Go Greener, Australia

Over the last few weeks I’ve been reading How Good Are You?, by journalist Julian Lee. In it, he charts his investigations into the ethical choices we all face when we’re spending money. This includes environmental topics, as well as social issues like sweatshops, Fair Trade and truth in advertising. There are several chapters about food products, also cleaning products, clothes, investment, marketing and flying.

Lee was asked to write a newspaper article about ethical consumerism - as he looked into the issue, he realised that it although it was important for people to work out what the right choice is in everyday situations, it was also very difficult. Businesses will still try to get away with doing the bare minimum while claiming that they’re doing everything possible to be good corporate citizens, so we need ways to figure out if they’re telling the truth. Once we understand the issues, we can reward companies who are doing the right thing. Ethical consumers are still a small part of the market in Australia, but it’s one of the fastest growing segments.

Lee writes about the decisions he faces, which will be familiar to anyone who’s wandered into a supermarket, and talks us through the implications of the options available to us. He explains why the issues are important, and describes the effects on his family and their lifestyle. Although he discusses worldwide impacts, his examples are relevant to Aussies, featuring Australian brands, statistics and interviews.

Each chapter ends with suggestions for what we can do, grouped into easy, hard, and harder. These were very practical and achievable things, even most of the harder ones. Admittedly, I got a bit of a head swell when his recommendations were things I do already, like using natural cleaning products, composting, buying free-range and writing letters to businesses about their practices As for the stuff I don’t already do… well, knowing what to aim for is great. For example, the sections on investment and on fish made me realise I wasn’t doing enough, but Lee puts forward ideas for what I can do to fix that. I got some good ideas for things I can change in my own life, and will be writing about them here as I do them.

The book has quotes from many corporations and businesses about their ethical decisions (or lack of them). What struck me was that over and over, they keep saying that they’d make more ethical choices if they thought consumers wanted them to. So it comes back to this: in spite of all the general goodwill among the public for doing the right thing by the environment and other people, are we willing to put our money where our mouths are? Are we willing to demand better practices? I’ve made a start on this, but I could be doing more. This book has underlined the importance of contacting the companies who want our money, so we can let them know what we want in return.

Recommended?
Yes - I think this book will be useful to anyone in Australia who wants to learn how to spend their money wisely. And really, who doesn’t want to know that? You’ll get an understanding of the basic issues, and guidelines for how to make ethical consumer decisions. I was already aware of the environmental issues, and some of the social issues, but still had plenty to learn about corporate regulations and the fashion industry - because the book is a broad overview, I think most people will find they’ve got something to learn from it.

The website for How Good Are You? features interviews with Lee and extracts from the book if you’d like to know more.