Can everyone afford to be ethical?

There has been a lot in the press recently about being green and being ethical with regards to energy bills and free range chickens. Most people would agree that it usually comes down to a matter of choice. It may cost more to switch to a green energy tariff or buy a free range chicken but most people can afford a couple of pounds a week extra to do their bit. My opinion is that is you are a bit strapped for cash them maybe smoke or drink less to save the money to afford these things (that is assuming you have enough spare cash for cigarettes and alcohol: no-one should expect families on the breadline to make their lives any harder). The real question is ‘where do you draw the line?’

I’ve been on my ethical shopping crusade for several months now and it’s been fairly successful. I have mostly been avoiding temptation and staying away from shops. I have walked past all the high street sales and ducked into the charity shops instead. So I’m feeling pretty snug and self righteous with my ethical shopping but I have struck upon a rather massive spanner in the shopping works: I have bought a house. The house isn’t the problem, its second (or third, or fourth) hand and it’s not from a high street chain store but how do I decorate it? The house needs a little work and I’m viewing it as akin to a piece of second hand clothing that needs a little repair work before I can wear it. My dilemma is do I buy a great environmentally friendly paint like ecopaint or scrimp every penny to pay the mortgage and just buy it from B&Q?

At what point do I, or anyone else for that matter, say ‘enough is enough, I’ve done my bit’ and go with the easy and cheaper option? It’s all well and good when the government and media start telling everyone to be green and turn our thermostats down but when we’re shivering with cold under three layers of blankets isn’t it time to think about ourselves again? I think some of us actually could go the whole hog if we thought that MPs and government officials were tucked up shivering in their blankets too but I sincerely doubt they are. It is a matter of personal choice and I know many people choice not to even think about it. Being ethical is difficult and it can become expensive. I have drawn my line and it lies between need and want. I need food and I need paint. I only want clothes, conditioner and non essential bits and bobs. I’ll buy food (although I try to get local, organic and free range as much as I can) and I’ll buy paint. My clothes and other frivolous spends will be ethically sourced.

Free range food: What is the price of freedom?

You can’t help but to have noticed that more and more supermarkets are starting to stock free range and organic produce. These previously speciality foods are slowly making their way into the mainstream and its about time too. Organic produce has been around for donkey’s years but it has taken such a long time to build up the amount of support it has got now. But it’s still not nearly enough, which is why the TV chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall has launched his chicken out campaign to raise awareness of the poor conditions of most of the chickens in this country. Really there is no excuse for us to be keeping animals in these kinds of conditions. I’m sure most peoples’ excuse for not buying free range is that it’s too expensive but then it boils down to personal choices. I believe that everyone (within reason) can afford free range. By cutting down on luxuries such as alcohol, cigarettes and takeaways you can easily save the couple of pounds that would make the difference between intensively farmed chicken and free range. But then sadly a percentage of people in this country will not care or just won’t bother to think about it.

Low energy light bulbs – the great mercury shock

Like many people these days I’m keen to reduce my carbon footprint and do all the usual energy saving stuff. Changing your tungsten light bulbs to energy saving bulbs is one of the easiest ways to make a difference without breaking the bank. So I, like most people, found the recent news that these ‘planet saving’ light bulbs are in fact fairly toxic rather shocking. It’s now come to light that low energy light bulbs contain mercury and need to be disposed of by the council and good luck to you if you break one! I’m familiar with the recycling of electrical waste legislation and I know that new electrical goods have to have an ‘end of life’ strategy incorporated into their design. And this is why I’m so confused about this whole light bulbs mess. Why isn’t there any information on the box about how to dispose of them? Are they really better for the environment when they contain mercury? And most worrying of all; are people going to switch back to the old style energy hungry light bulbs because they are afraid? At a time when people are switching to organic produce and avoiding parabens in toiletries it’s surprising that something labelled as green can be so deceptively dangerous.