Recently, a writer for a national magazine interviewed me about this blog (I’ll post the link once the story goes live), and asked me how writing this blog has changed how I shop. I think the biggest change I’ve made is in my awareness. That is, I don’t just toss a product into my shopping cart without even thinking about it. I take a moment or two to consider the product’s origins or how the product is packaged before deciding whether or not to buy it.
It’s kind of like when I joined Weight Watchers, and suddenly I became an avid nutrition-label reader at the supermarket. With my Weight Watchers Points Finder slide rule in hand, grocery shopping suddenly took twice as long as I determined the Points values of everything on my list–and then decided whether or not it was worth buying.
Now that my green radar is up, shopping has become a similarly tedious experience. For example, I behave differently now when I pick up something like a piece of produce. Where before I would look the produce over for bruises or rot only, these days I look for the sticker that tells me where this piece of produce originated. If a tomato had to travel thousands of miles to get to my supermarket, I’m probably not going to be buying tomatoes that week.
When I’m buying packaged food, yes, I’m still looking at the nutrition information but I’m also looking to see if the package itself is made of recycled materials. And speaking of packaging, these days I try to avoid anything that comes in a plastic clamshell, because I know that all sorts of evil toxins were used to create that clear-plastic packaging.
Even though my husband might argue otherwise, turns out my sensitivity to products and their packaging isn’t so odd after all. According to a recent survey, written up in Progressive Grocer, half of all American consumers consider “at least one sustainability factor when selecting brands to buy or stores to shop.”
I’m sure Wal-Mart’s big green push has helped raise its profile in sustainable shoppers’ minds. (Check out this Lazy Environmentalist’s report on Wal-Mart’s green efforts.) And while it’s the right thing for Wal-Mart to try to become more eco-friendly, I’m not going to be greenwashed into believing that it’s the only reason the company has made this change. Face it–it’s amazing marketing.
When you can tap into what’s important in consumers’ minds, there’s no doubt you’re going to reap the benefits. No wonder Chrysler is counting on its $2.99 a gallon gas promotion that it launched two weeks ago to drive people into their showrooms. People are freaked about paying $4 a gallon for gas, so the idea that they can get a deal on gas–even if it means buying a new car–has hit a nerve.
But enough about Wal-Mart and Chrysler. Here are some more highlights from that survey:
* Eco-friendly products and packaging are important.
This is exactly what I’d just mentioned above with my own shopping habits. This survey shows that these two notions affect how 30 percent of those surveyed shop.
* Fair-trade practices are fair game for shopping decisions.
For one out of four folks, fair trade ranks right up there with a product or company being labeled “organic” and “eco-friendly.”
* Organic is worth looking for.
Forty percent of shoppers said that they make the effort to seek out organic products. I know that when faced with similarly priced produce–one being “regular” and the other organic–I’ll go with the organic one every time now. A year ago? I might not have made the same decision.
How has your awareness of products and companies–and their connections with organic, sustainability, fair trade and eco-friendliness–changed how you shop? Are you frequenting stores or choosing certain products that you hadn’t in the past? I’d love to hear about it.
1 Comment
June 4, 2008 at 5:30 am
he major cause of the continued deterioration of the global environment is the unsustainable patterns of consumption and production, particularly in the industrialized countries.