Saturday June 21, 2008
JUST A MINUTE
By JOANNA ABISHEGAM
THERE was a time when I used to enjoy shopping. I’d meander through the aisle of our local Sainsburys, mindlessly chucking green beans from Kenya and pineapples from Costa Rica into my trolley, as they took my fancy. I’d buy strawberries in winter and pumpkin in the summer, and never worry about things like food miles, ethically sourced ingredients and organic produce. To me, a carbon footprint was nothing more than some poor sod who had stepped into a vat of photocopy toner.
These days however, it’s a whole different ball game. The weekly shop is fraught with stress. Have we remembered to bring our own reusable shopping bags? Are the eggs free range, the light bulbs low voltage, the loo-paper recycled, the wine fair trade and everything minimally packaged?
Do I look like a lentil munching, sandal wearing, tree hugging hippie to you?
The green revolution has hit Britain with a resounding whack. Green is glamorous, sustainable is sexy and you either toe the line or face the wrath of the insufferably greener-than-thou establishment.
“Conforming” is a dirty word in my vocabulary. However, when the argument is sound and ethical, it’s really no point bucking the trend.
So when The Economist said that the “green agenda” was the hot colour right now, you can bet I put on my emerald garb and got ready to party with the best of them!
Britain’s ethical consumerism market in the last few years has grown to £29.3bil, with some £4bil coming from food and drink sales.
According to the Institute for Grocery Distribution, shoppers are increasingly prepared to pay a premium for high-quality organic, free-range or fair trade products.
The Institute predicts that the trend is growing so fast that soon it will apply just as rigorously to other household items like toothpaste, soap and tea towels.
The research has even gone on to identify the different types of ethical shopper. These include:
· The Showboaters – those affluent, middle-class urban eco-warriors who have reluctantly parked the Hummer in the garage, bought out the Prius and are working hard to be seen doing the right thing, because it’s oh so trendy dahling!
· The Guerillas – the real lentil munching brigade, who boycott brands, sport zero-carbon hemp sandals, know a dozen ways to cook seasonal curly kale and are constantly grumpy – due, no doubt, to the chafing of their unbleached cotton ‘fair trade’ knickers.
· And last but not least (and the category I most identify with, unfortunately) is the Lapsed Activists – the poor souls who forget to take stuff off standby and unplug the mobile chargers (Note to self: must do better!)
However, because the green market is growing at an annual rate of 7.5% (the conventional groceries market is doing a staid 4.2% in comparison), boardrooms across Britain are sitting up and taking notice.
Upping the ante to address customer’s environmental concerns, major supermarkets are making more commitments to extensive long-term environmental improvement, and Waitrose is a prime example. The supermarket chain has begun a ground-breaking trial that could lead to its entire fleet of lorries being powered by rapeseed oil.
Tesco, that bastion of consumerism, is investing £2mil in supporting locally sourced products and opening five regional buying offices to facilitate this. It plans to halve its energy consumption by 2010 and is spending £100mil to develop renewable energy.
Marks & Spencer will spend £200mil over five years on a wide-ranging eco-plan which promises to change the way the chain operates. Initiatives include transforming the 460-strong chain into a carbon neutral operation; banning group waste from landfill dumps; using unsold out-of-date food as a source of recyclable energy and making polyester clothing from recycled plastic bottles.
In recent years, many of us have learnt how to become more environmentally responsible at home. Millions now recycle their domestic rubbish, tens of thousands have installed water butts and thousands, us included, now grow some of our own produce at home.
Living the green life can be fun, rather than the hair shirt it is painted out to be.
I can’t say I’m not a little wistful when I substitute my politically incorrect leather Gucci handbag with the ‘I’m not a plastic bag’ Anya Hindmarsh cotton tote sold for a fiver at Sainsburys. But I console myself with the thought that its green credentials are so hot, it was the official goodie-bag at the 2007 Vanity Fair Oscar-night party!
· Joanna Abishegam-David is a Malaysian born journalist and writer who lives and works in London. She can be reached at joanna.david05@gmail.com
This article was taken from: The Star Online: Bizweek 21 June 2008
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