Conscious Goods Alliance

Walking down Hudson Street in the West Village last night, it was hard to miss this giant bus that runs on veggie oil:

After doing some digging, I discovered that the Conscious Goods Alliance is a non-profit organization, based out of my hometown of Miami, FL. They have a very basic, but extremely powerful message:

You have the power. It’s in your wallet. Every time you buy a product from a company that does the right thing for people and planet, you’re sending a powerful message: continue doing right, and you will profit. Every time you buy something from a company that does the wrong things for people and planet, you send a very different message: go ahead and shortchange social responsibility for the almighty dollar, we don’t care.

It’s pretty simple. You vote each day with your dollars. You send a message. You create positive change.

Their goal, as stated on their website is:

Our goal is to build an unstoppable movement of conscious consumers that, by choosing the right products, motivates more companies to adopt a triple bottom line approach; one that values the social and ecological bottom line as well as the financial bottom line.

Their message is something we touch on often here at Advocate of Green. Most companies won't make a change to the way they do business unless it affects their bottom line. Making educated, informed buying decisions is the best way to hit them where it hurts! Make sure if a company isn't behaving in the way you feel lines up with your social and ethical values to 1) tell them: email, letter, phone...anyway you can get the message out and 2) Buy the same product made by a more responsible company.

I leave you with a video news clip on the Conscious Goods Alliance: