The Conscious Consumer

Hello again!

Today I had an idea. I'm going to start a new blog. Although it is not totally out of the scope of this blog, the topic is more specific, and I figure it will get more attention for what it is if the title is more apt.

My parents taught me thrift, and as a young teen, when I began to make my own purchases, I took a couple factors (and maybe a third) into consideration. These were: price, quality, and pleasure. That is, when choosing a product to purchase, I would opt for the cheapest item that worked, but being the sensual being that I am, I would be willing to spend a little extra for, say, a fruity-scented soap bar over a plain one. But within the past couple of years, my measures have changed. And this makes decision-making a little more difficult.

With all the (recent) hype about "going green", stores are now stocking their shelves with more environmentally friendly products alongside the "regular" ones. In addition, alternatives are appearing to products containing potentially harmful chemicals. Given the alarming study results (which I unfortunately can't cite at the moment, but remember reading about at some point) that cancer rates are increasing, human hormones are being affected, and that fertility is on the decline, it is difficult not to feel troubled. We blame chemicals in our food and the products we use daily, but how can we avoid them? I personally was aware of certain of the "bad" ingredients in toiletries and make-up several years ago, but given that practically all the products I found contained them, I didn't make an effort to avoid them. But recently I have decided to put in that extra effort, and in order to help out others with the same ideals in mind, I am going to put the information I gain in the public view.

I now make my purchases with the following in mind:

-Quality--Is the product effective?
-Health hazards/benefits -I try to avoid known toxic chemicals and look for beneficial (usually natural) ones.
-Environmental impact - I try to go with biodegradable, nontoxic products as much as possible.
-Pleasure- yummy to taste, touch and smell!
-Price-I don't want my wallet getting too thin!
-Country/company of origin-purchasing local products reduces CO2 emissions. But I also want to support smaller, grassroots companies (and those dealing in fair trade) and avoid companies known to be either unfair to their workers or not concerned with some of the other factors above (such as environmental impact).

So my new blog will work as follows. Every week will have a theme (the type of product). Every day there will be a featured product. I will probably change this scheme to month/week once I have a decent number of posts, because I can't really test a product every day (unless I get rich or someone decides to sponsor me or send me samples ^_^). Anyway, every post will review and rate a particular product according to the factors above, and I will give information as to where it can be purchased (since I need that information myself). (Note: I'm not trying to promote any company, simply providing information ^_^.)

I will post the link to the new blog once I've created it.

Yay!