research and realized that a lot of the products from cruelty-free companies were also green.
To make a long story short, I don't like knowing that a lot of the choices I make are harming the planet, animals, and (in some cases) other people...especially when in a lot of cases, it's pretty easy to make a choice that does less damage. So, I'm committing to making better choices now.
I decided to start the blog not because I plan to be a shining example of how everyone should always make the hardest choices. In fact, I'm starting the blog for the exact opposite reason. I firmly believe that it's possible to be conscious of your impact on the planet and related issues without going off the deep end. I also believe that, despite the fact that some products are more expensive, it's possible to make the environmentally conscious and socially responsible choice while still sticking to a reasonable budget. In fact, I think that in some cases, it's probably significantly cheaper.
I also plan to keep track of the products I use and hopefully save a few people some research. I don't plan to get on a political soapbox in this blog or to try to guilt people into giving up meat or boycotting certain products by posting disturbing stories and photos. One thing I've noticed is that there are two types of people when it comes to these issues. The first group really doesn't care and no amount of gut wrenching photos and outrageous stories is going to change their shopping habits. The second group cares a lot and nothing is accomplished by showing them photos of suffering animals. In fact, as someone who falls into the second group, the fact that I run the risk of stumbling on websites that will haunt me for days when I search for information on cruelty-free products makes me dread looking for information and more inclined to just go on the old way and try hard not to think about it.
I don't know how this project will go, but I truly hope that I can succeed in making big changes through small steps and that I can possibly provide valuable information to other people who feel the same.
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