Words as Catalyst: Exacting Change in the Marketplace

I'm on page 68 of Naomi Klein's book The Shock Doctrine. She writes about Milton Friedman and the Chicago School attempting to inculcate laissez-faire economics in Chile during the '50s and '60s. I have never before understood the capitalist ideal until now. As utopian as The Communist Manifesto, the pure world of laissez-faire economics is self-sustaining and bountiful. And what do purists, socialist and capitalist alike, detest? A secondary colour wheel of businesses that cater to the concerns of consumers and that work alongside government organizations for the greater good of its citizens and not the bottom line.

With the responsibility of raising two sons, I expend the majority of my energy towards ensuring that any molecule within ten feet of them is free of pesticides/herbicides, organic, non-GMO, non-leaching, kosher...safe.

So, in 2002, two years before my first son was born, I heard David Suzuki say that drinking water from plastic bottles was not a good idea...something to do with hormones. Then, in 2006 I was reminded while reading through the http://www.mothering.com/ website that #something or other plastic should be avoided for that same reason that David Suzuki said four years earlier. When am I going to use this information? Why is it so important that it keeps coming up? I don't know how many times I needed to hear plastic water bottle stories. Even a long-lost classmate sent me a post on Facebook about it.

Nonetheless, the November/December 2007 issue of Mothering magazine reiterated the concern about toxins in plastics in the article "Out of the Mouths of Babes," by Mary Brune. Finally, I listened. Finally, I took note.

I was sent into a fury. I immediately began de-plasticizing my house reading numbers inside arrow-headed triangles. What the heck am I going to do with all this T@#pperw@#$? What did people put their food and drink into before plastic? Oh yeah...ceramic, glass, Stainless steel.

In my fury, I tossed my husband's Nalgene water bottles into the back of the pantry and sent him to work with a ceramic plate, some stainless steel cutlery, and a glass...glass. No later was I on the http://www.mec.ca/ blog type-screaming about Nalgene bottles and toxins and could-you-please-look-into-this-matter.

That was on November 21, 2007. At least, that is the date that is time-stamped on my MEC blog comment. Today, MEC "has become the first major Canadian retailer to pull from its store shelves most products containing bisphenol-A, a chemical found in trace amounts in some hard plastic containers" as per CBC News.

Nice.

A coincedence? Very coincedental. Very effective too. I was just hoping for an email response saying that MEC will just look into the matter. I guess that's what separates a company that answers to $takeholder$ and a company that is a cooperative accountable to its members.

[tie back to Friedmanism... ]

Next challange...Tupperware. Born out of the 50s and manufactured desire. Housewives didn't stand a chance against the American Chemistry Council.