By Megan Cohen
On Stuff Happens, Bill Nye suggests you vote with your wallet as an eco-smart grocery shopper. However, not every supermarket stocks the environmentally friendly items - like shade-grown coffee and grass-fed beef - that Nye recommends. Here are some action steps for getting stores in your area to carry green items.
Find Out Who's Listening
Retail outlets know that giving shoppers what they want is just plain good business, so there's almost always someone on staff who is willing and able to listen to your requests. The next time you're filling your shopping cart, ask to speak to the store manager. Make a friendly connection, and provide a cleanly typed list of your requested products. If you encounter resistance, ask how buying decisions get made, and what they'd like to see before deciding to add an item to the roster. The more info you can get, the better you'll be able to make a plan. Do you need to get 100 people to sign a petition? Do you need to get the ear of someone higher up on the staff chain of command? Try to walk away with a firm sense of what your next action will be.
Strength In Numbers
Although your target store might be impressed by the persistence of a single shopper, they're more likely to take notice if a large number of customers (or potential customers) demand an item. The more people you can get to write letters, make calls, or simply sign a petition stating that they'd like to spend on green items, the more attention you'll win from the store. Plus, by organizing a community of allies to help keep the pressure on, you can see big results without having to devote too much of your personal time to the crusade. This can work on a small scale with your local market, or you can join a national letter-writing crusade targeting a major supermarket chain.
Come Back Regularly
Making your views known once is better than nothing, but to bring about real change, keep a standing date with the store's buyer or manager. Consider asking a motivated group of fellow shoppers to join you in a monthly visit to the store to reinforce your requests en masse, or make a habit of calling once a week to let management know you still care about green products. If you show persistence, you're more likely to be taken seriously.
Take Your Business Elsewhere
If, after you've tried a couple of tactics, your target supermarket still won't stock a green item, find another store that does, and spend your money there. However, don't do so quietly - let the store you've left know why you're switching to their competition, and what it would take to win your business back. If you can show a store that they're actively losing money by refusing to stock eco-friendly products, their desire to stay in the black just might get them to go green.
