BlogHer - Big Green Purse: Shopping power = shopping less? - Comments

Belinda - While I don't buy

greenlagirl — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 17:08:29 -0500

Belinda - While I don't buy meat, your story is v. inspiring-- You also seem to live in a great 'hood :)

Diane -- I think part of my reaction re: the title may be coming simply from the fact that there's so much greenwashing mantra out there right now -- i.e. spend now think later cuz it's green!! So when I first saw the title of your book, I was afraid it'd have a similar message. Of course, the message of your book is not at all part of that greenwashing trend :)

But I think this does bring up an interesting dilemma, which is that often, environmentalism can seem to be about NOT doing stuff (NOT buying things we might want, NOT driving, etc.) -- which can often seem like deprivation / inaction, vs. a more active movement towards a healthier engagement with the environment and our communities. I think your emphasis on the POWER of conscious spending shows a desire to show others that environmental activism is both fun and empowering, which I appreciate :)

Emerald City
green LA girl

The focus is on the POWER of the purse!

Diane MacEachern — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 07:37:17 -0500

Diane MacEachern www.biggreenpurse.com Diane@biggreenpurse.com

Siel,

Thanks so much for your review of Big Green Purse.

About the title: I chose it deliberately to focus on the POWER of the purse, not on the shopping we do with our purses (hence the subtitle: Use your POWER to create a cleaner, greener world.) Most consumers (including women) don't realize that the way they spend their money is one of the most powerful tools they have for environmental change. When more of us wield that power intentionally (whether we buy or not), we'll see more gains for the planet.

I'm looking forward to talking about ways to use the power of the purse to protect the environment at BlogHer 08 this summer. Best, Diane

Power of Shopping Money

Creatively Belle — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 18:23:43 -0500

Thanks for sharing this book.

It always surprises me how easily people forget what shear power they use every day with the money they spend.

How we spend our money every day makes a real difference to the businesses we choose to avoid and to grow with our custom.

A simple example is I buy meat for dinner from the local butcher opposite the super market as they have bio-degradable plastic for the meat while the super market over packages the meat in old fashion plastic packaging. It is very easy for me. Plus the butcher looks after me better - I get what I want rather than what the super market manager thinks I want.

All the butchers in the shopping mall now use bio-degradable plastic because they were loosing business to the butcher being customer/environment smart.

I now approach the super market supervisors and say they need to get bio-degradable bags and they pass the message on, even though they know perfectly well that I turn up with my own calico shopping bags.

Businesses want to make money - there's more money to be made by being sensible with taking logical environmental steps and letting your customers know about it than not. For the daft customers who don't care it won't matter, for the growing number of intelligent customers they will make it easier to choose to spend money with them.

Part of the key is simply speaking up and telling your shops that being environmently smart matters to you and you'll show your care with your money.

While I'm writing this I'm seeing how much these simple things do matter to me. I do believe in being the change you want in the world and I do think it is just about being selfish when you ignore your environmental footprint. From my experience people like to be caring and considerate so looking to the power of your spending money to make real change for the world we've been entrusted with and given makes complete sense.

So that's my say for today. :)

Best wishes,

Belinda

Jewelry Display Stands and Handmade Jewelry

Big Green Purse: Shopping power = shopping less?

greenlagirl — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 03:51:33 -0500

Save the world by -- shopping? Such Bush-esque advice makes many an environmentalist raise a weary eyebrow. But Diane MacEachern's new book, Big Green Purse: Use Your Spending Power to Create a Cleaner, Greener World, turns out not quite to be what the cover seems to advertise. In fact, "Big Green Purse" shows how using one's spending power might in fact be exercising the power NOT to give in to marketing ploys and sales pitches.

After all, rampant consumerism's what got us into our current environmental dilemma. Title of the book aside, Diane never loses an opportunity to preach the reduce, reuse, recyle mantra. Of the 7 shopping tips "Big Green Purse" espouses, the first is "Buy less."

So why the rather misleading title? Perhaps it's a lure to entice otherwise blithely oblivious shoppers into picking up the book. Once opened, "Big Green Purse" loses no time getting right into the middle of things, kicking off with a doom and gloom chapter that points out all the problems caused by "regular" consumption, depicting a world full of cancerous chemicals marked with the looming fear of potential ecological collapse. Yikes!

The book does gets cheerier from there, emphasizing that individuals -- especially women -- can make a big difference by spending less, and spending differently. Chapters are divided into different aspects of life, covering everything from healthy food to eco-cleaning to, of course, clothes and purses. For the caffeine lovers, Diane actually dedicated an entire chapter to coffee, tea and cocoa!

"Big Green Purse" actually has much in common with another recently published book, "Healthy Child, Healthy World," (I reviewed it here) -- though the titles make the books sound vastly different. For those who get easily overwhelmed, Big Green Purse might be easier to handle, as Diane's list-making proclivities -- arranging the eco-advice in order of practicality and importance -- make it easier for newbies to prioritize their eco-actions.

While taking in the environmental messages, "Big Green Purse" also urges consumers not to get sucked in by the alarming, pseudo-scientific marketing messages, such as those that erroneously encourage people to buy antibiotic soaps or synthetic "age-defying" creams.

Of course, even die-hard anti-consumerists still need to buy stuff. Veggies and undies come to mind, for example (though I suppose some might go so far as to grow or sew all of their own). And for these necessary purchases, "Big Green Purse" gives some smart, practical advice for making the greenest purchasing decisions depending on your circumstances.

Perhaps "Big Green Purse" should be renamed "Think before you shop." Okay -- That isn't exactly catchy, but I'm still trying to get my head around the fact that the title seems so incongruous with the content of the book. Already-environmentalists are likely to be turned away by the seeming rah-rah-shop-now message, while the newly eco-curious might be disappointed (and perhaps scared) by the first doom-and-gloom, stop-shopping-so-much chapters.

Is that a pessimistic view? I hope so. Maybe angry environmentalists will pick up the book and be assuaged by the dark green message, and eco-newbies will be scared into their senses....
_____

BlogHer Contributing Editor Siel also blogs for the Los Angeles Times at Emerald City, and at greenLAgirl.com.