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The Body Shop give the impression that their products are made from mostly natural ingredients. In fact like all big cosmetic companies they make wide use of non-renewable petrochemicals, synthetic colours, fragrances and preservatives, and in many of their products they use only tiny amounts of botanical-based ingredients.:
They also hide ingredient labels on alot of their products so it makes it hard to read whats in the product which is wrong.
That's all I'm gonna say on that one.... :D
What I want to know is
How the hell all you woman know this stuff????
:lol: Maz.... I looked into that stuff a few years ago when I wanted to know what the big deal about the Body shop products was all about...:
As for others, not sure....
So is "So Good" Sanitarium soy milk fermented or unfermented?
Soy milk is not fermented soy.
Maz, I read and read and read and read. The farming stuff I know because that's my life LOL. I read stuff from both sides, because there is often so much conflicting evidence but reading both sides will give you a broad enough view of it to form an opinion
I was pointed to the baby milk action website by a midwife friend, and read it thoroughly. I also read the Nestle site and their statement regarding the accusations. They try to defend themselves but I just don't buy it, the evidence against them is overwhelming.
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Your're right....
they also changed their slogan from "not tested on animals" to "animal friendly" some time in the 90s i believe.
The Body shop, and MOST other companies are out to make money, it all comes down to sales. Yep, the body shop does do some community stuff but i can tell you the focus on that is minute compared to the focus on sales. Daily sales targets, constant training in pushing add ons, up-selling.... etc.
Maz, apart from working there i did ALOT of online research when i started to question their ethics at the time.
In essence i try to support local products where i can, organic products... and follow Failsafe where possible. But sometimes living with such limited options is way too time consuming when you have demanding fussy toddlers.
As i said do what you can, you're no less a person if you have nestle in your home than someone with a nestle free home. Maybe you donate to charities, maybe you save second hand water for the garden, maybe you just use light saver light bulbs... whatever.
We can't all be nestle free, i admire those who can, but also expect admiration for the ethical environmentally friendly things i do do, nestle aside.
Great. I just read the soy thread. DS was diagnosed as lactose intolerant but it was due to being on 3 consecutive courses of anti-biotics :shakehead: So then he was on lactose free milk. But then the MCHN said that that was no good for him and he'd be better off drinking soy milk. So he's been drinking soy milk, sometimes up to 700mls a day, for about the last 12 months! :o:
Maybe you could switch him to rice milk? I know Christy makes her own now because that is what her girls have. but like I said in that other thread, you can source calcium from sources other than milk, so you could at least try to cut down on it so he isn't having as much?
I so dont want him having it anymore :( . He calls it his "nice". He loves it. Im going to buy rice milk tomorrow and try to switch it. I've tried giving him normal milk but he wont have a bar of it. He's not lactose intolerant anymore. He just got used to having soy :( I wish i'd just used rice milk from the start.
WOW... thank you so much for starting this thread. I too had no idea about why Nestle was boycotted :redface:
I have only just started in the past few months to become 'aware' and I am facinated by some of these posts, alI I can say is I am going to start reading a lot more about ethical living. Thank you.
Where to start... :o
:
Take a look here: Fair Trade Australia
And here: Checkout Fairtrade Will help locate fair trade supermarkets, etc...
No they didn't change to "animal friendly". Yes they are a business and upselling is expected in any retail store. Of course you have sales targets - who doesn't?:
"Some" community stuff? Every person that works at the Head Office is expected to do Community Service as part of their contract. Do you know how much they raise for Domestic Violence in Australia on a yearly basis? No "administration" costs involved.
You wouldn't believe some of the thing I have seen TBS employees do on a community level - in their own time.
Okay just double checked, i stand corrected.:
They changed their slogan from "not tested on animals" to "against animal testing".... not sure of the exact year, but something to think about.... GOOGLE it if you want more info. Why the change, if not testing on animals?? hrm??
Also i know full well about the community service, I WORKED THERE, remember? I don't know how much head office does, but each employee at each store does ONE DAY per year of community service. They receive their usual pay rate for that day. One year it was planting trees, another year i worked with a woman from a woman's shelter.... its always different, and yes it is nice of them. BUT its still overly exaggerated in my opinion. I can also give plenty of examples of wastage and unethical things that occurred within the company but obviously won't do so on a public forum as i don't want to be liable for slander. I think i've said enough.
Out of curiosity - when did you work there Matryoshka? I also worked for TBS, but it was close to 18 years ago, so perhaps their way of operating has changed? I know that when I worked there the business overall was incredibly conscious about sustainability and fair trade issues on such an overall level (I gave a few examples in the other thread about it, won't repeat myself here).
Also, TBS never actually marketed themselves as using wholly organic or even natural ingredients, or at least they didn't when I worked there. We were encouraged to inform people of what went into the products - a particular example of it was the White Musk perfume - which was intentionally marketed as a synthetic alternative to natural musk. But as this was at a time when there was little demand for organic, synthetic free cosmetics, they were groundbreaking simply for their stance on using animal cruelty free ingredients (and demanding transparency from their suppliers too).
To be honest, I think that a company like TBS is a poor comparison to Nestle. Nestle, like certain petroleum distributors whom we won't mention, are concerned only with their bottom line and making a profit. Generally, if they implement a sustainable or ethical policy it is an inherently marketable one - something that looks good in the public eye but doesn't make any impact on their overall behaviour (or profit margin). TBS spent a lot of money on sustainable infrastructure and developing fair trade relationships etc, long before anyone even knew what that meant, and some of the strategies they implemented meant a reduction in profit margin. They also funnelled profits back into education and campaigning.
I think it's utterly unrealistic (and counter-productive) to expect that any company operate in a way that is not mindful of profits. A business that is as sustainable or ethically conscious as they can possibly be whilst still maintaining a profit (ie: is still in operation), is of far greater value than a business that cannot make a profit because it costs more than they can make to be ethical. What's the point of a company being wholly ethical if it can't influence the marketplace by staying in business?
Curly, Maz - I reckon if you have to use what you have to use, but avoid as much as possible - that's still better than nothing IYKWIM?
If we all do what we can...for some that is a lot, for others not as much in this area... but to be aware & make a difference where we can is a start. (and I guess that applies to a lot of ethical choices....)
Hun, I changed my FB status even though I am using up the last of the Nescafe :redface: because to me it is all about awareness... I didn't know this before & am horrified now... so I want to share with others.:
I got Panda onto it, teenagers are great with this kind of stuff ;)
Jas I agree with your stance. Boomba don't feel bad (or Maz) hells bells & panther tracks we all do our bit.
Yes I particular take issue to Nestle and make big efforts not to use their products. That's my thing. I also choose organic where possible. I use very little chemicals in my home. (sometimes bleach because I am a clean freak and when the mould takes over my white tiles.... well I bleach)
But if we try. If our heart is wanting change & our money goes when it can to good companies... Well I reckon we are making a difference. Take a step at a time. Don't expect to get it all sorted in a day or a week or even a year.
Bit at a time. Chip away... :hug:
Definitely chip away. I still try where I can. I buy things with the free trade logo, and I steer clear of most Nestle products. I have other little causes that follow and I support everyone I know who supports a good cause, because even they need support. And do educate the kiddies, don't scare the pants off them but be honest. DD has always been educated about dodgy companies, false advertising etc. One of her first stories that she wrote was about the environment. I have a little worrier, she stresses about the big bad world a lot. She cried her poor little heart out because we forgot about earth hour. Her school is very environment focused as well as community and preventing poverty focused so she gets a lot from school and home. I think if we start with them we are doing our future generations a big favour because they will be the ones fighting for their rights in 15-20 years.