Blogs & Ecology

If you’ve been seriously bruised in the stock market lately, and your 401k is starting to look like a 201k, maybe it’s time to consider investing your money where it can do some good. The expanding area of socially responsible investing (SRI) is offering a growing selection of innovative financial products that provide both financial and social returns. Consider it much safer and certainly much more rewarding than the stock market, which is starting to resemble a night out in Vegas.

Designers enrich our lives in a myriad of ways. From furniture to coffee mugs, a designer is part of the production team. The pervasiveness of design gives designers an important role and an opportunity to use design to call attention to important social issues.

In 2005 BBMG, a marketing company that helps socially conscious companies, conducted research on conscious consumers. Founded by Raphael Bemporad and Mitch Baranowski, the company's researcher first looked at the purchasing decisions of 24 consumers in three cities: Lawrence, KS; Long Island, NY; and Livermore, CA.

Researchers observed the behaviors, values, and experiences of the consumers in order to learn why American consumers are becoming more socially aware. The findings were compiled into the BBMG Conscious Consumer Report.