Brand Impressions - Hanes

Recently I bought a package of Hanes T-shirts at my local Target. The tag indicated they were made in Honduras.

I sent an email to Hanes asking about both environmental and human rights issues. I mentioned that their response would go a long way to shaping my impression of their brand. Unfortunately, that was over a week ago and I still haven't heard anything. I also checked their website - no mention of an environmental, human rights, community involvement or any other type of corporate responsibility program or policy. Unfortunately, no information doesn't equal no message.

In the last few years, my buying habits have changed and I've begun taking into consideration:

• where products are manufactured;
• the amount and recycle-ability of packaging;
• my perception of the brand's environmental conscientiousness; and
  
• my perception of the brand's human rights impacts.
  

The last two are almost purely conjecture based on what I see on the product packaging, and my perceptions of what environmental and human rights conditions exist in the country where the item was produced. Relying on my own perceptions leaves plenty of room for incorrect assumptions. I had hoped that brands like Hanes could give me some real information to accurately shape my perspective of the brand. Alas, I'm left to assume the worst about Hanes and their products.

It's a shame, because the shirts are really nice. Guess I'll try Fruit of the Loom next time.

Misconceptions of Cleanliness

I would like to dispel a common misconception about cleanliness which has unnecessary environmental and health impacts. We are inclined to associate the color white with cleanliness. Now, initially that seems fairly innocent. However, this misconception leads to the bleaching of nearly all paper products, from paper plates to toilet paper to diapers. And this otherwise unnecessary bleaching process produces some very harsh chemicals as by-products. Not the least of these is Dioxin, or polychlorinated dibenzodioxins to be exact, which cause birth defects, cancer (you knew that was coming) and other ailments. The worst part about these chemicals is that they build up quickly in the food chain and they aren't naturally metabolized. A large portion of the dioxin produced and released into the environment is used only to satisfy (and perpetuate?) our inaccurate misconception that white = clean.

Many of our activities cause environmental damage. Driving around in my '93 Honda releases all kinds of terrible stuff; but at least I get the clear benefit of fast, convenient travel in exchange. The "benefit" of having our paper stuff artificially colored white doesn't seem worth the environmental impact it creates.

Other misconceptions in a similar vein often lead to inaccurate judgments. For example, deformed/dark/black = evil and beautiful/proportionate = good (reality TV should have dispelled this one). There are others, I imagine.

Anyhow, all that to say maybe part of going green is going brown.

Reusing Disposable Cups

My latest conservation scheme is reusing my to-go coffee cups. It just felt like a shame to throw out these nice, convenient, sturdy cups after only half an hour. It's working out really well, to be honest. I mean, Starbucks makes those cups sturdy enough to be reused. And they really are much more convenient to take on the road. They fit perfectly into cupholders, and you don't have to wash them when you're done, unlike to-go mugs. I hate washing to-go mugs. I never feel like the lids really get clean.

This is one of those all-to-rare cases when the right thing to do environmentally coincides with the most convenient thing. If you don't mind rinsing and reusing paper cups.

FYI, the last post was authored by my brother. I'm actually quite proud of it. You're always welcome Jere.

It's Christmas

- Family Traditions -
Michelle and I give one another a full stocking, rather than a single "big" present, at Christmas. This year we are traveling to Alberta to be with my family, so we've started opening our little gifts early. One of my favorite things about Michelle is how excited she gets about life in general, and presents and holidays and Disneyland specifically. Especially Disneyland and presents. Her excitement is contagious, and as a result I'm really amped.

The best part of my stocking this year is that Michelle made such an effort to be environmentally aware and conscientious about the presents she got me. I have 7 little gifts, and all but one of them was made outside China. Not an easy task. What's more, fully four of them were purchased used! It really means so much to me that she did that. So what was my first little present? A pair of reflective ankle straps (made in France), for keeping my pant legs from getting caught in the chain ring when I bike to work.

- Christmas Reading -
In other news, I'm taking two weeks off this Christmas and really looking forward to lazy days at my parents' place. I always overestimate the amount of reading I'll actually get to do on vacation, and this time will be no different. I'm going to either pick up Treasure Island or The Count of Monte Cristo, in addition to Steiner's Portage. Chances are I won't crack any of them, but you gotta aim high, right?

It occurs to me that I asked for books for Christmas... I'm gonna have some heavy suitcases on the road home.

Shopping with a Conscience

Today I got an email from the International Labor Rights Forum announcing the 2009 Shop with a Conscience Consumer Guide. Check it out, if you like. I also inadvertently found Reverend Billy & The Church of Stop Shopping - quirky and kind of weird website. But I think I agree philosophically. Getting back to the Labor Rights Forum, I think I support the unionization of workers in developing countries. In the US, where labor laws are strictly enforced, I think the benefit is debatable. Actually, I think that there are situations where unionization is a smart choice from the business' perspective, and I think there are a lot of times when it's actually detrimental to workers to unionize. Anyway, in other countries where labor laws aren't as strict, unionization may provide workers with more rights than the government will. However, what are the chances that a government that won't or can't enforce labor laws will protect workers' rights to unionize?

If I sound tentative, it's because I'm not sure I've heard the other side of the argument yet. In other news I sent a number of emails off to various organizations asking them to change this or that bad environmental or social justice practice. Responsible Shopper really is a great resource. One of the first (and only) companies to get back to me was Target. Their policy sounded a little public-relations oriented, but at least they took the time to respond to me. I sent a follow-up email asking for more specifics; we'll see what happens.

I also sent an email to The Lantern asking my standard question about green information - it was actually a slightly modified version of this post. The Green Lantern is a column written by a guy named Jacob on Slate.com, and although my query didn't get answered in his column, he did send me a nice, seemingly personal, note back:

Jared,

Thanks for your question -- it's a good one. Unfortunately, we still don't have much in the way of generalizable environmental info available for consumers. (In places like the UK, they do a far better job of this, although any ratings systems there are pretty nascent.) However, I'll keep your question in mind, and perhaps consider a column about the limited sources of information that are available about companies and products.

Best,
Jacob

Your word of the day is nascent - "just beginning to develop; in the process of emerging, being born, or starting to develop" (from the Encarta Dictionary in Word).

Searching for Green Info - Update

In my original post on this subject (here) I said I was going to send a letter to the editor of the Bellingham Herald. Well, apparently he or she didn't like it much because it hasn't been published yet. I did, however, start a lively discussion in the Herald's new reader forums. You can check it out here. The synopsis is that it's always better to buy used, as Eric commented on my original post.

The more I thought about this issue, the more I considered starting a second blog devoted to documenting the environmental and social justice records of various companies. I even checked into conscientiousconsumer.blogspot.com - which is occupied by another individual who had the same idea, only a year or more ago.

Just a few days ago Eric dropped me another line, which included a link to the Responsible Shopper website. These guys are doing exactly what I envisioned, and more. They include links to sites where you can actually take action on issues, which is awesome. For getting informed and taking action on social justice and environmental issues, Responsible Shopper is the best site I have seen.

Searching for Green Info

Here is my situation: I want to buy a new car, or a bicycle helmet, or a new spatula.

And, I am willing to pay more money if I know that extra money is going to support cleaner industry, safer working conditions in developing countries, and environmental responsibility.

Furthermore, I want to avoid inadvertently supporting businesses, brands, and products that exhibit destructive behavior, especially wealth transferring (making their goods inexpensive by refusing to pay decent wages, harvesting raw materials unethically and refusing to clean up the mess their production processes create).

Here is my problem: I am in the house wares department looking at spatulas, and I can't tell Evil Corp from Good Guy Inc. Do I buy XYZ's spatula or ABC's spatula?

Where can I find a resource which rates companies and brands on their environmental and societal impact?

I have been looking, lest I receive an angry "STFI" in the comments section, for this type of information on the web. Here is what I have found:

gazelle.com - Nifty recycler of electronics
epeat.net - More or less what I wanted, except it's limited to computers
worldchanging.com - Green news media outlet
treehugger.com - Another green news media outlet
green.wikia.com - An environmental wikipedia of sorts

My next step is going to be writing a letter to the editor of the Bellingham Herald, very similar to the above. Maybe I can tap into all the earthy people around here. If it's out there, someone in Bellingham knows where to find it. I'll let you know how it goes.

Some Green Thoughts

Awhile ago I got on a green kick and started keeping track of what I bought, where it was made, etc. I haven't been very good about keeping that up, which I regret. But the main goal was never to keep a log; it was to develop a habit, or maybe to change my way of thinking. Lots of times I feel like I'm trying to swim upstream. Our culture is very powerful.

I had a small but satisfying success today. As I've whined about on this blog before, my laptop is coming unhinged. Well, the power cord finally gave out a few days ago. The battery has been toast for some time, so no power cord, no laptop. No laptop, no internet. Life grinds to a halt. I jest, but there's more truth there than I'd like to admit.

Anyhow, I checked online (ironically enough) and the replacement part was going to be $65; and, not only that, but it would be a whole new part when only one little section of the cord was broken. [Incidentally, that was my goal for tracking my purchases: to have my buying decisions include questions like "how much waste am I creating?" and "who made this and under what conditions?" in addition to "how can I spend as little as possible?". Ultimately, I would like to be asking "how can I get the greatest use while causing the least human and environmental damage?". But I digress.]

After checking on a new part online, I remembered Craigslist. Surely someone has a perfectly good power cord just laying around in there basement. Good idea, but it was more frustrating than fruitful. And I'm up one useless power cord in the process. Finally I checked with Data Doctors, who were really helpful when Michelle was trying to get our "m" key fixed awhile back. They didn't have a used one either, but the owner explained how I could just replace the plug on the power cord. Which I did. And it works, so far. And it cost $3.22.

Wow. I think I might be the most boring guy in the world. I was eventually going to point you toward the RElectronics website, which I learned quite a bit from. To put this all in the context of my blog, for the last few years I've been wrestling with our culture's 'use it up, throw it out' mentality. The Story of Stuff really impacted my thinking on the subject. If you haven't already, you should check it out. And, if you know of other people or books or websites that are responding to this issue in new a different ways, I'd love to hear about them.