I have recently been reading Ecological Intelligence – How Knowing the Hidden Impacts of What We Buy Can Change Everything by Daniel Goleman. I had to renew it from the library twice in order to get through it, but I finally reached the last page (though I skimmed over the last hundred or so). It’s not that the book isn’t well researched or well written. It’s actually quite exhaustive in its several stories and anecdotes about the ecological effects of industrial manufacturing. Perhaps that’s what made it seem like such an arduous journey for me to get from page 1 to page 247. Of course, I had the same problem getting through The Tipping Point, The World is Flat, and most every other type of non-ficion book I’ve attempted in this genre. So maybe it’s just me.

Nevertheless, my enterprise through Ecological Intelligence was not in vain. I did pick up a thing or two.

Primarily, the book serves as a call for radical transparency among businesses regarding the ingredients they use and the ecological impact they create. For any product that is manufactured, there are literally thousands of ecological consequences that result. While accounting for all of the effects a given product might have on the environment falls somewhere in between improbable and impossible, businesses are still able to relatively gauge the impact their practices are having and share it with the buying public. The question is, will they?

William Friedman said that the only moral imperative of a business is to make a profit. However, in this day and age, as consumers are growing more concerned about moving into an age of sustainability, they are calling for companies to do more to lessen their environmental footprints. While many organizations are answering this call with outright greenwashing, the thinly veiled marketing ploy that paints a product as environmentally friendly, many companies are making it part of their mission to be more conscious of the ingredients they use and the impact they have. Though the upfront costs of R&D make these endeavors a bit more expensive for the companies, by and large, these are the businesses that are seeing the most growth.

Goleman sites the surge in green buildings. Where it was once the norm to build with the cheapest products using the lowest bidder, property owners are now seeing the inherent wisdom in saving money in the longer run by building with environmentally friendly materials and energy efficient appliances. And the trend is not limited to real estate alone.

Though planned obsolesence is still used in manufacturing to ensure the machine of consumerism stays well greased, manufacturers are beginning to use more sustainable ingredients in their production. So much manufacturing was once based on the cradle to grave idealogy, whereby once a product had served its purpose its only remaining viable function was as landfill. However, now more manufacturers are realizing the wisdom of cradle to cradle manufacturing where even the byproducts of production can find a use thereby creating more effiency within the company, more interdependence across industries, and greater profits for all involved.

Nevertheless, we as a society still have a long way to go. As so many CEO’s still see the shortcuts to the bottom line as their greatest obligation, the ethical imperatives of fair trade and eco-consciousness take a backseat. This is where it falls upon the consumer to demand practices that will ensure a more sustainable future for us all. However, even in this endeavor, we still have a long way to go. Budget-mindedness and outright apathy still prevail in many minds of the consumer, and those who do care about the impacts of their purchases have a hard time wading through the greenwashing and untold amount of information on ingredients and production practices. There is, however, a step in the right direction.

The highlight of the book for me was the discovery of the GoodGuide, (www.goodguide.com). Still in the beta stage, yet available through their website and iPhone application, the GoodGuide formulates the impact of thousands of products by researching and measuring several variables and delivering their findings to consumers. A given product is rated on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the best, in the categories of Health, Environmental, and Social. While many products are still untested, the iPhone app allows users to scan a barcode in the grocery aisle and determine the product’s impact on the spot.

While the arduous task of making it through the book makes it difficult for me to recommend it as light reading, the concepts contained therein are well worth considering. Capitalism is still based on the law of supply and demand. If we as consumers continue to demand radical transparency and environmental consideration from the companies we purchase from, our move toward a more sustainable future will grow more steady. Each of our purchases have many factors to consider. May we make them in good conscience and pray that our suppliers follow suit.

Steve McAllister  (360 Posts)

Steve McAllister, Modern Hippie Mag's resident Lifestyle Guru, describes himself as a Renaissance Man. An author, filmmaker, songwriter, and perpetual artistic experimenter, he has recently re-released his second book The Rucksack Letters into paperback to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the journey. His latest book, a comical foray into philosophical science fiction, is How to Survive an Estralarian Mind Meld. His latest artistic project is The Labyrinth of the Unbroken Path. .