Mr. Miyagi's Guide to Ethical Shopping

Over at Planet Green, Matt McDermott describes the approach to green shopping demonstrated by Mr. Miyagi in The Karate Kid:

1. Is it reusable?
2. Is it biodegradable and/or recyclable?
3. If it's none of the above, don't buy it.
4. Can you pronounce the ingredients? If not, stay away.
5. How did it get here? Locally produced is best; after that, ship, train, truck, plane. (Recent studies, though, have shown that the impact of shipping is greater than was thought: More information here.)

Check out Matt's full post for details and commentary.

Give-Away Bench

In the building where I lived, it's the bench by the front door in the lobby. On sabbatical in Cambridge, it was the laundry room. For my aunt and uncle, it's a magazine bin near the building's front door. In my department at work, we've started to circulate books.

In each case, it's a way to pass on stuff you're finished with rather than just throwing it away. Small appliances, children's books and toys, clothes that never fit right. We've passed stuff on, and we've picked stuff up, and it keeps stuff out of the landfill and in circulation.

Call it what you will, it's another way to avoid shopping.

How About a Bamboo Bike?

Craig Calfee, one of the guys who invented carbon fiber bike frames has now moved on to a new material: Bamboo. Grows quickly, and can be processed with minimal use of toxins.

The Guardian reviews one of his racing bikes, here. Or just go straight to his web site and buy yourself a new set of wheels.

(It's true, they cost an awful lot ... for a bike. But how about if you're replacing one of your family cars with a two-wheeled vehicle?)

How Not To Shop

We had a toaster. It broke. I went to P.C. Richard and looked at toasters. They had a $10 toaster a lot like the one we had, that broke down after a year or two, and a $60 toaster that looked a lot nicer, but it was ... $60.

That was months ago. February, maybe. I haven't gotten around to looking for toasters in a price range somewhere between $10 and $60, and in the meantime, I've noticed that I don't really miss the toaster. On the rare occasions when I actually want toasted bread, I can use a fry pan; otherwise, I warm the bread in the microwave for a few seconds and I'm good to go.

Our electric kettle also broke some time last winter. I got around to locating an authorized repair center, which turned out to be way out in Queens someplace, but never got around to driving to Queens to have the thing repaired. Now I boil water on the stove again. Works just fine ... why did I think I needed an electric kettle, again?

What Difference Does It Make?

Why bother? What does one small action do for the planet?

Well, there's the cumulative effect. If, every day, you use your reusable mug to buy a cup of fair trade coffee, rather than buying conventionally grown coffee in a cup that will be thrown away, at the end of the year that's 365 cups that didn't go to the landfill and one farmer who sold ten or so pounds of beans that were farmed using sustainable practices and sold at a price that allowed her to support a family -- rather than at artificially depressed prices created by middlemen forcing a bargain.

In addition, there's a potential ripple effect when your friends notice what you're doing. I'm not talking about spending all of your time preaching. But it will come up, and you can use the opportunity to let them know, politely, what fair trade coffee is and why you prefer to buy it, and there will be a ripple effect. Some friends will ignore you, others will respect you, and a few will follow your example.

Same goes for all of the other purchases made, deferred, or decided against that crop up in your life, one at a time. Cumulative effect plus ripple effect ends up being more powerful than you think.