Are you more apt as a consumer to give business to companies that purchase carbon offsets or that work with charity organizations? How about corporations that ensure that labor laws/human rights are not being compromised in manufacturing countries?

Does anyone have info or stats of this kind of information?

11/28/2008 3:46:01 PM

No. No.

I do not know.

11/28/2008 3:51:35 PM

I do what I can.

- I refuse to buy products of certain countries (the worst abusers of human rights)
- I make it a point to buy products of countries that respec human rights
- I refuse to buy products made by companies that make products harmful to health
- I make it a point to buy products made by companies that make products beneficial to health

I don't always succeed, but I try my best.

11/28/2008 3:53:13 PM

yes, i do care and i prefer to give my business to companies that participate in giving back

im not sure about resources but you could always ask. i work at caterpillar and i know we have a foundation that donates to a lot of causes including the united way and when natural disasters hit we almost always send money. they also match employee contributions to any charity up to something like $2k. we also have a sustainability division. i dont know of any instances in which human rights were violated in our manufacturing processes

11/28/2008 3:54:14 PM

Well, Caterpillar provides bulldozers to the IDF, when they could easily refuse to do so.

[/devil's advocate]

11/28/2008 3:57:06 PM

What countries don't you work with? Mine are India and China... I work in a copyright-respected field and they seem oblivious to our law.

11/28/2008 3:59:27 PM

Mainly, I try my very best not to buy products made in

India
Pakistan
China
Israel
Russia
Saudi Arabia

and some more I guess.

11/28/2008 4:04:23 PM

Quote :

"I do what I can."

11/28/2008 5:50:58 PM

Catepillar's CEO gives 90% of his salary to charity. Im sure he still makes a pretty penny, but thats pretty noble.

11/28/2008 6:22:51 PM

The guy who makes this soap:



sets up his salary so he's only making 4 times more than the lowest paid employee in the company. Or something like that. I don't remember the exact number but they had a documentary about the founder of the company and they all sorts of charity works and what not.

11/28/2008 9:49:47 PM

^
After his dad died (Dr. Bronner), he took over the business. At that time, he changed the formula to include hemp oil. Maybe his dad fell for all that reefer madness...
Anyway, I've got a couple different scents of their liquid soap, and one bar.
...good stuff!

11/28/2008 10:02:22 PM

Quote :

"Mainly, I try my very best not to buy products made in Israel"

11/28/2008 10:44:31 PM

Quote :

"Well, Caterpillar provides bulldozers to the IDF, when they could easily refuse to do so. [/devil's advocate]"

while true... does that mean that toyota and honda and other car manufacturers should easily refuse to sell cars to known drink drivers?

[/devils advocate]

we cannot control or take responsibility for what people do with our equipment, nor can any other company

11/29/2008 1:14:51 AM

Nope, I buy the product that gives me the best mixture of quality and affordability with no regard to how they run their business.

11/29/2008 5:55:17 AM

^^^ What? What's so weird about what I said? > 1 billion people all over the world refuse to buy products made in Israel.

^^ I see your point, but one could easily argue that a drunk driver doesn't buy a cur just to drive it drunk and harm others. That happens perhaps < 5-10% of the time he drives in total. OTOH, the IDF buys bulldozers only to demolish houses and centuries old olive trees.

11/29/2008 7:15:54 AM

^^
funny, that's how most people buy illicit drugs

11/29/2008 7:37:17 AM

i avoid shopping at walmart at all costs. although this is strictly conjecture on my part, i feel they are directly responsible for the glut of cheaply produced imported goods that the US now depends on. i know other stores are guilty of selling the same things, but i feel walmart set the trend and everyone else has to follow suit in order to stay competitive.

the going green thing seems like its just more of a marketing fad than anything else, so no, i don't make purchases based on a company's claim of eco-friendliness.

11/29/2008 10:45:09 AM

Quote :

"What? What's so weird about what I said? > 1 billion people all over the world refuse to buy products made in Israel."

maybe the islamic nut jobs if thats what you are referring to

12/2/2008 10:22:46 PM

I shop wherever the best product and deal can be found. All the boycott / green company hype is just that. Overwhelmingly those claims are made just to increase the bottom line. You'll find many "green" companies just sell their waste further away or ship it overseas.

I can proudly say that my little division of MS (~2,200 ppl) have donated 35 million bucks in time and contributions to charity this year. That definitely makes me

And we reduced our food/dining waste by some absurd amount by eliminating 95+% of plastic from utensils, cups, plates and containers. It's all sugar cane and paper pulp based stuff now and it all goes to an industrial compost facility (because recycling is another bullshit hype-machine, composting is the real deal)

12/2/2008 10:52:42 PM

I try to buy American if I can. I also like Caterpillar and Naan Sprinklers. I dont keep it kosher but I buy clothes from the Jews with the ill clothing store back home. Dr. Bronners soap is nice but I dont know what the fuck all that is on the label, they need some editing.

12/2/2008 10:53:09 PM

Dr. Bronners is nice! Great soap! Lather! Rinse! Lather! Rinse! Dont drink it though! Dilute! Dilute! or wet skin! OK!

12/2/2008 11:04:19 PM

Quote :

"maybe the islamic nut jobs if thats what you are referring to"

Yeah, the "Islamic nut jobs", and millions of Christians as well, both non-white, and white.

Why are sucking Israel's dick?

12/3/2008 6:10:04 AM

I try to avoid companies that aren't environmentally responsible or have a known record of polluting. I don't think that carbon offsets are really the way to go but it is a much better step than attempts to greenwash their corporate image. To be honest the human rights thing comes second to me because I figure if they could care less about how they treat other humans then it is highly likely they care even less about environmental sustainability.

12/3/2008 9:07:02 AM

Quote :

"Why are sucking Israel's dick?"

it tastes good?

12/3/2008 9:28:04 AM

Yay for Dr. Bronner's being mentioned

12/3/2008 9:31:02 AM

I like Charlie's Soap myself

12/3/2008 9:31:39 AM

^

12/5/2008 11:28:44 PM

How is it even possible to boycott Chinese products?

12/7/2008 11:34:07 AM

AND Caterpillar's CEO is an NC STATE grad

12/7/2008 1:10:27 PM

Quote :

"I refuse to buy products of certain countries (the worst abusers of human rights)"

I'm sure they appreciate your effort to keep them permanently poor and under oppression.

12/7/2008 1:37:20 PM

^haha, that is one of the dumbest things i've ever read

12/7/2008 2:37:25 PM

^actually its pretty intelligent, and historically accurate.

12/7/2008 8:13:05 PM

Quote :

"^haha, that is one of the dumbest things i've ever read"

Ever take an economics class?

12/7/2008 8:28:25 PM