Know Your Source

Action:  Know your source, avoid products that cause deforestation.

Each purchase we make and freebie we take is a confirmation of the economic system that produced that good or service.  In essence, it says: “yes, I demand this good or service, please make more in the same way.”

Voting with your dollars requires research, and often a complex personal calculus about what we believe to be the lesser evil.  More than once before, prevailing environmental wisdom has encouraged a shift from one product—(for example, lard or other animal oils) to another (palm oil) that turns out to be just as problematic, and possibly even more so, in terms of #deforestation and #greenhousegasemissions.

Many of our most prized products come from the tropics, and increased consumption of them stands in direct conflict with keeping tropical ecosystems intact.  Furthermore, many of these products are farmed by people who live in poverty utterly divorced from the value of the products they produce. Coffee, tea, sugar, chocolate, tropical oils are all products where it makes sense to research their  production, ensure that there are adequate protections against #deforestation (#shadegrown and #birdfriendly) and to buy sustainably produced and #fairtrade product.  Further, it may make sense to reduce sheer consumption of these products.

Are you in to #knowyoursource and #votewithyourwallet to help us #pivotonclimate by 2020? Tag #2yrCO2 #2yearcarbondiet