Karen has a great blog today about what natural/organic companies have been bought out by larger corporations. For example, Burt's Bees being owned by Clorox. aaaaaaaaaawesome.
She inspires me to look for alternatives to the many products I've been mindlessly buying for years. I may be nowhere NEAR as good at is as she is, but I hope to get a little closer.
Oh, and today I did it! I "finished" Crazy Aunt Purl's blog! By finish, I mean that I finally reached the present day after starting at the very first entry. Yay me! And yay Laurie for being such a fantastic writer. I'll definitely keep an eye out for your book.
Still Parenting...
10 years ago
2 comments:
I'm a little unclear on the purpose behind the "outing" of these products as being owned by big conglomerates. I can't help but feel that somehow the idea is that now, because of their new corporate parent, they're less pure or less organic or less worthy of our patronage. Perhaps in some case that may be true. But first I think we need to ask if the product significantly different now that a big company owns it? My beloved Scharfenberger chocolate was bought by Hershey and as far as I can tell, the only difference is to accountants and shareholders. Bottom line: Don't we *want* more people and companies to go organic/natural/green? Don't get me wrong - I'm all for buying locally and supporting small farms, but globalization and the age of big corporations is here to stay and then some. Don't we want those corporations to be at least in part organic/natural/green and possibly, one day, see the wisdom of being *totally* organic/natural/green? I'm just not so sure we should looking for alternatives to our beloved products as much as supporting them, and showing their new parents that they can make money with them. Should these big companies be punished for going organic, or rewarded?
My purpose in buying organic is not simply in buying organic; it's using my money to support companies and causes in whom I believe. I try not to purchase, for instance, from companies who donate to politicians I do not support because I would not personally donate to those politicians. You are right that big conglomerates are here to stay, but I prefer not to throw in the towel. I don't buy Clorox because it is toxic and unnecessary, and I don't agree with the countless cleaning products they shove down our throats in advertisement after advertisement, so why would I buy something from the same company if it's feeding the same machine?
It certainly is a point that we want companies to be "going green," but has taking over "green" companies actually made the business practices of Clorox or Phillip Morris greener? Nope, it's just added money to their coffers because "organic" and "green" are trendy, and it's a way to cash into a new market. They already KNOW that these products make money. That's why they bought the companies. Their motives in buying them out are not about doing something good, it's about making more money, and they are. If they wanted to "go green," they could with their own product lines and practices.
One of the only powers left to us is the power of our spending; we've seen how much power we have lost in the political arena, having given that over in no small part to corporations. We have power as consumers to support businesses and causes with our daily spending habits. If I don't need to give money to the large conglomerates, I won't.
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