voting with your wallet

Lately I have been making a concerted effort to buy more mindfully. To spend our money on products that perhaps are healthier for our bodies, made with less synthetic and toxic ingredients, and made by a company that you can feel better about giving your money to. Companies that are honest and transparent about their ingredients, and have some higher standards. This goes for all purchases in general, including food. It just feels good to be wise with your spending. But let's face it, this is a big job and I am far, far, far from perfect. I still buy all sorts of things that are produced by rotten companies that throw toxic crap into our stuff and have bad manufacturing practices. We live in the real world. But every small step counts right? I am slowly working through the different areas of spending and types of products that we buy, to look into what they contain, ask myself if there is a healthier option, and find an alternative that I like and that works. I am never going to be a radical that has to have everything perfectly healthy, or all organic and pure, but I figure, if I have to buy deodorant, or teabags anyway, I might as well do what I can to make a better choice. Right?

Buying things is pretty much voting with your money, so if you're spending your money you might as well take a few extra minutes and find out a little about your purchases. I certainly am not a master at this, but I am learning to work harder at it. 

For example: Avalon Organics, which makes a shampoo and conditioner I like and many other good personal care products, is owned by The Hain Celestial Group. This large company owns many natural and organic food and product companies including Earth's Best Organics, Jason, MaraNatha, over 50 brands altogether. This company boasts accolades and certifications regarding ethical production and safe cosmetics. They state that they are committed to healthier products, sustainability, and transparency in packaging and ingredient lists. They are Non Gmo Project participants, and over 99% of their food products are gmo free. Are they perfect? Probably not. But they are supporting a movemont of organic growing and honest labeling that I appreciate. 

Another shampoo option would be to buy a product by Aveeno or Neutrogena, both well loved products. But guess what I found out? They are both owned by Johnson and Johnson who is one of the largest personal product companies in the world, but they are way behind when it comes to lowering toxin exposure and using safer ingredients in their products. In fact, Johnson and Johnson were recently ordered by the court to pay out $72 million dollars to the family of a woman who passed away from ovarian cancer that had been linked to long term use of their body powder products containing talc. Information regarding the link between talc and increased cancer risks have been known for some time now, yet the company choose not to issue any type of warning. From what I can gather, this is just the "tip of the toxic iceburg" when it comes to Johnson and Johnson's products and ingredient choices.

So, overall, when you are purchasing brands from these companies, you are supporting their practices, and saying " yes, I like what you do, do more of that."

No purchase or company is perfect, and sometimes we simply don't have the time or ability to make fabulous decisions with our money. But I think it's worth it to do the best we can. 

It's something to think about, anyway.