Can OS be ethical?

Calephetos

I'm not at all surprised I once picked up a pack of spring onions in Aldi, Lancaster and was pleased to see that they'd only been grown about 10 miles away. Unfortunately, they'd been driven to the Midlands to be wrapped and then sent back up again!

Why??!

calleyw

Calephetos wrote:

I'm not at all surprised I once picked up a pack of spring onions in Aldi, Lancaster and was pleased to see that they'd only been grown about 10 miles away. Unfortunately, they'd been driven to the Midlands to be wrapped and then sent back up again!

Why??!

If you bought from a local greengrocers then it should do less miles. But that is not always the case with Supermarkets.

They buy from suppliers who ship to one point to process and then is shipped to supermarkets all over the country.

It is crazy but it is case of economies of scale.


Yours


Calley

sundin13

I try my best to live by an ethical code, but its definitely not easy.

Firstly, where do I buy from…
Local shops or big chains?
If big chains, high street branch or retail park megastore?
Local shops or internet retailers?


And then what do I buy…
The cheapest or the most ethical?
Brand names from local shops, or cheaper own brands from supermarket chains?
Organic or whatever my local shop has?
Seasonal Produce (in winter?) or anything I want, flown halfway round the world to me?
Perfect plastic wrapped irradiated (?) perfection or paper-bagged mis-shapes?
Compromise on what I want, or ignore my conscience?
Cheapest energy, or greenest?

For myself, I:
1. Turn down plastic bags in shops
2. Try and buy local if I can (on the high street if I have to use a chain)
3. Recycle, but sadly not compost as I don't have a garden
4. Pick up litter
5. Get milk from the milkman
6. Avoid the supermarkets
7. Use the ethical options for bank and energy
8. Get public transport whenever I can, and I'm fighting my desire to use the low-cost airlines to go exciting places
9. Free range eggs - no question. If I see fairtrade or humane options where I shop, I'll try to buy them.
10. Buy lots from charity shops, and take lots back to them!


I'd welcome any more suggestions though. Its pretty hard work, and with three kids and a full time job, I have to really fight the urge to just walk back into the Asda that's two minutes walk from my front door.

Sweet_Pea_2

Im glad to see this thread. I bought "Save cash and save the planet" the other day and its fascinating. Until I found MSE I was not really interested in living ethically and being green, I just never thought about it. Once you start "Old Styling" it has a huge knock on effect in other areas. You save money but thats not whats its all about, its much further reaching - you become more aware of whats in the food you are buying and where it has come from, Old Styling is very green. I have picked up lots of tips from "save cash and save the planet" and also from Leo Hickmans book "A life stripped bare" too.
So far in the last year I have: bought and continue to use a compost bin, have planted loads of stuff - flowers and veg and fruit, I hope to fill my freezer and pantry with organic home grown food. I recycle tins and glass now, although my council does not take them away for me yet. Refuse supermarket bags, have changed my bank accounts to Co-Operative, also house contents insurance to them too, cheaper and more ethical. I am trying to buy more second hand stuff where I can, I have just changed my cleaning habits, have used my stocks of shop bought cleaning products and now make my own using cheaper greener products. My next "challenge" is to source greener cosmetics and smellies. I am using ecover dishwasher and washing up liquid, the costs of which are offset by the cheaper cleaning products.
I have yet to tackle food. I have cut my food bill down by a lot and it has had a knock on effect, Im worried about losing that by buying organic products. It is hard though because organic products are healthier and if I can afford them I should buy them - I have a war raging inside my head at the moment on that one!
I have found that it works for me if I change things slowly one at a time, it seems to take me a lot of time and thought before I eventually change the way I do things, (something else I have learned about myself since finding MSE!)

thirty_dancing

Trow wrote:

I would reverse that.

I would say if you can't buy local, buying organic is the next best thing.

I agree 100% with Trow - if you make buying locally your priority you'll be helping to reduce the huge impact that transporting out of season food has on the envrionment. To paraphase Felicity Lawrence ("Not on the Label") - if we don't support local producers who will be there to feed us when the cost of oil makes it too expensive to import food???

On the bright side, it doesn't have to cost more to be ethical - I have a weekly organic box from a local producer (Coleshill Organics) which is just as cheap as Tescos ordinary veg and a lot cheaper than their organic stuff - the purple sprouting broccoli this week was so fresh it must have been picked that morning and was soooo good...

I buy my some of my meat and fruit from a local farm shop (Foxbury Farm) where they rear all the beef, pork and lamb themselves (pork from a happy pig tastes divine) and the rest of my meat from Coldronbrook Farm, a local supplier who delivers their own meat. Meat and chicken is more expensive but I tend to buy the cheaper, less fashionable cuts to overcome this.

Since I started DWD and becoming more OS my monthly shopping bill has fallen from about £400 pm to £270 pm, this is for 2 adults and a thirteen year boy who eats MORE than the average adult. Most meals are home cooked (thank you to the person that invented the slow cooker!) and I use a bread maker to make my own bread (flour bought in bulk from a local flour mill).

I work full-time in fairly demanding job and am a single parent so am not time rich (in fact, I'm money poor and time poor!) and it did take a few months to settle into this way of living but now it is just the way we do things.

I must admit I do miss buying things like peppers in the middle of winter but then I remember the impact that growing peppers is having on Southern Spain and the migrants who work growing them.

My preferences for shopping are:

1. Local & organic (if I can afford it)
2. Local
3. Britsh and organic
4. Fairtrade
5. Independant supplier
6. Supermarkets - Lidls/ Aldis, Coop, Waitrose, Sainsburys - you'll have to drag my cold and lifeless body into Asda Walmart or Tescos - they may be cheaper on the pocket but the their policies on sourcing are costing the vulnerable and the planet.

nearlyrich

Calephetos wrote:

I'm not at all surprised I once picked up a pack of spring onions in Aldi, Lancaster and was pleased to see that they'd only been grown about 10 miles away. Unfortunately, they'd been driven to the Midlands to be wrapped and then sent back up again!

Why??!

The question is why do spring onions need packaging at all? I never buy the packaged ones, an elastic band around the bunch is all the packaging they need.

If we all leave the overpackaged stuff on the shelves maybe they would get the message. I was looking at the pre-prepared veg in Tesco yesterday, almost £3 for at most 50p worth of veg:eek: and 5 mins work with a sharp knife.

VickyA_2

nearlyrich wrote:

The question is why do spring onions need packaging at all? I never buy the packaged ones, an elastic band around the bunch is all the packaging they need.

If we all leave the overpackaged stuff on the shelves maybe they would get the message. I was looking at the pre-prepared veg in Tesco yesterday, almost £3 for at most 50p worth of veg:eek: and 5 mins work with a sharp knife.

Slightly off topic but.................. why oh why do the supermarkets sell ready chopped mushrooms? I know there's a market for them, otherwise they wouldn't stock them (because there would be no profit), but still...........................

calleyw

nearlyrich wrote:

If we all leave the overpackaged stuff on the shelves maybe they would get the message. I was looking at the pre-prepared veg in Tesco yesterday, almost £3 for at most 50p worth of veg:eek: and 5 mins work with a sharp knife.

Becuase to blunt people are lazy. They would rather spend the extra than take 5 mins out of precious day to chop veggies. To me preparing veggies is a good time to think about things. And if you have had a bad day at work you can pretend the veggies are someones head :rotfl:


Yours


Calley

£Ronnie

What a great thread, thanks OP.:T


I am definetly up for this kind of living, but am concerned about what it will do to my recently fine tuned (and very tight) budget. I suppose this is what has caused the problem in the western society in the first place.....

So in order to make it work i will have to do it in babysteps or DH will think i have lost the plot again, (so many changes have occured since I found this site)but where do i start, in my mind it would have to be the food side of things as i truly believe you are what you eat, but automatically assume organic is more expensive... heard a guy on local radio yesterday about a local ethical food company that home deliver and claims they are as cheap as Tesco, so will check that website out...

I suppose what I am really asking is what books/websites do I start reading to learn about what the issues are and what matters most to me so I can make changes bit by bit in the hope that they will last?

Ronnie

joebloggs69

I'm really glad I started this thread now, I didn't expect so many like-minded people - not only is that the case but I can see many of you share my same problems and concerns and it's comforting to know that it's not just me! Isn't it so hard to live this way when it seems you're the only one doing it? I wonder, have any of you had trouble trying to share this with you're partners?

£Ronnie, if you find that site I'm sure many here as well as me would be interested in it. Like I said before https://www.ethiscore.com and https://www.corporatecritic.com - spend a little time playing around on the sites and you'll soon start to get a feel for it, maybe first check out http://www.urban75.com/Action/ethical.html for a kick start - make sure you click the "Boycott 10" link.

As for books I've borrowed "Ethical Shopping" by Duncan Clark from the library and highly recommend it to everyone, it gives you a good breif overview of the main issues and culprits, and also gives arguments from both sides so you can decide for yourself. (It's also pocket sized so you can carry around when shopping if you like).

Sweet Pea - I'm reading Leo Hickman's book too! I'm half way through at the moment, I have to confess that I don't like him as a writer much, but it is helpful to read about this stuff from a more practicle point of view. I'm also on the look out for a cheapcopy of "Save Cash and Save the Planet" as my library doesn't have a copy. Is it any good?

And I'm certainly glad I've found the OS thread, as you guys have said, it's practicaly impossible to live oldstyle without realising how much you're wasting...it's just a few short steps from there! Thanks again!

Joe "The Slow Cooker is Arriving Tomorrow" Bloggs