By Siel Ju

Would-be ethical consumers face a growing problem. Once, we spent our green at smaller greener companies, voting with our dollars for eco-friendly products. Then big corporations started swallowing up our favorite eco-enterprises, leaving many an environmentalist conflicted. After all, if you sought out Aveda specifically to avoid paraben-happy Estée Lauder, you’ll have a hard time buying lotion from the now-Estée Lauder-owned Aveda. How’s an environmentalist to moisturize? 

With so many small, green companies getting snapped up by big corporations, shopping green’s gotten complicated. Eco-foodies snacking on fair trade [0] Ben & Jerry’s [1] ice cream and Dagoba [2] chocolates are now supporting Unilever and Hershey’s. Clean hippies washing up with Burt’s Bees [3] soap and brush with Tom’s of Maine [4] toothpaste are lining the pockets of Clorox and Colgate. Green fashionistas in Edun’s [5] organic [5], fair trade T-shirts are now walking billboards for a company part-owned by LVMH.  

But while the changes may jar old-time environmentalists, big buyouts mean big new markets for eco-products — which, for the most part, have retained their green elements. Today, the Wal-Mart crowd eats organic Stonyfield yogurt [6] (now owned by Groupe Danone), and even SUV drivers filling up at Mobile can drink organic, fair trade Honest Tea [7] (now owned by Coca-Cola) at gas station mini-marts.  

More eco-conscious products at mainstream stores can mean many new green shoppers. Burt’s Bees, for example, is expanding even during this recession, according to the Los Angeles Times [8]. Behind that growth is a $10 million Burt’s Bees ad campaign that points out the problematic chemicals in conventional products. “That’s one of the positive aspects [of the buyouts],” says Stacy Malkan, co-founder of the nonprofit Campaign for Safe Cosmetics [9]. “Big companies become willing to put money behind educating the public.”  

Still, buyouts can trigger a sense of betrayal for a company’s fans — prompting some, like Malkan, to change brands. “My personal philosophy is to not buy products from multinational corporations that are not making changes across the board,” she says, expressing skepticism that the environmental and social justice concerns championed by the bought-out companies will be honored long-term. 

Most environmentalists take a more middle-of-the-ground approach: Buy from once-small-now-big companies if no better green alternatives are easily available. Sometimes, that means buying Dagoba chocolates, says Chris O’Brien, a director at The Center for a New American Dream [10] who helps companies make sustainable purchases. “I don’t know of a ‘normal’ way to get fair trade, organic chocolate from another small company in the places that I shop,” he says, pointing out that convenience does play a role. 

Rebecca Sutton, a senior scientist at the nonprofit Environmental Working Group [11], says she too still buys green products from bought-out companies — but only after a search for other options. “When I hear of the latest buy-out, I often take the news as encouragement to try out alternatives, and see if I can find a product I like better,” she says. 

After all, while multi-million-dollar buyouts make headlines, many green products from new small companies enter the market every day — just with less fanfare. That means Dagoba’s no longer the best option, says Rodney North at Equal Exchange [12], a cooperatively-owned organic, fair trade company. “Almost all North Americans have plenty of good non-corporate choices,” North says, since in addition to Equal Exchange’s own chocolates, eco-chocoholics can pick from Alter-Eco, Art Bar, Cocoa Camino, Divine, Rapunzel, Sweet Earth, Theo, and many others. Plus, there’s online shopping, North says.  

Still, big brands aren’t going to disappear anytime soon — and while everyone agrees our spending habits can shape brands, opinions differ on how best to promote change. “Perhaps avoiding a large corporation's green offerings sends the message that it's not worth it for them to pursue greener products,” wonders Beth Terry, a blogger and activist whose Take Back The Filter campaign [13] pushed the Clorox-owned Brita to start recycling those plastic cartridges. “And that, I feel, just promotes the perception that green is for the elite few, not the masses.” 

Malkan disagrees, arguing that supporting a company with just a couple green lines will “only ensure that the green brands remain a niche market that’s more expensive and only available for [the well-off].” Likewise, O’Brien maintains that not buying from a less-than-green corporation sends a stronger message than buying a few token products. Big companies can, after all, decide to embrace across-the-board changes that’ll ease environmentalists’ shopping dilemmas. “The company that does step forward first is going to reap the benefits of a market that’s going to explode,” Malkan says. 

Clearly, there’s no one-size-fits-all method when it comes to ethical consumerism. For Sutton, each purchase entails a “complex mix of reasons”: function, aesthetics, habit, ingredients, environmental effects, labor issues, corporate responsibility, and many more. Weighing these factors thoughtfully will help each environmentalist buy more sustainably and ethically, whether in the end the lip balm comes from Burt’s Bees, an online eco-store, or a farmers’ market.