Save the Planet and Shop

Antoine | Reply

I really have a problem with advertisement

OK, I guess I really have a problem with advertisement, and how things are expressed.

I agree it is great to contribute to tree planting or any other environmental cause while you shop for goods that you would have bought anyway, like toilet paper. If it does not nourish your consumption appetite, but rather makes you think twice when you shop, then I'm OK.

I'm not going to shop through these websites, because I don't want to ship stuff to Japan were I live (wouldn't make much sense environmentally, would it?) but thanks for the discussion.

Mire | Reply

Shopping to save the planet is a slogan

Ok so let's get that, shopping to save the planet is a slogan. All of us involved in the environmental movement for a long time probably have it that something like a slogan or really anything "easy" will not change the world, (we have lot's of "proof" to support that too right). But try on for a sec. that that "slogan" is part of a marketing campaign, connected to many others, to get people to start relating to their planet differently. Perhaps it isn't a lie if it leads to a critical mass of understanding that we can do something and more importantly BE something "different" in relationship to our planet. If you put it in those terms I think you will find that the fore mentioned sites like coolaworld.com, nonprofitshoppingmall.com and any other cause marketing social network sites really have the capacity to cause transformation in the way a consumer based society collectively thinks. What if every time you bought toilet paper, a wedding gift or clothes for work, a tree was planted or a percent of that sale went to Greenpeace. How would that transform the concept "shopping" for you. If that became a normal way to shop for every single American can you even imagine the impact that would have not only in the physical world but in our collective minds about the conversation of "our planet" and in our conversations of "I can't do anything about it"? Also take a moment to think about the individuals creating these sites and how revolutionary they are being, how they have taken a stand for the planet, putting their whole livelihoods at the mercy of this "new market" because they want to earn a living without being so destructive to the environment. I mean seriously every time you shop on Coolaworld.com you have an opportunity to offset your waste, that's a great idea. I mean I shop all the time and don't normally offset my purchases, I'd bet you shop too? What a great place to start changing...by changing the stuff we do every day with out thought. At nonprofitshoppingmall.com, which I now use all the time, I get to support a village in Zimbabwe with my regular old have-to shopping. It's amazing if you really think about it and it's totally NOW.
Though I totally get the frustration with "green washing", I think that it doesn't necessarily apply here. I would bet that the owners of the above companies, truly are out to make a difference in the world. My request to you is to shop through both sites and see if something shifts for you just by letting go of "being right" and playing with someones version of a slice of the solution.

Antoine | Reply

Shop and save the planet is a lie

I agree we need a consciousness in our everyday behavior. But what I'm saying is that the slogan "Shop and Save the Planet" is not going to trigger this shift. It is a lie.

Mire | Reply

A shift in consciousness in our everyday behavior

I think you are both right but being right in this case isn't going to make a lot of change. You may understand that consumption is a huge problem but how do you suggest we stop consuming in today's society when everyone who is involved with modern economy is dependent on it. The most effective environmentalists are the ones who are able to meet the wide world of people with different beliefs, where they are at. Not making them wrong, just figuring out how to reach them and how to communicate to them, that is where change is going to occur. Websites like Coolaworld.com and nonprofitshoppingmall.com give regular non-radical people an opportunity to understand that what we do with our money is part of where our power is and that a SHIFT in consciousness in our everyday behavior needs to be made.

Antoine | Reply

I totally agree with P. Morris

It is not ethically correct to promote consumption as a mean to "save the planet". The question is rather: how do we reduce our consumption and shift to durable goods?