because it’s 2018

     Conscientious shopping has made a big breakthrough.  Canadians who think about ethics, practise eco-friendliness and pursue a healthy lifestyle for our families and our communities when we shop have grown from a few on the fringes to many in the mainstream. 

    The good news is that it’s become so much easier to be healthy, ethical and eco-friendly.  Not like the days when we had to bicycle halfway across town with our own containers to bulk-purchase eco-friendly detergent at a shop manned by volunteers, or bag our empty bottles for the privilege of sorting the glass by colour at a recycling depot.  Fresh food from local farms was a treat for only a few months a year, on Saturday morning, a drive away.  Now, even neighbourhood supermarkets offer eco-friendly household goods and farm-fresh local produce. Restaurants, even fast-food chains, offer vegetarian choices.  Cities recycle most garbage.  We can pick up eco-friendly goods strolling down the aisles of Canadian Tire, Shoppers Drug Mart, Costco, Loblaws, etc.

     But just when we thought we could high-five one another about these successes, we're hit by the stark reality that the planet and millions of its people are more threatened than ever by environmental disaster.  Civil wars and post-colonial conflicts are killing far more innocent civilians than soldiers.  Many of those soldiers are themselves children.  Human rights are assaulted every day, in almost every part of the world.  The U.S.A. backed out of the Paris Agreement on climate change, saying the health of its big businesses trumps the health of the planet. 

    The repugnance of many Canadians toward the Trump administration has motivated a lot of us to think twice about supporting the U.S. economy with our shopping dollars.  Because of that, every day we're being joined by many new believers in the potential of positive shopping.

    The goods, the knowledge, the discussions of what's right and wrong to buy...  They're all out there, thanks to the internet.  Dudley Does Right can connect with them all.