Comments on: MANUFACTURING & SUSTAINABILITY: Two Brands Weigh In

By: Will

Will — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 23:31:27 +0000

I think a change in understanding needs to be made for changes to happen. Corporate transparency cannot be maintained by a corporation. Money corrupts and the amount of companies to keep track of for consumers, even conscientious ones, is to large. Regulation is key. Self-regulating companies need not complain if they are in fact cooperating.

Excessive consumers need to learn to respect the clothes that they have. Though “green”, “organic” and maybe better looking clothes cost more these standards are what we ought to, at least, be working towards; and not just one but all these points. Most people I know don’t wear things until they wear out. New things are nice but should we really rely on such things for personal representation. Individuality can not be embodied in wearing something that is essentially garbage. This is an age where information is treated like garbage.

By: lynda fassa

lynda fassa — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 20:13:39 +0000

I just wanted to say that bananas do, in fact, use a huge amount of pesticides. Consumer Reports, however, put them in the ‘doesn’t matter if you buy convention or organic’ category because the end user consumes very little of the pesticides, as most is on the skin. However, not so for the plantation workers. or the grocery store clerks, or for that matter our water supply. Plus of course, the pesticides get brought into our cars, sit on kitchen tables and soon enough sit in landfills as the fruit is consumed and the peel gets thrown away. It really always makes sense to buy organic.

By: Cannon

Cannon — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 17:05:23 +0000

I think a lot of different ideas for how to bring better transparency to sustainable production/distribution were covered but the one in particular that is the most important is the “life cycle analysis.” If companies start revealing how much carbon, non-renewable packageing, etc… was produced to deliver & manufacture their product consumers will have the information available to make sustainable purchasing deceisons. Companies that are delivering the most sustainable products will be rewarded. Legislation and regulation will only cloud consumers purchases and limit the potential of sustainability. Customers need to understand the total “life cycle” of the products their buying in order to understand the impact of their consumption. Right now we only have a price, description, and marketing to go by to make that deceison.