I read a great article today about France being the second largest global consumers of Le Macdo (MacDonalds to you and I) and being so ashamed of the fact that practically no-one will own up to being a customer.
This got me thinking – it’s a rare event but it occasionally happens – what a great theme for a meme (suddenly I’m a poet, without knowing it). The basis of the meme is the three brands that you use/consume most regularly, which you would loathe to admit in civil company. Oh yeah, it’s clever!
1. Persil – I know that I should use Ecover, or one of its rivals, but I’ve never found an environmentally focused clothes washing product that cleans or freshens as well as the mainstream brand-names.
2. The Halifax – This is pure laziness, I’ve spent a number of hours explaining my love for micro-financing schemes such as the Co-op’s and yet I’ve done abso-bloody-lutely nothing about it. In case you don’t know, micro-financing is the act of lending small amounts of money to communities in third world countries on the same repayment schedules as for much larger loans. These schemes are generally more profitable than lending large sums to Western borrowers and can increase social cohesion and offer opportunities for women in poverty to get ahead. Genius and I'm a bad man for not helping out.
3. Gap – However much I hate to admit it – and I do – I buy a fair amount of my clobber at the World’s most friendly purveyor of sweatshop-produced clothing. It's not the price or the company's immoral stance that appeals though, it's the cut of their trousers and t-shirts. My body was designed around the blueprint of a knuckle-dragging ape, meaning that it's nigh on impossible to buy jeans and casual tops that don't sit round my ankles or cut off the circulation to my nose. Gap have clothes that fit well, I need well-fitting clothes and sadly that has previously been enough to facilitate my brand advocacy.
Well I'm certainly not perfect but unlike the filthy Frogs I'm willing to admit it. Ben, Felix and Wadds are next to 'fess up and together we can make the World a happier and no doubt shinier place. Everyone say aahh.
I will change and so can you, announce your dirty habits and resolve to change them.
Thursday, 21 August 2008
Why I'm a bad man...
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8 comments:
You are bad. Very bad.
I started buying these mint cookies recently purposely because they were individually foil wrapped. My thought process was that it would slow down how many I ate when under duress; but I know it is only increasing more waste. What is a girl to do? Environment vs. waistline. Does that make me a horrible person?
Yeah, it makes you a bad person! Sort yourself out Rose.
Seriously, I think it's important that those decisions at least trigger a small amount of introspection. Good on you for thinking about the environment, I knew you weren't totally evil.
Sorry I didn't spot this earlier (it hasn't showed up in Technorati) but I did have a chicken burger and two lots of fries at around midnight on Wed at MuckyDs in Charring Cross. It's essential fodder to stave off hangovers. Will respond via my blog shortly.
No probs Wadds. I'm intrigued to discover how you manage to screw up the World. It may even make me feel better about myself.
Amanda Rose fear not! Foil is easily donated to Guide Dogs For The Blind who sell it to raise money.
And Dom, Ecover washing powder is actually rather good (and the fabric softener smells lush) but don't go near the dishwasher tablets. Naff as.
Thanks Emily, appreciate the comments. Still don;t really understand how all of the foil collection schemes work though. They must be making no money from it because the foil collectors pay so little.
That is unless they're building a blind dog playground out of teh refuse foil. Now that's something I could really get involved in!
I'm still slightly disturbed by the fact that you wrote this in a blog post:
"I’ve never found an environmentally focused clothes washing product that cleans or freshens as well as the mainstream brand-names."
I've got visions of you doing comparative testing of washing powders and liquids on a lonely Sunday afternoon.
Lovely.
Mark, I'm saddened that you think it'd be a lonely Sunday afternoon. I invite all of my mates round and we crowd the kitchen in our enthusiasm for laundry testing.
Oh, and we wear white coats and goggles - to keep it scientific.
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