Responsible Consumerism

By choosing to spend your dollars to buy a certain product, your money essentially goes to support the actions of that company. If you knew what your monetary funding was supporting in these companies, would it change where you chose to spend your money? It is relatively easy to find out what these companies are doing for the good of the world. By just simply going to the company’s website, they are broadly advertising their corporate social responsibility reports. But a lot of actions that would be bad press for these multinational corporations are kept quiet. So where do you go to find out what is typically falling below the radar of mass media? Where do you find out what harmful things these companies are doing to the environment, how they mistreat their employees, and what unapproved substances are being put into their products. The information on the next following slides does not discuss positive actions of these companies, that information is, as previously stated, easily findable. This document, however, aims to help you realize that there are plenty of things that companies are doing that don’t always get widespread media attention, and provide you with a start to doing your own research to become a more responsible consumer. So enjoy, read, learn and continue the responsible initiative into the future.

Maker of: Coke, Dasani, Diet Coke, Fresca, Fanta, Far Coast, Five Alive, Fruitopia, Full Throttle, Hi-C, Mello Yello, Minutemaid, Nestea, Powerade, Sprite, TaB energy, Vault & Vitaman Water The Coca-Cola Company Mission: •To refresh the world in body, mind and spirit. •To inspire moments of optimism through our brands and our actions. •To create value and make a difference everywhere we engage.

Water Resources in India Coca –Cola has been all over the news for the past decade as the over-use of water resources at various of its bottling plant locations has slowly been uncovered to the rest of the world. Protests from Indian citizens against the opening of new bottling plants has recently geared more media attention, causing Coca—Cola to begin to feel “responsible” and “make recourse” in response to their mistakes. Coca-Cola’s statement about the issue: “We share a commitment to water stewardship in all communities where we do business. We agree that it makes no sense to then drain the community of water -- the most important resource we need to produce our products -and we do not run our business that way in any country, including India.”

Put A Face to the Name Muhtar Kent President and CEO

Past Work Experience: -general manager of Coca-Cola Turkey and Central Asia -vice president of Coca-Cola International -managing director of Coca-Cola AmatilEurope -president and CEO of the Efes Beverage Group, the majority shareholder of Turkish bottler Coca-Cola Icecek Mr. Kent’s career roots have been engrained in the Coca-Cola business since his start. What do you think he prioritizes – environmental and social impacts his company has on the world or the bonus he gets from its stock price?

Treatment towards shareholders In 2008, investors claimed that Coca-Cola had failed to release material information on their financial statements which in the end harmed investors. In response, Coca-Cola agreed to an out-of-court settlement without admitting any wrongdoing. A similar situation also occurred in 2005 when investors were misled by year-end financial statement numbers due to CocaCola’s end-of-period practices (sale of excess beverage concentrate to bottlers in Japan). Apparently Coca-Cola has nobody’s (neither consumer nor investor) best interests in mind.

India Resource Center’s April 2008 update: “The Coca-Cola company has responded to the growing opposition against it in India through a variety of "corporate social responsibility" initiatives, although the vast majority do not deal directly with the plants being opposed themselves. One of Coca-Cola's often touted initiatives in India is rainwater harvesting, which the company has announced with much fanfare... The communities' assertion that such initiatives were just for show and not genuine were confirmed by the report by TERI, which noted that "all the recharge shafts that were randomly visited were found to be in dilapidated conditions."

Employee Treatment “We are dedicated to fostering a positive and healthy work environment for our people and the people we partner with across our entire value cycle.” Apparently, Coke forgot to disclose the part about how this doesn’t seem to apply to workers wanting to set up Unions. KillerCoke is an organization that fights to spread the word about murders, kidnappings and torture of union leaders of Coca-Cola bottling plants in Columbia. Visit their website at http://www.killercoke.org/ for stories.

Discover more about the Coca-Cola Company business actions: - Involvement with Child Labour :http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=11379 -Business Ethics : http://www.polarisinstitute.org/australia_coca_cola_attacked_over_jamboree_sponsorship

Maker of: Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Mountain

Dew, Aquafina, Lay’s, Frito-Lays, Tostitos, Gatorade, Propel, Tropicana Pure Premium juices, Dole juices, Quaker Oats, Aunt Jemima PepsiCo’s mission is “To be the world’s premier consumer products company focused on convenient foods and beverages. We seek to produce healthy financial rewrds to investors as we provide opportunities for growth and enrichment to our employee’s, our business partners and the communities in which we operate. And in everything we do, we strive for honesty, fairness, and integrity” Healthy food alternatives PepsiCo recently created the “Smart Spot Program”, a green circle stamp that connotes a healthier food selection. This program was instituted in order to help people make healthier lifestyle choices. However, no third party audit system exists for this program. In essence, PepsiCo can decide to label any of their food or beverage products “healthier” without accreditation. PepsiCo has even linked to endorsing individuals, such as Elizabeth Whelan from the American Council on Science and Health, that are supposedly a third party and independent review, which in fact back their products. For example, Whelman published a review that downplayed the link between high fat content and heart disease while receiving from PepsiCo and other firms.

The Woman Who Runs it All Indra K. Nooyi Chairman and CEO

Indra K. Nooyi became CEO of Pepsico in October 2006. Prior to this position, Indra was Pepsico’s President and CFO. She has also help many VP positions within Pepsico Her other previous work experience includes: -Senior VP of Strategy, Planning and Marketing for Asea Brown Boveri Inc. (a power and automated technologies company) --VP and Director of Corporate Strategy and Planning at Motorola So judge for yourself. With all Ms Nooyi’s senior position experience in big corporations, which do you think she puts first: corporate or social interests?

Nutrition Education Programs PepsiCo is famous for their involvement with nutritional education curriculums, such as Balance First, Get Active Stay Active, Get Kids in Action, SMART, and America on the Move. However, despite these activities, PepsiCo’s purpose like any corporation is to generate revenue from their products, which happens to be largely unhealthy food and drinks. Additionally, PepsiCo denies any marketing scheme towards children, yet they continue to market these programs to kids to school, along with the Pepsi slogan.

Potential toxins in PepsiCo’s products? In 2006, researchers discovered that PepsiCo’s beverage, Pepsi Twist, contains ascorbic acid and potassium benzoate, which can lead to the production of the carcinogenic chemical benzene when exposed to heat and light. In short, benzene has been linked to cancer. PepsiCo was even sued by health conscious citizens concerning the amount of toxins in this beverage. PepsiCo has yet to make a public statement.

Maker of: Chips Ahoy!, Cool Whip, Crystal Light, Delissio, Jell-O, Kool-Aid, Kraft Dinner (Mac n’ Cheese), Maxwell House, Oreo, Oscar Mayer, Philadelphia Cream Cheese, Ritz, Shake n’ Bake, Tang, Triscuit, Wheat Thins and much more... Up until April 2, 2007, Altria Group Inc. (formerly known as Philip Morris) owned 88.9% of Kraft Foods. Although Kraft Foods has been recently endured a stock spin-off, offering Altria’s shares of the company to be publicly traded, Altria’s Kraft Foods shares were offered to its own shareholders. Sounds like a lot of legal title changes but no change of ownership. The Multinational Monitor named Altria as one of the 10 Worst Corporations of 2006, mostly due to the issued ruling of the case United States v. Philip Morris, that found Philip Morris knowingly misleading the public about the adverse health affects and addictive nature of cigarettes and nicotine. In addition, Judge Judith Kesller also said that the company "marketed and sold their lethal product with zeal, with deception, with a single-minded focus on their financial success, and without regard for the human tragedy or social costs that success exacted.”

“Krafted: Genetically Krafted Foods” is a national campaign urging citizens to “let Kraft know we don't want to be part of their experiment on the health of the American public.” Kraft is known to be using many GMOs in their products, most famously known for using StarLink corn (a variety that was not approved for human consumption), in which millions of taco shells were recalled. Watch their campaign video at: http://www.thecampaign.org/kraft/

Kraft claims to value sustainability: “Sustainability is about preserving the planet -- land, air, water and people... Kraft is finding ways to have positive impacts on the world we live in.” BUT Kraft has violated America’s Clean Air Act of 1970 twice. The EPA stated in 2006 that Kraft Foods Global failed to adequately repair a leak of ozone-depleting substances from an industrial process refrigeration unit and failed to conduct leak repair tests or keep required service records for repairs of some units. Kraft Foods was also fined $250,000 in 1993 for releasing airborne contaminants into the atmosphere. Apparently, clean air is not really viewed as a component of sustainability according to Kraft.

But what is Philip Morris? Philip Morris Companies, is the world’s largest is the world's largest tobacco company, owning half the US tobacco market. The company name was changed to Altria Group Inc. In 2003. This change is often viewed as a move by Altria to minimize the company’s historical association with tobacco products.

The Woman Who Runs it All Irene Rosenfeld Chairman and CEO

An employee of Kraft Foods for more than twenty years, Irene was appointed CEO in June 2006. Before this position, Irene held the positions of Chairman and CEO of Frito-Lay, a division of PepsiCo. Most of Irene’s career has been in the food and beverage industry.

Related Brands: Starbucks Coffee, Seattle’s Best, Torrefazione Italia coffee

Fair Trade Offerings Starbucks does sell Fair Trade Certified coffee and as of 2006 claimed to be North America’s largest purchaser of Fair Trade CertifiedTM coffee. However, this does NOT mean that Starbucks only sells Fair Trade coffee. Starbucks did announce its new initiative to double its purchases to 40 million pounds of Fair Trade Certified coffee in 2009, however this is still only a very small percentage of their total coffee (about less than 10%). Starbucks rarely offers certified Fair Trade coffee as its coffee of the day, no does it always follow its own policy of brewing Fair Trade coffee on demand. So although Starbucks offers a Fair Trade option, does the company seem to be supporting the Fair Trade initiative as a corporate endeavour or as a marketing ploy?

Union-Busting but Still a Fortune “Best Company to Work For?” According to their company website, “Starbucks Coffee Company is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer.” Listed as one of Fortune’s 100 Best Companies To Work For 2008 mostly due its employee benefits and 100% health care coverage, even for part-time employees. But it Starbucks is so good to its workers, why is it facing union-busting charges by the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)? And why the need for a union in the first place? Well according to Daniel Gross who is a lead organizer for an IWW Starbucks campaign, and previous Starbucks barista, “The company boasts about its health care plan but its own data reveal that it insures a lower percentage of employees than Wal-Mart. Baristas are excluded from care by a combination of a work hours qualification threshold and unaffordable out-of-pocket expenses.” The National Labor Relations Board investigated the IWW’s charges and discovered that the company fired three pro-union employees, filed unfair negative performance reviews against other pro-union employees and unfairly banned workers from wearing multiple union pins. The hearings were set to begin in August 2007. The IWW focus is towards putting pressure on companies like Starbucks by taking on their public image, picketing stores, and organizing Internet campaigns. However Gross and others at the IWW fear that winning this case will still not render the brand undrinkable to consumers in stating that “The unfortunate truth is that the general consumer doesn't base his/her brand loyalty on issues like employee coercion.”

Putting Up a Fight Against Bean Name Ownership In backing its support of the Fair Trade coffee industry, Starbucks claims to be committed to paying equitable prices for all of our coffee.” However, in 2006, Oxfam claims that Starbucks asked the National Coffee Association(NCA) to block Ethiopia’s bid to trademark two types of coffee bean in the U.S. Ethiopia’s efforts to trademark these beans would have given farmers a greater share of profits. Ethiopia continues its to trademark efforts through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, yet Starbucks other members of the NCA have continued to file protests arguing the names of the coffee beans are generic.

Keep track of Starbucks’ Fair Trade efforts at: http://www.organicconsumers.org/starbucks/index.cfm

Do You Know the Coffee Man? Howard Schultz Chairman and CEO

Fun Facts about Schultz: •Ranked by Forbes as the 354th richest person in the United States, with a net worth of $1.1 billion dollars. •Former owner of the NBA Seattle SuperSonics and WNBA Super Storm •Co-founder of Maveron, and investment group As stated in his co-authored book Pour Your Heart into It Schultz admits one of his fears: "Starbucks may become another souless big chain.” Has this come true?

Sustainable coffee eh? According to Tim Hortons, the firm focuses on promoting their Sustainable Coffee program by providing financial aid to coffee producing communities which supports technical training to improve the quantity and quality of the coffee and the coffee farmers. Since 2006, Tim Horton’s sustainable coffee programs have supported more than 9000 people. BUT…Tim Horton’s does not sell organic or Fair Trade certified coffee, and it does not reveal the source of the coffee beans. Instead, Tim Horton’s chose to pursue their Sustainable Coffee Partnership, which is managed by the third party organization EDE Consulting from Hamburg, Germany. Sustainable coffee sites are located in Guatemala, Columbia, and Brazil. However, Tim Horton’s does not reveal how much of their coffee comes from these sources. In fact, their annual report states that they use “many suppliers and alternate suppliers for coffee.”

What’s War Got To Do With It? Opened in June 2006, Tim Hortons’ franchised location at the Canadian Forces operations base in Kandahar, Afghanistan is supposed to give the troops a little taste of home. The franchise is 40 foot trailer on the military base and has a staff of 41. All staff have been drawn from the Canadian Forces Personnel Support Agency so they have been trained on what do in in the event of a nuclear or biological attack on the military base. And oh yeah, the Canadian Federal government subsidizes the Kandahar outlet for $4-5 million a year.

Tim Horton’s Children Foundation Established in 1974, this foundation supports underprivileged children to attend and experience summer camps throughout Canada and the US. This highly advertised program is listed as the first corporate social responsibility act (even above Sustainable Coffee) under the Community and Goodwill section of their website. While this program does support more than 13000 children each year, it is essential to ask how far Tim Horton’s would go to continue and support this foundation if it experienced a negative setback, such as a significant loss in profits. Would they financially support it despite hard times? Or would it be shelved the moment Tim Horton’s started to cut things from their financial statement? How can this foundation serve the organization’s corporate social responsibility plan when the longevity of the program is in question?

Check out more about Tim Hortons at http://www.coffeehabitat.com/2007/12/tim-hortons-cof.html

As a Montreal consumer, Van Houtte is your coffee shop that was originally started in your city. Today, Van Houtte operates North America wide, through its various cafe locations and at home and work products and services. Van Houtte offers five fair trade certified and organic coffees. Fair trade certified and organic coffees, however, do not make up the majority of the 35 coffees offered by Van Houtte. Van Houtte’s biggest downfall: Styrofoam Cups. Most commonly known by its name Styrofoam (trademarked to the Dow Compnay), the material that makes up Styrofoam is called polystyrene. Polystyrene is manufactured from petroleum, using benzene (a known human carcinogen) in its production and is a highly flammable material. Montreal’s recycling system does not recycle Styrofoam. Therefore all Styrofoam products are disposed of through the garbage system, end up in a landfill and take an incredibly long time to break down in the environment. Paper coffee cups also cannot be recycled due to the wax coating on them. So what’s the solution? Bring your own travel mug!

What about the coffee? Second Cup partnered with Plan Canada to support underprivileged children living on coffee farms, through the sales its bottled water. $.10 of every bottle is sent to this organization, and to date Second Cup has donated over $1 million to support children and their communities But what about the coffee? Second Cup’s primary manufactured good is coffee, yet the firm is ignoring any Fair Trade certified options for their beans. Instead, they are promoting their expensive bottled water rather than address the coffee issue at hand. While Second Cup’s attempt to financially support these children is worthy to mention, the coffee bean and it’s source should be the primary consideration and focus of this organization.

Unions, They’re Lovin’ It? “We respect the right of employees to associate or not to associate with any group, as permitted by, and in accordance with, applicable laws and regulations.” This is what McDonalds claims anyways. In 1997, however, when 1997 workers at a McDonald’s restaurant in St. Hubert, a suburb of Montreal, applied to join Teamsters union, the operators of the restaurant closed the McDonald’s. The closure happened just weeks before the union was certified. Owners defended the closure, claiming the restaurant was a money-loser although it had been there for 17 years. And the McDonald’s Corporation denied that it had anything to do with the decision like any multi-national corporation would do. The Heart if the McDonalds Corporation... Well It Claims to Have a Heart, But It Might Just cause Heart Disease. McDonalds claims that, “The business of McDonald's is serving food, but the heart of McDonald's is supporting children. This commitment is realized, in large part, through our company's support of Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC).” RMHC provide housing (and McDonalds meals) for seriously ill children and their families by “creating, finding and supporting programs that directly improve the health and well being of children worldwide.” Apparently it doesn’t seem to be an issue that McDonalds is a significant player in the rising obesity rates around the world, and the numbers of children needing medical treatment due to obesity is continuously increasing. Although RMHC is a separate not-for-profit organization from the McDonalds Corporation (and it makes it clear by stating “McDonald's is not responsible for the opinions, policies, statements or practices of any other companies, such as those that may be expressed in the web site you are entering,” when being rerouted to the RMHC website from the McDonalds website), McDonalds likes to take a lot of credit for its support of RMHC in its Corporate Responsibility claims. It also, apparently, doesn’t seem to a contradictory issue that as the RMHC helps to cover the expensive costs endured by families of children continuously in and out of hospitals, McDonalds makes sure to be selling its greasy food in many hospitals throughout the U.S. The Texas Children's Hospital a hospital that is now stapling obese children's stomachs- has a McDonalds franchise in it. Even when the Cleveland Clinic wanted to rid America's leading heart hospital of its McDonald's, a letter was received from a McDonald's corporate vice-president, Marty Ranft, which "defended the franchise, and vowed ... that 'McDonald's has no intention of terminating' the remaining 10 years on its lease“. But Ronald McDonald, a genuine representative of the consumers? Willard Scott was the first Ronald McDonalds but apparently he was too fat for the job. Ray Kroc, the initial “brains” behind the McDonalds franchising, was afraid of negative publicity the company would get if Ronald looked as though he’d been eating too much of the restaurant’s food. Therefore, to this day you'll never see Ronald McDonald eating the food in any ad or commercial.

And On the Environment. McDonalds states that its environmental focus has three directions: Energy efficiency, Sustainable Packaging & Waste Management , and Green Restaurant Design. BUT let’s look at its impact on the environment: -Greenpeace launched a campaign against McDonald's, accusing the US restaurant chain of abetting the destruction of the Brazilian rainforest by buying meat raised from Amazonian soya - and more generally, McDonalds annually produces over a million tons of packaging, used for just a few minutes before being discarded.

Read more about the McDonalds Corporation and the Fast Food industry in Eric Schlosser’s National Bestseller, Fast Food Nation

Maker of: KitKat, Aero, Coffee Crisp,

Nestea, Nescafe, Haagen-Dazs, Stouffers, Nesquik, Carnation, Purina, Hot Pockets, Poland Spring, Lean Cuisine, Perrier, San Pellegrino Corporate ownership: Nestle holds ownership of 77% of Alcon (a global medical company specializing in eye care products) and 30% of L’Oreal and is a joint owner (with L’Oreal of Galderma, a Swiss pharmaceutical company.

Carnation Milk Exposed: In the 1970s, Nestle distributed a breast milk substitute throughout African villages, promoting the nutritional benefits of this substitute. Men and women even dressed up in white suits and dresses to resemble doctors and nurses and hand out the substitute. However, the milk is expensive, therefore most mothers had to dilute it with polluted water, which indirectly caused the death of thousands of babies. Nestle left in the 1980s when this story was exposed to the rest of the world, yet Nestle returned to Asia in the 1990’s and still continue to promote the breast milk substitute in a similar fashion. Nestle controls about 40% of the world market in baby milks, and uses this influence to undermine controls on ethical marketing activities. Although Nestle adopted the International Code of Marketing Breastmilk Substitutes in 1981, the corporation has still been warned on several occasions by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) to not promote and advertise their milk substitute as they did in Africa.

The Head of It All Appointed CEO in April 2008, Mr. Bulcke has been engrained in the Nestle company since 1979. He has worked as Marketing Head of Nestle divisions in Germany, Czech Republic, Portugal and Paul Bulcke, CEO Peru. His plan as CEO: The 2009 opening of the Chocolate Centre of Excellence, dedicated to the development of premium and luxury chocolate. Sounds like he really has a handle on this “nutrition” focused company.

Academic justification? In the 1980s, Nestle announced to the media that their infant formula could reduce a baby’s risk of developing allergies. Dr. Ranjit Chandra, a supposed third party inspection, supported these claims of Good Start. However, Nestle paid Dr. Chandra to publish these findings. In fact, Dr. Chandra’s work came under extreme scrutiny when the public learned that this study about Good Start was never even conducted. While this study was discredited, Dr. Chandra “research” has continued to be used by Nestle to promote and market other product.

Misuesed Labelling: In 2006, Dr. Lelia Srour went to Laos and discovered another source for Nestle’s criminal incompetence. While there, she came across a dying mother who had 8 children, and found a Nestle product in the woman’s house labeled with the familiar cartoon bear. The relatives of the woman told Dr. Srour that they were certain that this item was intended for babies because of this logo. However, the bottle was in fact a “sweetened beverage creamer”. This substance is harmful for any infant, and could even lead to brain damage and death. In an area of the world where illiteracy is common, most people recognize products due to their brands and labels. Nestle ignores this truth and markets the product using identical packaging. Although Nestle has not declared any public statement about this issue, the corporation is obviously negligent of their marketing tactics once again, and recklessly disregards infant’s health.

And this isn’t the end. Discover why Nestle is one of the most boycotted corporations ever and visit: http://www.polarisinstitute.org/files/Nestle%20October%20update.pdf

Maker of: Almond Joy, Heath toffee bar,

Hershey Kisses, Milk Duds, Mounds, Mr. Goodbar, Oh! Henry, Reese’s, Whoppers, York Peppermint Pattie, Jolly Rancher, Twizzlers, Bubble Yum, Icebreakers, Skor Quick cocoa industry facts: •Ivory coast of Africa produces about half of the world’s cocoa •About 286,000 children between nine and twelve years of age have been reported to work on cocoa farms •These children are at a high risk of injury from machetes and of contact to dangerous pesticides. •They work about 80 to 100 hours a week making an insignificant salary, and normally beaten on the premise. •About 12,000 of those children are most likely to have arrived on the farms through child trafficking. •In 2001, major chocolate corporations agreed to work together to end child labor in West African farms. BUT in 2004 this promise to end child labour was modified to reduce child labor by 50% by 2008. Hershey’s and M&M’s/Mars dominate this $13 billion dollar industry. The corporations continue to deny any responsibility with these conditions of the cocoa farms, and blame it on the farmer’s families for permitting their children to work. They express that the only thing that they can control is a fair price, and that any injustice is out of their control. However, companies such as Clif Bar, Cloud Line, and Newman’s own Organic have found the way to stop the supply of their cocoa beans from farms using child labor. It can be done; it must be stopped now. We all have the right to know: In the early 2000s, many religious groups have demanded Hershey to actively participate in ending child labor in the cocoa industry. The cocoa industry has been exposed on several accounts of using illegal child labor to harvest the world’s cocoa. Hershey responded to their outcry saying that they, along with other chocolate companies, are responding to end child labor in the cocoa farms. The firm stated that it was planning to integrate an industry-wide monitoring system, and that all farms would be reviewed by Hershey. However, in 2006, Hershey’s shareholder’s requested that Hershey report on all of the cocoa supply sources because they had yet to announce and prove that in fact all beans were Fair Trade certified and that no child labor harvested the beans.

Read this statement found on Hershey’s website: “Hershey’s folding cartons are primarily made of 100% recycled materials.” Read it again. Do you see anything a little peculiar? Are the folding cartons made of 100% recycled materials? Or is it only primarily? What does this even mean? Jobs moving to Mexico: In 2007, Hershey announced that about 3000 of the total 13000 Hershey jobs in Oakdale, CA and Hershey, PA will move to Mexico. Mexico’s reasoning behind this corporate downsizing is due to the fact the organization will save $190 million annually. While Hershey provided financial stability for hundreds of families, thousands of Americans will now be in the search for a new job.

Practically everyone is jumping on the bandwagon and producing bottled water products. From Donald Trump to major corporations such as Cocoa-Cola, bottled water is certainly a profitable product. There are little costs involved, since water is a natural resource that falls from the sky without a price. The only major cost of production that a company would face would be bottling and marketing expenses. However, bottled water is far from being a smart purchase: •Most bottling production companies, like Fiji, PepsiCo and Cocoa-Cola, are attacked by special interests groups for pumping water from areas that suffer from droughts, or that lack enough water to support the land and the community living there. •86% of empty plastic water bottles in the US are thrown away instead of being recycled. •Bottled water is essentially a natural resource bottled in a non renewable resource (plastic bottles) •Most producers of bottled water use municipal tap water •Bottled water safety testing regulations are far below those than municipal tap water Fiji Water: Fiji Water has made remarkable strives in its industry to become carbon negative, to reduce its packaging and other objectives. However, Fiji water is also just tap water, that is pumped from the island of Fiji which frequently suffers from droughts and is continuously burning fuel to be shipped across the world for water aficionados. Fiji claims to be a sustainable organization, but do the above points sound sustainable?

Aquafina : Aquafina labels “Public Water Source” on its bottle to site the origin of its water. Translation = pure tap water

Dasani : Dasani bottlers fill bottles with municipal tap water that has been filtered through reverse osmosis to remove all minerals and then simply add a packet of a mineral blend sold to them by Coca-Cola.

Nestle : In 2007, Nestle announced that will build a new water bottling facility in Greenwood Indiana, where the municipal water system is owned by the Indiana American Water company. This company delivers to almost 272,000 customers throughout 21 counties in Indiana. However, these individual customers now must compete with the giant Nestle for their water. Nestle, with revenues of more than $80 billion dollars in 2006, can buy the water at a reduced rate than everyone else and then can sell it at thousands of times the price.

Americans spent about $11 billion on bottled water in 2006. But why spend $1.50-2.50 on a bottle of water when you could get the same water from the tap for free? The funny thing is, people are hesitant to fill their cars up with gas at prices at $1 per litre but have no problem spending up to $2.50 for 500 mL of water. And if your purchase is just for the convenience factor, remember your action is not justified by recycling. According to Earth911.com, “8 out of 10 plastic water bottles become landfill waste.” So what can you do? Drink tap water! Learn more about the benefits of drinking water and who’s involved with the tap water movement at: http://www.takebackthetap.org AND http://www.insidethebottle.org

In 1989, a poll conducted by Business Week and Louis Harris asked 1247 adult Americans what kind of activities they thought business would risk in order to increase their profits. Between 37% ad 62% of respondents said business would do one or more of the following: harm the environment, endanger public health, sell unsafe products, knowingly sell inferior products, deliberately charge inflated prices, or put its worker’s health safety at risk. Only 8% of respondents thought that business would do none of the above to obtain greater profits. In other words, nine out of ten Americans believe that business will lie, deceive harm endanger, or cheat in order to make more money.

Are you one of them?

The above quote was taken from the book Ecology of Commerce by Paul Hawken

Resources for a Responsible Consumer: Responsible Shopper: www.responsibleshopper.org “Your Guide to Promoting a Responsible Economy” What we think: A division of Co-op America, this site allows you to research numerous corporations to learn about their policies and practices. Articles are frequently published that expose different corporations and their various, both ethical and unethical, activities. You can join different campaigns to end corporate abuse, and also learn about how to curve your shopping habits to be greener. Bottom line: This is a great website if you are interested in pursuing your own research on different corporations. To learn more: Download “Co-Op America’s Guide to Researching Corporations” (http://www.coopamerica.org/PDF/GuideResearchingCorps.pdf). It provides you with step by step instructions on how to begin your own research journey, and also supplies you with tons of extra resources. Enjoy! Business and Human Rights Centre Resource: www.business-humanrights.org “Tracking the positive and negative impacts of over 4000 companies worldwide” What we think: This impressive site follows, as the slogan proclaims, more than 4000 different corporations in over 180 different countries. Not only is the material published from within this organization, but when you search a specific firm you are also presented with recent articles from a variety of sources, thereby attempting to diminish potential biases. While the amount of information may be a little overwhelming, it is a great site to use to continuously follow and investigate corporations. Bottom line: Use this website and take a corporation you are interested in to follow its impact around the world. You will be surprised. Corporate Critic: www.corporatecritic.org “Ethical Consumer Information Systems” If you really want to expand your knowledge about different corporations, check out this website. As it states on its website, Corporate Critic records and tracks over 50,000 companies using civil society data as their primary source of data. However, you need to subscribe to the site and it is a little expensive. Bottom line: Suppress your cheap inclinations and subscribe. It’s totally worth it. Social Accountability International: www.sa-intl.org “Promoting the human rights of workers around the world” What we think: SAI, founded in 1997, promotes human rights around the world through their Social Accountability 8000 Standard, (SA8000) which is a voluntary system and tool that is used to assure and verify humane workplaces around the world. SAI works with corporations such as Gap, consumer groups, NGOs, and governments to audit and verify that human work’s rights are not being violated. In short, this is a great site if you are interested in learning more about the support of human rights in the world. Bottom line: Great website to learn about human rights. Alonovo Intelligent Marketplace: www.alonovo.com What we think: This is your personal online shopping center that allows you to buy products and see what kind of corporate behaviour you are endorsing. Not only does this site provide you with links to resources about responsible consumerism, the environment, ethics and more, but it also features companies in different industries, such as clothing or technology, which can help you to purchase the “greener” choice. Bottom line: We should all shop here. The Center for Media and Democracy: www.prwatch.org What we think: This site is dedicated to exposing corporate and government disinformation. It allows you to easily search by topic or corporation. While mostly focusing on negative initiatives by of corporations, the site also includes search results of good initiatives by corporations. The site has a wiki-like appearance allowing users to easily jump to related topics for further information.

Carbon Footprint: How big is your ecological footprint? www.myfootprint.org What we think: Who doesn’t want to know the size of your own ecological footprint? When you begin the quiz, it first presents you with several facts and statistics on a global scale, but then leads you to determine your own footprint. While the questions are a bit complex, most offer links that explain the question in more detail and helps you to learn more about the specific topic. After completing 27 questions, you can learn if you need to reduce or (hopefully) maintain your footprint. Bottom line: We should all know our carbon footprint, and how we personally affect the world. To learn more about the carbon footprint, check out: www.redefiningprogress.org. After completing the quiz and discovering your footprint, check out this website and learn about Redefining Progress, a prominent think tank committed to use economics to create a more sustainable world. Every year since its conception, Redefining Progress has been at the forefront of implementing and promoting sustainable policy and action.

What is Fair Trade? The World Fair Trade Organization (name recently changed) www.ifat.org What we think: This site also provides you with extensive resources about what is fair trade and links to other readings about fair trade. It also provides an in-depth investigation in different regions of the world, especially Africa, Asia, and Latin America, and how fair trade affects those areas. Bottom line: Go to this website to really understand what fair trade means, and what products are truly fairly traded. To obtain the most recent list of fairly traded products, visit Fair Trade Certified at www.transfairusa.org What we think: This is a website everyone should be familiar with. It tells you different types of products that are fair trade certified from a variety of stores and restaurants. From Ben and Jerry’s, to Costco, to Subway…fair trade certified products are all around and most of us do not even know it. The site also lists the criteria for a product to be considered as free trade certified, so you know exactly how the organization grades a given product. Bottom line: Honestly, check it out and you will most certainly be amazed.

Your dollar supports whom? SourceWatch: www.sourcewatch.org “Your guide to the names behind the news” What we think: This website is definitely an eye opener. Not only does it expose different PR professionals and firms actions into today’s media, it also examines think tanks, special interest groups, lobby groups and more. Learn about the history of Fox news to Wal-Mart to John Kerry. With almost 40,000 articles, spend some time here and you won’t leave the same. Bottom line: SourceWatch does emphasize its policy of “strict referencing” unlike most Wikis, so we are pretty sure that this site (although a bit to the left) is credible. Enjoy! We sure did. Open Secrets: www.opensecrets.org “Center for Responsive Politics” What we think: Although the presidential elections were almost two weeks ago, this is still a great site to check out and learn how your money affects the elections and public policy. You can see the breakdown of finances from all of the presidential candidates, from their source of funds to their travel expenses. Furthermore, this site also helps you understand how money affects the government through special interests groups and industries. Bottom line: Impress your friends with this knowledge. We are sure that most people don’t truly understand the effects of money on the government.

Organic food International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM): www.ifoam.org “Celebrating 35 years of uniting the organic movement” What we think: This is a great site to learn about the basics of being organic. You can learn how the federation’s Organic Guarantee System (OGC) facilitates organic standardization as well as provides certification for these standards. There are more than 750 members of IFOAM around the world, and they have a complete listing available for your viewing pleasure. Bottom line: Check out this website if you are ready to learn about all of the details about the fundamentals of being organic. To learn more: download “Principles of Organic Agriculture Preamble” (http://www.ifoam.org/organic_facts/principles/pdfs/IFOAM_FS_Principles_forWebsite.pdf) to learn what it really means to be organic. Organic.org: www.organic.org “Organic made easy. Life made better.” What we think: For the less intensive investigator, we suggest checking out this website. This site breaks down the fundamentals of organic food. Learn about different myths of eating organic, and why we should all be eating organically. There is also an interactive map of the states that helps you to find farmer’s markets and stores that carry organic products. Additionally, this site provides you with product reviews for hundreds of different items. Bottom line: Learn from this website, stop making excuses and start buying organically.

Have some free time on your hands? Then check out these books: The Rough Guide to Shopping with a Conscience by Duncan Clark and Richie Unterberger Toxic Sludge is Good for You: Lies, Damn Lies and the Public Relations Industry by John Stauber and Sheldon Rampton Ecology of Commerce by Paul Hawken The Ethics of What We Eat: Why Our Food Choices Matter by Jim Mason Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser

This document contains information that reflects the opinions of the makers. It is not intended to neutral or unbiased, however it was intended to provoke consumers to ask triggering questions regarding the corporations they support through their spending.