New Shopping Cart Helps You Stick It to the Man
EDS outlined in a recent paper a new vision for a smart shopping cart that has -- ho hum! -- a screen and barcode scanner (like smart carts currently in use in some stores). The difference is that the cart would access a massive database of information, telling you not only nutrition information, but also the ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT of the foods you're buying and, presumably, the ethical impact. Is your chocolate picked by child slave labor? Do your Ding Dongs use genetically modified corn as a sweetener? Is your Apple juice from China? Your cart tells all. (props to Vegetarian Organic Blog)
7:29 AM * PERMALINK * 10 comments
Comments:
This is yet another example of a gee-whiz technology that wasn't totally thought through.
The stores are the ones that purchase shopping carts. What financial benefit will it be to the store to purchase these high-tech carts, especially if the cart will discourage people from buying certain items because they're not environmentally responsible items? I predict this will never see the light of day!
Good point! This would be much more useful as an instrument of greenwashing, enabling the store to capture health- and environmentally-concerned shoppers and channel them toward unhealthy and unethical products by convincing them that products aren't as bad as they might think.
And I don't see why it has to be provided by the store. They should make these for consumers to own and to bring to the store -- or, better yet, build it into my cell phone.
Mike Elgan
You and I have diametrically opposed definitions of "greenwashing" - I use the term for using pseudo-science to steer people away from products made by big corporations by saying something will kill you, your family, and the whole planet. :)
Here's the wikipedia definition. it's a word that "describes the actions of a company, government, or other organization which advertises positive environmental practices while acting in the opposite way."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenwash
Here's another account of "greenwashing" from a Canadian business ethics web site: ""Greenwashing," a pejorative term derived from the term "whitewashing," was coined by environmental activists to describe efforts by corporations to portray themselves as environmentally responsible in order to mask environmental wrongdoings. The term "greenwashing" was originally confined to describing misleading instances of environmental advertising, but as corporations' efforts to portray themselves as environmentally virtuous have diversified and proliferated, so have charges of greenwashing. The term is now used to refer to a wider range or corporate activities, including, but not limited to, certain instances of environmental reporting, event sponsorship, the distribution of educational materials, and the creation of "front groups." However, regardless of the strategy employed, the main objective of greenwashing is to give consumers and policy makers the impression that the company is taking the necessary steps to manage its ecological footprint."
Source: http://www.businessethics.ca/greenwashing/
Mike Elgan
I've used it as a term derived from "brainwashing" and I couldn't tell you who coined it from that use. Typically I hear it used by people who know not to trust either side of a religious/political argument.
I would love it if it were law that all food stuffs had to show were the stuff came from. That way it would be easy to boycott anything that comes out of China, Russia and a few other "garden spots!"
Looks like another vehicle for assailing the customer with advertising. Like the new gas pumps in Chicago, from the moment you start pumping you are under advertising attack. No thank you…
Great Idea. Poor execution.
- Bad for the consumer because these will just become advertizements that follow you were ever you go.
- Bad for companies because kids would destroy these expensive complicated machines.
Great Idea though and I think we will see it resurface as a programe for portable portable Media Devices like the Nokia 800.
The portable revolution is on its way! :)
I like Mike Elgen's cell phone suggestion or possibly for a PDA. One should not trust a retailer to be objective with product information, this should be available directly to consumers.
If it includes all information regarding country of origin, nutrition information, environmental impact, corporate ownership etc, consumers can make informed decisions no matter whether they are green, stock holders of xyz corp or just worried about how much sugar they feed their brats.
Including a suggested retail price tally would be good as well. Then one can see how their stores prices stack up.
That's very interesting! But how come no one is developing carts that don't suddenly swerve violently into grocer's shelves? It's embarrassing when I accidentally stick it to the man ... and little old ladies. Hi tech shopping carts with video looks fun. But I still keep getting the ones with the lame wheels that make me damage my surrounding environment.
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