Following the Arts for Humanities visit, we headed to Harvard Square to grab some lunch and conduct street and business interviews. Along with shopping a bit, we surveyed store clerks, managers, customers and bystanders on the street. We focused on the following questions to get a better understanding of "green" awareness and action.
Business Questions
- Is your bagging recycled?
- Are your products purchased locally or foreign?
- Does your business place focus on being eco-friendly? If so, what steps have you taken to be more sustainable?
- What are your personal environmental practices, and if any, how do you tie those into your business practices?
- Does your company encourage employees to follow green lifestyles in and out of work?
Customer Questions
- Do you consciously think about what you’re buying before you purchase it?
- Do you shop based on personal desire or want rather than need and eco-friendliness?
- Are you environmentally aware?
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Walking down and through Harvard Square I was able to ask sales representatives and consumers their sides on being eco- friendly.
Starbucks
-napkins, straw wrappers, cup holders and baggies are made of recycled paper.
-largest buyer of free trade coffee.
Bob Slate Staitioner
- Small portion of the store is recycled merchandice :
copier paper, stationary, journels.
-offer plastic and paper bags, although they also sell reusable canvas bags at the cashier.
Street woman
-is conscious about where her products are coming from 50% of the time.
- she is buys products that are eco-friendly and fair trade about 50% of the time.
American Apperal
-asked if a bag was needed for a small purchance, instead of just assuming one was needed.
Two female cashiers
-When shopping, the type of purchace depends on if they think about being eco-friendly. When it comes to an amimal product, "yes," always.
-The store sold eco-friendly bags.
-The country of production of their products varied.
Jewelry Store
-Fair trade store. The owner had personal connection to all the makers of the products she sold.
-Where they got their products from really mattered.
Coffee and Sandwich Shop
-All local products.
-Napkins were recyclable.
-Used real plates to serve food.
When Evan, Jon, and I toured Harvard Square we went into 3 shops and asked the managers various questions. We asked for personal beliefs on being eco-friendly, after that we asked if these personal beliefs coincide with the mission of the store. We also ask if they buy from local companies to stock their stores.
City Sports
-The manager was personally very active in being “green”
-Although she said that the store itself could be better
-She talked about turning lights off and other such electronics
-The store does hold some clothing that is made from recyclable materials
-Recycle and they do reuse paper
Black Ink
-Sell eco-friendly products such as books and paper
-Personal nature is nature friendly
-She encourages the cashiers to ask for bags
-Try to buy local as much as possible
Cardulo’s
-Personally has extremely eco-friendly beliefs
-Got a special dumpster for cardboard
-Encourages employees to ask customers for bags and recycle
-Buys local and “green” as much as possible but not always easy (international supermarket)
BUSINESS INTERVIEWS-
Dado Tea (cafe)
(cashier/owner)
Q1- Bag items when necessary?
A1-No, if needed, used bags, or brown recycled bags.
Q2- Do you personally think about being eco-friendly when you're purchasing items?
A2-Yes, Often thinks about how purchase will affect the environment.
Q3-Do you buy supplies for your cafe locally?
- Are you environmentally aware?
A3- Of course. Every item in the cafe is grown locally or processed locally.
Tis-Tik (jewelery store)
(cashier/manager)
Q1- Are your products made locally?
A1- They are made by family friends in mexico, and shipped to US. A free-trade company.
Q2-Are the bags you use 'green'?
A2- No, bags are not recyclable, but do not give them out with every purchase.
Q3- Are you personally an eco-friendly shopper?
A3- Yes. Never buy more than what is needed, and tries to help the envirment as much as possible.
PERSONAL STREET INTERVIEWS-
Person #1-
Q1- Are you shopping based on personal need, or are you conscience about what your buying and how it could affect the environment?
A1- sometimes shop based on personal need. Most of the time try to take to eco-friendly route.
Q2- Do you recycle?
A2- Yes
Person #2 -
Q1- Are you shopping based on personal need, or are you conscience about what your buying and how it could affect the environment?
A1- Often shops just based on personal desire and need. Occasionally thinks about the environment just because they feel they are pressured to.
Q2- Do you recycle?
A2- Not all the time, but occasionally.
Interviewing people in different stores and on the streets proved to be a very interesting experience. The first person I interviewed was a sales represntative in "The Coop", which is an appearal store for Harvard. I asked him what does "going green" mean to him. To my surprise, he was very forth coming person with high expectations of being green in the community. He also added that he tries to be as green as he can by buying locally,recycling, riding his bike, ect.
The second interview didn't go as well. I interviewed a very timid woman in a book store as I inquired about a couple of books. She claimed that "going green" wasn't all that important to her. She wouldn't go out of her way to find something eco-friendly instead of buying something that is of more convenience. The most she does for the environment is that she walks across the street to recycle her bottles, but none the less it is a start.
The last person was someone who I didn't expect much out of. He was a casual buisness man who doesn't appear to be concious of his efforts of eco-friendly. When I approached him, he caught me off guard when I asked him what being green was to him. He relplied with by saying he would like to save the earth, but I know it's not possible with just one person. He added that he has a hybird car, takes public transportation as much as possible, recycles anything he can get his hands on, has his own garden, ect.
I learned something very valuable from this man, that you can't judge whether a person is eco-friendly or not by looking at them. Overall, this experience brought to my attention that not everyone is as concious as they should be,others are losing faith in the community, and some just keep on pursuing their goals.
Speaking to real people on the streets of Harvard Square allowed us to interact with business owners and get the information straight from the source. I feel that when managers or clerks were confronted and interviewed face to face with complete strangers about personal opinions and practices they were more prone to give the truth or what they actually thought rather than a pre-determined statement made up by an executive. It was a completely different experience than the info session we attended at Seaport Boston Hotel. While throughly informative, our guide was giving us pre-written speeches on their outlook and practices. It was presented in a way that made the business look intelligent and progressive. He wanted us to perceive the hotel in a specific way. In contrast, the owner of a small, locally-oriented, Italian grocery store told us precisely what she thought about the topic. When asked what her personal opinion was on living an eco-friendly life was she replied, "I love to recycle, if I could recycle my husband I would!" She then proceeded to speak about her businesses operations. A more personal conversation felt more beneficial than a corporate statement, which is why we all walked away feeling well informed and actually more comfortable because the majority of people who we talked to had very positive outlooks on going "green" and were more than happy to speak with us about it.
I was walking down the steet with Merrill and asked people about their basic knowledge about being eco-friendly and our global eco-system.
One man surveyed said that he does not really care about the eco-system, also he does not buy eco-friendly things.
He also said he usually buys his goods locally.
One woman said she usually cares about eco-system; therefore, she purchases her goods approximately 50% from local and 50% from others. She says she always recycles if she can and puts a recycle bin in her house.
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