How to Spend Money Greenly

The way we choose to spend the green has a direct impact on how green we are personally making the world. In our consumer and consumption-based society, the most power we have is not necessarily how we vote on election day, but how we spend our hard earned cash. When we buy a product, we’re not just fulfilling our need for this product, we are simultaneously letting the world know that we support the philosophy of this company, it’s practices both here and abroad, the way it sources it’s material and produces the product and how it treats its employees and what its company policy is. So you can see that this is a big vote.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. The first step and perhaps the most important one for a consumer is to be informed. How do we get informed about the companies we have been supporting with out knowing it you might ask?

2. The Internet is one way to get informed about the news and reviews of certain companies. Asking the sales person before the purchase is another. However, most probably they will be as uninformed as you are and eager to make a sale. That said, asking questions can never hurt.

3. Call the company and ask them about their policies. If they won’t answer your questions, you can bet they probably have something to hide. And if they give you a song and dance about how wonderful their company is, that's great.

4. Next step is to verify any good, bad or ugly claims as best you can.

5. Make informed decisions. Be a reporter for your own good and for the good of others. Share your new knowledge with others.

6. Write letters to companies and countries. Let them know what you will not tolerate. For example, you might write to the Japanese government and tell them that you and your family and friends will not be buying Sony or any other Japanese product until they make the annual slaughter of dolphins illegal in their country. Write letters to your favorite Japanese companies insisting that they put pressure on their government to do just that.

7. Now it gets a little easier; purchase organic produce and products from known green companies.

8. Buy quality not quantity.

9. Recycle and reuse things rather than throwing old stuff away, refresh and fix and paint and give things away if you must.