Doing the Right Thing

Afraid to Shop, Starshine Goes Lame with Eco-Shame

I bought a book called The Better World Shopping Guide at Chaucer's. It was the worst thing I ever did. The book grades more than 1,000 companies on their environmental and social impact. My son likes to go through it and tell me how our chocolate is "slave-free" but our mayonnaise is made by a "corporate villain" who "continues to do business in Burma." Neither of us knows where Burma is.

The more I read, the less I know. When Newsweek names McDonald's one of the nation's greenest corporations, you know society's criteria has become a-jumble. Things used to be simpler. Not long ago, the words "dolphin-safe" were all you had to know about seafood. Now, how do you choose a healthy, humane, can't-I-just-eat-my-fish-in-peace piece of salmon anymore, for carp's sake?

I like to think that normal people — people without my persnickety A-student personality — are content and even proud to make "lesser evil" choices and stick to them. But not me. I want to do it right. I want to hold up my end.

But since I'm afraid to go shopping anymore, I'll just sit here and eat the only thing in my house that doesn't seem to be triggering the end of the world. If I can't be guilt-free, at least I can be "slave-free."

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