Corporate Watch

Tara Wesely

DIG Contributor

In our consumer-driven culture, we vote with our dollars. Do you want to know that your purchase doesn’t perpetuate sweatshop labor? Do you wish you could buy a vehicle that better utilized available technology? Every purchase we make sends a message to Corporate America. Lets send the message that there is indeed a market demand for cleaner, greener, socially-sound products. The almighty consumer dollar just might be the voice that will get through to Corporate America. (Something has to.) Be an informed consumer. The following resources can help. www.responsibleshopper.org For individuals wishing to shop with or research responsible companies, Responsible Shopper from Co-op America offers in-depth social profiles on countless companies. A report on IBM, for example, looks at everything from Superfund sites, toxic emissions, and worker benefits to laudatory activities. www.corpwatch.org For activists, “Watchdog on the Web” may be the best site of all. CorpWatch offers news you may not find elsewhere on human rights abuses abroad, public policy, and environmental news-plus on-site reporting of protests. CorpWatch puts out the bimonthly Greenwash Awards, and runs a Climate Justice Initiative, as well as the Alliance for a Corporate-Free UN. To subscribe to their e-letter, send a blank message to corp-watchers-subscribe@igc.topica.com www.corporatepredators.org Corporate Predators offers a valuable, quirky voice in corporate responsibility. Taking on topics not covered elsewhere, the columns have looked at how the chemical industry responded to Bill Moyers TV program on industry coverup, how little academic research focuses on corporate crime, and why it’s inappropriate to legally view corporations was “persons.” Subscribe free to the column by sending an e-mail message to corp-focus-request@lists.essential.org with the text “subscribe.” http://oracle02.ilo.org/vpi/welcome Sponsored by the International Labor Organization, this web site offers a new Business and Social Initiatives Database, compiling Internet sources on employment and labor issues. A search feature allows visitors to retrieve information on specific companies, regions, and business sectors. This is one of the most comprehensive labor sites out there.

See Also: Arts: Corporations Arts: Socially Responsible Investing

Corporate Watch

Green Tips

Host an Art Night

Looking for a new way to connect with your neighbors, get free life advice, and spark your creative juices? Consider hosting an art night at your house, complete with paints, modeling clay, colored pencils and art smocks. Get messy, be creative, and let the conversation flow. For inspiration and resources, check out this article.

Choose Safe Art Supplies

Arts and crafts materials can be hazardous to your health and the environment. Even though the Labeling of Hazardous Art Materials Act of 1988 requires stringent labeling of hazardous materials in art supplies, many materials are out of compliance. This article offers tips to help you choose safe art supplies, plus substitutes to harmful substances.

Support a Local Business

Did you know that roughly 73 cents of every dollar spent at a local business stays within the community, compared to 43 cents for non-local chain stores? When you buy from local businesses, you help that business employ community workers, support other local businesses, and contribute to the community’s overall health. Read more here about the benefits of buying locally.

Buy Green Office Supplies

“Green” doesn’t necessarily mean “good” when it comes to so-called green office supplies. To help your office green up, consider durability, natural resource and energy use, recycled content and recyclability, toxicity, biodegradability and packaging before you purchase supplies. You can also set up a reuse system for the supplies you already have. For more tips on green office products, check out this article.

Think Twice About Bottled Water

If you live in an area with clean drinking water, fill a reusable bottle with tap water and bring it with you wherever you go to avoid buying bottled water. The U.S. sends 2 million tons of plastic water bottles to landfills each year—and producing those bottles requires oil and emits carbon dioxide. Some restaurants in the Twin Cities feel so strongly against bottled water that they refuse to sell it. Learn more.

Contact Your State Legislator

As a constituent, you are your local legislators’ highest priority. Why not share your views with them and ask them to support your position? It may seem like your letters and emails will get lost in a deep, dark political hole, but don’t despair. Whether you call, fax, email or visit in person, this article offers tips on how to effectively communicate with your elected officials and get them to listen.

Get Engaged!

Individuals’ actions are important in setting sound policy, so become an engaged citizen. Whether you call your legislator’s office, testify in a legislative hearing or attend a rally, you can make your voice heard. Still doubt that you can make a difference? This article addresses couple common concerns about whether civic engagement is worth it.

Take the Energy Challenge

The fastest, cheapest, easiest way to reduce your carbon footprint is through energy efficiency and conservation. Plus, you’ll save yourself money in the process! Need a little boost to get started? Join the Minnesota Energy Challenge and learn from thousands of Minnesotans who have pledged to reduce their energy use—and are finding fun, creative ways to do it. Read more about the Challenge here.

Make an Action Plan

Wait. Scratch that. Don’t make your own list of simple things you can do today to make a positive difference for the climate—use ours! This list offers 20 easy things you can do that will help you and your family lighten your load on the environment, keep more money in your pocket, and inspire you to find even more ways to tread lightly on this earth.

Check Out This Template for Action

Scientists say a global warming “tipping point” in the Arctic seems to be happening before their eyes. Sea ice in the Arctic Ocean is at its second lowest level in about 30 years. These news flashes are just some of our climate’s changes happening daily. You and your kids can help. Read more here, and then check out Climate Generations’s Take Action! Guide, which offers hands-on activities for grades 3-12.

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How Our Food Choices Effect the Planet

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