Episode 01 - What is Ethical Consumption?
In this introductory episode, we explain what the Pullback podcast is all about. To illustrate how difficult it is to know what the right thing to do is, Kristen quizzes Kyla on the world of ethical consumption. If you are interested in trying the quiz, you can access it here.
Ethical Consumption Quiz
Below we include a bit more information on the themes from our ethical consumption quiz.
Ethical Consumer Labels
The first question is about ethical consumer labels. There are many of these labels, some with very robust standards and others with less rigour.
Most Effective Climate Solutions
We borrowed questions two and three from a a CNN quiz. CNN based the quiz on research done by a a group called Project Drawdown, which ranks climate change solutions.
Question two is all about food-related climate solutions. Even though throwing away less food was the most effective climate solution, the effect of eating a plant-based diet is similar. Specifically, Project Drawdown estimates the effect of the four food-based solutions as follows:
1. Throw away less food: Similar to taking 495 million cars off the road;
2. Eat a plant-heavy diet: Similar to taking 464 million cars off the road;
3. Cook over clean stoves: Similar to taking 111 million cars off the road;
4. Compost your waste: Similar to taking 16 million cars off the road.
Question three asks about waste-related climate solutions. Estimated effectiveness of the four waste-related solutions is as follows:
1. Clean up chemicals in our refrigerators and air conditioners: Similar to taking 629 million cars off the road;
2. Build with “greener” cement compounds: Similar to taking 47 million cars off the road;
3. Use water more efficiently: Similar to taking 32 million cars off the road;
4. Increase household recycling: Similar to taking 19 million cars off the road.
What’s the deal with refrigerants and climate? In the mid-20th century we used chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) in refrigerators. Unfortunately, we found out that CFCs and HCFCs destroy the ozone layer. So, in 1987 the international community came together and agreed on the Montreal Protocol, a treaty banning CFCs and HCFCs. Unfortunately, the refrigerants that have replaced the ozone-burning ones – hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) – are really potent greenhouse gases. They have a warming effect 1,000 to 9,000 times stronger than CO2.
HFCs are supposed to be phased out, per an amendment to the Montreal Protocol that came into force in January 2019. The Kigali Amendment sets a goal of reducing HFCs by 80% over the next 30 years, which could avoid up to 0.4 degrees of warming. The Kigali Amendment has been ratified by Canada, Australia, most countries in Europe, and a few African and Latin American countries. The United States has not ratified the Kigali Amendment. Nor have China, Brazil, and India, which are three risk priority countries.
Managing refrigeration chemicals was ranked as the number one climate change solution, not only in this category but overall, as identified by Project Drawdown. The top five climate change solutions identified by Project Drawdown are:
1. Manage refrigeration chemicals
2. Install onshore wind turbines
3. Cut down on food waste
4. Eat more plants and less meat
5. Restore our tropical forests
What a Waste!
Question four is about waste. According to a USA Today article by Byrnes and Frohlich — which draws on the World Bank’s What a Waste Database 2.0 — Canada produces the most waste per capita.
Generally speaking, wealthier countries waste more. High-income countries account for 16% of the world’s population but generate 34% of the world’s waste.
But this is not necessarily in the form of garbage. Municipal solid waste (MSW) is, according to Byrnes and Frohlich, “waste generated from companies, buildings, institutions, small businesses, houses, and yards”. It is often less than 5% of total waste. Canada ranks 22nd in the world for MSW.
Most waste is from other “special” waste categories - things like industrial, construction, and agricultural waste. Canada ranked as the most wasteful country in both agricultural and industrial waste.
Ethical Mobile Phones
Ethical Consumer is a nonprofit that provides information for ethical consumers. Among other things, they rate companies and products on a range of ethical criteria. Their mobile phone ratings give major phone brands a score out of 20. Ethical Consumer considers a 14+ to be an ethical company to support. 5-13 is sort of the middle range and anything under 5 is ‘needs improvement’. Most phone companies are in the messy middleThis is a holistic score looking at people, politics, animals, and product sustainability. Question five asks which major phone brand has the lowest ethical score according to this rating.
Fashion Transparency Index
Question six asks about the 2019 transparency index. Fashion Revolution is a global nonprofit that is working to make the fashion industry safer, cleaner, and fairer. Every year it publishes a transparency index which rates the transparency of 200 major fashion brands. Transparency, as they define it, means “public disclosure of sourcing relationships and of companies’ social and environmental policies and practices, goals and targets, governance, performance and progress.” The Fashion Transparency Index benchmarks brands’ public disclosures across five areas: policy and commitments; governance; supply chain traceability; supplier assessment and remediation; and spotlight issues.
Know the Chain
Know the Chain is an NGO that is working to eradicate forced labour in global supply chains. They produce annual reports on three sectors that they consider high-risk for forced labour. Those reports evaluate how major companies are doing on the issue of forced labour. Question seven asks about Know the Chain’s 2018 ITC Benchmark Report, which evaluates 40 large information, technology, and communications companies on how well they address forced labour in their supply chains.
Divestment
Divestment – or, disinvestment – is a tool that activists use to create social change. It is the act of no longer investing in something (like a financial boycott). Divestment is famously associated with anti-Apartheid advocacy targeted at South Africa in the 1980s. But it has since been applied to a range of issues. Question eight asks about a recent divestment from the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB).
This year CPPIB quietly divested from GEO Group and CoreCivic, two companies which hold the majority of contracts to manage ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) detention facilities in the US. As of 2018, it had held nearly $8 million USD in stock from those two companies. CPP did not make a public statement, and it has denied that ethical considerations prompted this decision. In fact, the CPPIB says that it does not screen individual investments “based on social, religious, economic, or political criteria”. But this decision did come after pressure from civic groups like Sum of Us and Leadnow.
CPPIB still invests in fossil fuels. However, during the recent election campaign Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also pledged to divest CPPIB from coal, oil and gas, so we will see whether that will happen. CPPIB owns shares in the handgun manufacturer Smith & Weston, as well as Ruger and Olin Corp., which produces ammunition for AR-15 rifles. And as of 2018 CPPIB had not divested from tobacco companies.
The private prison divestment movement in the US is gaining steam. This year high-profile divestment decisions were made by prominent banks. JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, SunTrust, BNP Paribas, and Fifth Third Bancorp all announced that they will no longer provide future financing to private prisons companies. These banks represent 72% of the total current financing available to private prison companies.
Virtual Water Footprints
“Virtual water footprint” refers to the water used to produce a finished product or service is its “virtual water” footprint. Question nine uses a calculation by environmental organization Friends of the Earth in the UK to ask which product has the highest water footprint.
E-Waste
Question ten is about e-waste (electronic waste). Globally, we produce 50 million tonnes of e-waste every year, according to a joint report of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and the World Economic Forum. Only 20% of that waste is recycled. The total estimated value of e-waste is $62.5 billion USD, which is roughly similar to the Gross Domestic Product of Croatia.