Green activism at the supermarket

Abstract

Supermarkets and other retail outlets, which are often seen as the incarnation of rabid consumerism, do not immediately spring to mind when one thinks about green activism. However, by making informed choices at such outlets, they can very well become another arena contested by the green lobby. The phrase ‘carbon footprint’ has become a cliché in recent years and has been adopted as a marketing tool, with many car brands, for instance, prominently featuring their vehicles’ supposedly reduced carbon footprint. Carbon footprint refers to the impact in terms of greenhouse gas emissions that a particular activity has, ranging from car manufacture to travelling on an aircraft.