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Shopping the Talk

Hold that cell phone purchase!

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From the late 1990s onwards, a genocidal conflict has been raging in the Congo with little notice from the West. Indeed, western multinationals have been deeply implicated in the brutal regional war that has claimed up to 5.4 million lives. At the root of the conflict has been yet another scramble for the Congo's enormous wealth of natural resources including timber, minerals, gold, and diamonds.

One of the most overlooked, but profoundly disturbing of these resources is Coltan, a tantalum containing mineral that is a key component of modern electronic devices such as cell phones, laptops, and media players. Coltan is mined from the same region as the habitat of the Eastern Lowland Gorilla, and illegal extraction has led to the steep decline of the overall wildlife population in the Eastern Congo. The exponentiating demand with the increasing disposability and affordability of consumer electronics has also fueled the conflict to new heights.

The whole sordid story is outlined in "Apocalypse Found" that speaks to the connections between "Coltan, cell phones and crisis in the Congo." The article starkly illustrates the relation between this catastrophe and our consumer habits in the following excerpt:

Earth Island Journal argues that the 2000 spike in coltan prices was caused by the launch of the Sony PlayStation 2 and a new generation of mobile phones. The irony of that observation was not lost on British Labour MP Oona King when she expounded, "Kids in Congo are being sent down into mines to die so that kids in Europe and America can kill imaginary aliens in their living rooms."

Major manufacturers such as Nokia have taken note of this, but they argue that because of third party sourcing it is often difficult to tell where your components are coming from (Nokia is however pushing suppliers on this). At the consumer end, cell phone recycling programs such as the Eco-Cell Initiative at the Toronto Zoo are beginning to make headway, but it might be worth unplugging your life to really get away from another nightmarish impact of our modern technologies.

So you’re buying stuff that is green, eh?

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Maybe you think you are, but perhaps that “green” product isn’t so green after all. The Globe and Mail recently reported that the Competition Bureau will soon be making it a lot tougher for companies to deceptively label their products as green. That is to say it will be tougher for companies to “greenwash” consumers with claims that are misleading or outright false, as products labelled as green often sill have substantial environmental footprints, even if certain negative aspects of a product have been addressed. I’m thrilled to see this movement by the Competition Bureau as I have often felt torn by the action we’ve seen to date by most corporations. On the one hand, they are taking steps in the right direction. On the other, the steps are still of the “incremental” type, rather than the significant change that needs to happen to stabilize this planet.

The article also advises that the Competition Bureau will be working with the Canadian Standards Association to publish industry guidelines that will clearly define terms like green. That we are moving toward a time when companies will have to transparently label their products on environmental fronts is good news. Some companies have even already begun to do so, including Timberland which includes an energy “nutrition” label on its footwear. However, a lot of work is still needed in this area.

Ultimately we need measurement tools which easily allow us to compare products based on their entire life cycle. This means being able to ascertain whether that organic apple from New Zealand has a smaller impact on the environment than the local one that was grown using conventional methods. An example of such a system would be the Sustainable Business Achievement Ratings (S-BAR) which is currently under development. S-BAR touts itself to be “the first comprehensive system with a market-based, broadly applicable, and transparent means of assessing a company’s environmental, economic and social performance”. Hopefully such a system will soon be on store shelves, making it easier to determine how green a product really is.

Linda Lundström announces bankruptcy

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Just over a year ago, I attended the Green Carpet Series, an event promoting sustainable fashion. The evening was aimed at an audience of younger people who work in the downtown Toronto core, and who might not normally be prone to thinking about their ecological footprint. Numerous young women were lured there by the presence of George Stroumboulopoulos, host of CBC's The Hour , who acted as a co-host for the fashion show (I had no idea that he's considered such a sex symbol - I simply admire his in-depth interviews with authors, when I manage to stay up late enough to watch his show!). The fashion show featured lots of cool, environmentally-friendly fashion, including some amazing recycled dresses, along with local food, wine and biodegradable spoons and forks. The gorgeous designs of Canadian, Linda Lundström were also featured. She has been actively involved in and leading efforts to reduce the environmental impact of the textile industry. Her clothes are made locally, and her latest lines featured many organic materials. I was very disappointed to hear, just one year after this event, the sad announcement, that her business has failed. It's incredibly disheartening that she hasn't been able to make it in the current business environment. I very much hope that Linda Lundström will be able to make a come back, and to continue to provide much needed leadership on the fashion and clothing front with respect to sustainability.

Dawn Bazely

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