Become a Responsible Consumer

5 Ways to be a Responsible Consumer

1. Pledge to, when possible, only buy products that support your values

• Products to Boycott
• Products to Promote

2. Survey which stores and online retailers you often use, that offer products meeting your values

• The Responsible Consumer Shopping Guide
• Responsible Consumers Apps

3. Contact the companies and managers that aren’t offering these products and ask if they will start

• Examples:
  • ACSPCA Supermarket Request Letter
  • Timeless Foods Product Request Letter

4. Circulate a petition repeating your request for any store(s) refusing.  Share the petition with the store(s) as you increase signatures on a  consistent basis (once a week or every hundred signatures, etc)

• Example paper petitions
  • Template Lab: 30 Petition Templates + How To Write Petition Guide
    • Find places close by with high walking traffic to gather signatures
    • Join fairs, events, civic meetings, etc to gather signatues
• Online Petition Sites
  • Change.org
  • Care 2 Petitions
    • circulate petition around social media once a week
    • create social media accounts and hastags

5. Create a local campaign to put for any stores still refusing.

• Different types of campaigning
  • Letter writing campaign
  • Phone call campaign
  • Social Media campaigns – twitter hashtags and Facebook Causes pages
  • Petition Campaign
  • Events – rallies, socials, cookouts, happy hours, etc.  The more fun the better
  • Last resort – Boycott Campaign
    • Community ToolBox: Section 17. Organizing a Boycott
    • Ethical Consumer:  Boycotts: Your Quick-Start Guide