Consuming so that "Climate Counts"

This week I did some light grocery shopping. As I am working on making sustainability a part of all of my purchases, rather than picking up the cheaper, generic brand of milk, I bought Stonyfield Farms Organic milk.  I was in an agricultural ethics class last year and we had a speaker that told us all of the reasons that we should be vegan, and to not consume milk or cheese products at all.  I'll admit that he had a fairly convincing, although over the top argument, but I have tried being vegan, and it is tough; a whole lifestyle change.  So I limit my consumption.

In any case, I didn't know how a company could go about making organic milk, so I read the carton and their website to learn a little more about their company.  The milk that they sell is from cattle fed without pesticides and without creating a stressful atmosphere for their animals.  The milk is also made without added hormones.

Reading the carton, I also learned about a site that the owners of Stonyfield Farms created called ClimateCounts.org.  Through this site, they have developed a rating system for the sustainability of companies, specifically geared toward consumers.  You can go to this site and look up different sectors and industries and see which companies they have rated on a scale of 1 to 100 as working toward sustainability.  They rated the companies based on a list of 22 criteria to determine whether they have measured their footprint, reduced their impact on global warming, and a few other factors that they decided are determinants of a company's sustainability.

There are many databases like this one, so I suggest picking one, and using it.  There is a book called Big Green Purse.  This book is catered to consumers and how each of us can use our spending power to change the sustainability of products and companies.  The website is also very helpful, if you would like to be more sustainable, and not go buy the book.  The book goes into great detail to go over the best and worst of sustainability in consumption.

If you know of other resources, I would love to hear them and keep a database of databases for my and your future use.

Green Consumer Tip of the Day:  Read labels before you make purchases.  Through greenwashing, many companies are giving the look that they are 'green' because they know that many consumers are looking for 'green' products.  These companies are not changing their companies from the bottom line, but are rather just giving their products a green hue.  Do research before making big and small purchases.