Goleman continues with his reiteration of important points. Purchasing power matters. Many companies will easily dress up their products behind "green language" that have nothing to do with the life cycle of the product and the impact it has. If you don't think taking the extra second to use your app that identifies better companies is worth it, companies won't pretend you're going to affect their bottom line. Nike and Coke are just two examples he explores that had to respond to public backlash when their labor or resource processes were discovered.
I was clued into Body Burden which is a couple who tracked the different chemicals in their blood from the everyday food we eat. The couple does this because many things that are FDA approved or which appear on lists of approved ingredients can not show up as harmful upon a small or infrequent doses. Over time though, chemicals accumulate and mingle with other chemicals to create unforeseen health defects. This chemical footprint can be mapped and tracked.
Goleman made me aware of Skin Deep which has been on my radar given what I've read about our microbiom. Turns out all the little bacteria we carry around to digest our food and keep our skin healthy are important! Shampoos care about the scent and selling power. There's much to be read and researched given the interplay of this microbes, but I've at least learned that you should simply Never. Shower. Again.
There was at one point I thought Goleman was sounding way too optimistic about business ethics. That when problems saw the light of day, most would see the error of their ways and do what they could to make something right. He quickly corrects this optimism in his next chapter which is very refreshing. The book doesn't try to end on a terribly positive note. It knows how much work has to be done to enable and get the public involved.
Last, but not least, of cool things that exist is Earthster, a free, open-source, LCA-driven window into supply chains. Or, a place for businesses to come and figure out how to make their practices sustainable. You put in from ground to dump how your product gets used, this can help you identify a way to make it zero-impact or totally sustainable. It's a work in progress.
So, there's the gist, still worth the read if only for the details and it's fairly quick.
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