Against the now all-too-commonplace backdrop of an economic downward spiral, our society of compulsive consumers is beginning to embrace the frugal habits of our grandparents' generation. We're sticking to our grocery lists, whipping out those rubber spatulas our mothers used to scrap mixing bowls, counting our change and squeezing out that last dollop of toothpaste from the tube. We're buying less of the things we don't need and being more efficient when using what we've got. As our society transforms into penny pinchers who think a little more about each purchase we make, we may be wondering: What exactly is this stuff I'm buying?
GoodGuide, found at http://www.goodguide.com, offers some insight on this issue. Currently in an early beta stage, this resource for finding safe and healthy products should be more useful when further developed, but is off to a good start. You can learn more about the chemicals in your face wash, or the labor conditions that produced your blue jeans.
Products are rated under these three categories:
Health Performance
GoodGuide's system takes into account both the impacts of a company's operations on its workers and local communities, and the impacts of using a specific product on your health.
Environmental Performance
For environmental performance, GoodGuide aggregates data on the life-cycle impacts of products, from manufacturing to transportation to use to final disposal.
Social Performance
For social issues, GoodGuide collects data on the social impacts companies have on their employees
The celebration of excess that emerged during high-points in America's economy left most of us hardwired to think about the things we consume only in terms of their immediate impact. As we go forth in the 21st century, we've got to train ourselves to think about production and waste stages too.
Speaking of waste, Elisabeth's recent post educated us on the applications of poop. Poop plays a title role in the exhibition “My Food My Poop” by conceptual artist Hugh Pocock. “My Food My Poop” examines man's intimate relationship with food, waste, and energy. For sixty-three days, Pocock weighed all of his food, drink, urine, and poop. He wanted to learn specifically what it takes to fuel his own body and, more globally, explore man's relationship to the production of energy and the use and waste of natural resources. “My Food My Poop” is on display through August 16th, 2009 at the Contemporary Museum in Baltimore, Maryland.
To learn more about “My Food My Poop,” please check out these websites:
http://myfoodmypoop.com/
http://www.contemporary.org/
And this article from the Baltimore Sun on the exhibition:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/arts/bal-my-food-my-poop-0527,0,6886083.story
- Lisa
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