In a Small World, Compassionate Consumerism

Even after a tragic autumn and a winter at war, spring has dawned. And this year more than ever, we're eager for brighter days and a rosier economic picture.

If you're the average American, your contribution to this picture is bigger than you may realize: Consumer spending makes up about two-thirds of our national economic activity-which is precisely why we're being urged to spend, spend, spend. Yet this message comes at a time when we're also reconsidering our consumption patterns and feeling a stronger bond with victims of all kinds of disasters worldwide. "Since September 11, we feel less disconnected from so-called remote crises, and would like to help," says Leslie Cohen-Rubury, a licensed social worker and mother of three who lives in Redding, Connecticut. The challenge: In a world that suddenly feels smaller, can we reconcile our lifestyles with our values?

There is definitely a role for the consumer to play, says Michael Totten, a senior program director at Conservation International (CI). Totten sees America "looking beyond its manicured lawns to see how our super-sized patterns of consumption imperil regions as far away as the Amazon and the Arctic." For example, our demand for coffee, chocolate and exotic woods has spurred the cutting of rainforests, and our ever-increasing dependency on imported oil is being used to justify drilling in Alaska's pristine Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Change starts with awareness, Totten says, and Lester Brown, founder of the Worldwatch Institute, agrees. Take the gold wedding band on your finger: "Mining 22,000 tons of gold releases poisonous cyanide and mercury, and has roughly the same environmental impact as the production of 700 million tons of steel," says Brown, who is also president of the Earth Policy Institute and author of Eco-Economy: Building an Economy for the Earth (W. W. Norton and Company, 2001, $15.95). On a more prosaic level, he adds, we can save trees by using washable handkerchiefs instead of disposable tissues and can reduce demand for plastic, made from non-renewable petroleum, by drinking tap rather than bottled water.

While we can tread more lightly on the Earth by consuming and wasting less, we can also do a world of good simply by bringing our values along with us when shopping for the goods we need, says Cliff Feigenbaum, editor of The GreenMoney Journal and coauthor of Investing with Your Values: Making Money and Making a Difference (New Society Publishers, 2000, $18.95). "We hear that manufacturers are listening to our needs and desires and are eager, even desperate, to offer us what we want," says Feigenbaum. He urges consumers to "vote with your wallets for companies that support your values, using your power in ways that support a greener, more humane world."

Call it a trend toward "compassionate consumerism" and consider for yourself: How can you use your shopping list to build a better world-one T-shirt, cup of coffee and chocolate bar at a time? Check out our guidelines below.

Fair-trade products

Fair-trade standards ask us to consider humanitarian concerns when we choose a product, says Nina Luttinger, account manager for TransFair USA, a nonprofit organization that certifies and promotes fair-trade coffee and tea. Criteria include: fair prices paid to farmers, living wages paid to workers, and no forced child labor. Sustainable, conservation-oriented farming practices are encouraged with financial incentives. About 80% of the certified fair-trade coffee in the U.S. is also certified organic, because the farmers can make so much more money from it, Luttinger says.

"Consumers should ask themselves why a product is so cheap-and what this might mean for those who produced it," Luttinger adds. She notes that while millions of Americans enjoy their $3 lattes every morning, many farmworkers receive less than $3 for a whole day of work. That translates to about 25 cents per lb. of coffee picked, whereas fair-trade coffee pays about 90 cents per lb.

A current fair-trade campaign, launched on Valentine's Day, 2002, by Global Exchange, targets chocolate, whose production is tainted by child slavery and, for paid workers, wages so low that they often go hungry. Americans, who enjoy approximately 3.3 billion lbs. of chocolate per year, can exercise their consumer power in favor of more humane, ecological choices (for how to, see "Sweeter Harvest," page 7).

The garment industry, too long associated with sweatshops, is also under pressure to adhere to fair-labor standards, and the good news is the increasing availability of certified fair-trade clothes. (For more information: Co-op America, 800-58-GREEN, www.sweatshops.org; 202-872-5329, www.fairtradefederation.org; 212-463-7437, www.behindthelabel.org.) Since September 11, New York City garment-industry workers have been hit hard; support them by choosing clothes that display the "UNITE! Proudly Made in New York" tag. (For a shopping guide, 212-265-7000, www.uniteunion.org.)