Yesterday I was in the library with my son, looking at books about Cesar Chavez. I flipped one open and read about how they used to spray toxic pesticides on the fields
while the workers were in the fields. I closed the book and slid it back onto the shelf. As I often do, I decided to shield my son who is in Kindergarten from this particular detail for a few more years. Reading about Cesar Chavez reminded me of a time several eons ago when I sat in front of a class of 32 fourth graders in downtown Los Angeles discussing the
grape boycott as part of our California history lesson. "You see," I told them, "when you buy something, it's like you are voting for it. You aren't just buying a product. You are supporting the companies who make the product. And if you don't agree with what they are doing, then you shouldn't give them your money." I told them what a powerful message ordinary people were able to send these companies simply by choosing to
not buy something.
This is the power of the purse. And while public policy and government action must play a major role in order to address many of the most dire problems our planet and its inhabitants face, it is also true that individual choices, including our own
personal consumption choices, are often the fastest way we can impact our own health as well as send messages to the marketplace. Businesses tend to notice when they stop selling products and stop making money.
The U.S. – China Greener Consumption Forum
The U.S. and China are the world's two "consumer super powers." And on March 22, 2013 at the World Bank in Washington, D.C., women leaders from both countries will gather for
The U.S. – China Greener Consumption Forum to meet and address the environmental challenges their countries face due to consumption.
The Forum will convene leading consumer advocates, green entrepreneurs, scientists and public policy specialists to explore ways to marshal the "power of the purse" to protect the planet.
