Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard feels very strongly about operating his company by convincing customers to follow along with the mantra of reduce, repair, reuse, recycle and reimagine.

In this interview he did with GreenBiz he identifies the Elephant in the room as growth in regards to a sustainable future. Not one public company will voluntarily restrict growth to save the planet. In fact, he points out that the problem is us! We’ve gone from identifying ourselves as citizens to consumers. “We’re like an alcoholic in denial. Until you get rid of the denial – nothing will happen.”

It’s hard to question the intentions of Patagonia as not being truly sustainable, considering they run anti-consumption advertisements. On Black Friday in 2012 they ran a New York Times ad with a Patagonia jacket under the headline “Don’t buy this jacket”.

Chouinard wants customers to think of the fact that the environmental cost is always higher than the price. He challenges customers to think twice before they buy something. “Do you need it, or are you just bored?”

It makes perfect sense but I know that I’m guilty of buying things I don’t need on many occasions. Is there a way to change our perception so we can go back to identifying as citizens rather than consumers and truly thinking through our purchases before mindlessly consuming?

After a successful career in the corporate world Doug Burgoyne decided to give it all up to take a chance at building his own business with a mission of “minimizing the stress of moving on our customers and the Earth.”

Frogboxes are reusable moving boxes that can be used on average 400 times before being recycled compared to a cardboard box which can only be used twice. Frogbox delivers the boxes to the customers house and picks them up when you are done with them.

People thought Doug was crazy when he first set out with this idea but the business has been successful beyond what he could ever imagine. They have expanded across Canada and the US and earned two high-profile investors after being featured on Dragon’s Den. You can see the pitch here. 

Not only do they operate the business with the focus of having the least negative impact on the environment as possible, they also donate 1% of their revenues to frog habitat restoration. Their success is largely due to their heavy focus on making customer service a priority and attempting to make the moving process a more pleasant experience for their customers.

What if for every latte you bought or yoga class you attended you were also helping some one in Ghana get clean water or an education.

This is now a reality thanks to Karma Exchange created by Vancouverite Shannen O’Brian.

Karma Exchange was created to change the mindset of charity. Instead of encouraging people to change their lifestyle they want people to shop with heart. Companies contribute by agreeing to donate part of their proceeds to a Karma Exchange charity and consumers  contribute by choosing to purchase these products over  an alternative. Sometime they are also able to offer a deal the product as well as proceeds going to a charity. So really its a win-win situation for everyone involved.

Sites such as this are changing the mindset when it comes to not only charity but also purchasing decisions regarding the environmental, health and social practices of companies. Here are two more examples of sites that aim to inform and aid consumers in their sustainable purchasing decisions.

Good Guide is a tool available to consumers to help them make informed decisions about their products regarding environmental and social practices of companies as well as the health impacts of a certain product. Started by a team from UC Berkeley they believe that transparency is the key to more informed consumer purchases and aim to make this accessible through their website.

Ethical Deal is a site similar to Groupon or Living Social, however they only offer deals on companies that they consider sustainable. Their mission is to make green mainstream and they make sustainable choices more accessible to consumers through the discounts you can purchase on their site. They use 4 different categories to determine if a product can be featured on their site. These are: cares for the planet, respects animal rights, benefits the community, and promotes wellness

Is this shift towards transparency and social entrepreneurship the new way of doing business?

The city of Toronto’s proposed ban on plastic bag that was supposed to come into effect in January was put aside in November due to a number of legal issues.

Toronto would have been the first major Canadian city to ban plastic bags. This has been very effective around the world including a number of large American cities such as Los Angeles, Seattle and Portland.

Other places that have done this successfully include Rwanda, Bangladesh and Mexico City.

So what’s the deal Canada?

Apparently the Canadian Plastic Bags Association, cause yes that’s a thing, along with the Ontario Convenience Stores Association both decided to sue the city. Their reasoning was that the ban was “unlawlful” and passed in “bad faith”.

Yes plastic bags can now be recycled, however they very rarely are. Canadians use a total of 2.86 billion bags annually, amounting to around 200 per person.

There are also many issues to overcome with implementing a plastic bag ban such as the costs to retailers and consumers. Another big issue is finding alternatives for uses such as picking up after your dog or bringing your fish home from the store.

Clearly it has worked in the past and I think that many major Canadian cities should be looking to nearby cities in the US to see what factors are needed to make this succeed.

Unlike US cities, Metropolitan Vancouver municipalities have no jurisdiction to outright ban plastic bag. However, If Vancouver plans on being the greenest city by 2020 a ban on plastic bags has got to be in the works somewhere with the provincial government’s support. So they should definitely start talking to the Canadian Plastic Bags Association so they can avoid legal action and hurting anyone’s feelings.