CREDO + Consumer Power = Victories for People and the Planet!

In December 2020, CREDO members voted to donate $60,183 to Green America to advance our mission to create a more socially just and environmentally sustainable society – and advance our mission we have! Since receiving the award, we have leveraged consumer power to achieve major victories in ending child labor, increasing corporations’ use of renewable energy, and popularizing regenerative agriculture though Climate Victory Gardening.

Like CREDO members, Green America recognizes that human wellbeing and ecological health are deeply intertwined. In our nearly 40 years as the nation’s leading green economy organization, Green America has observed that the same corporations that have subpar environmental regulations are often lagging in their labor and human rights policies as well.

This correlation is especially evident in the chocolate industry, where large companies profit off cocoa while West African cocoa farmers live off less than one dollar per day amidst rampant deforestation. Pressure from Green America and international allies is getting chocolate companies to take action. In the Chocolate Scorecard Green America compiled with our allies for the End Child Labor in Cocoa campaign, it is clear which major chocolate companies are improving the social and environmental impacts of their supply chains – and that the leading small chocolate companies are way ahead of their larger counterparts!Green America believes in a world where our favorite sweet treats do not rely on exploitation or deforestation – and our audience is making this world possible. Thanks to pressure from nearly 40,000 individuals who took Green America’s latest End Child Labor in Cocoa action, Godiva issued a public policy on responsible cocoa in spring 2021. With this new policy, Godiva committed to taking steps to scale child labor monitoring, limiting deforestation in its supply chain, and more. CREDO members can help encourage additional progress by signing Green America’s new petition urging ten major chocolate brands to put an end to child labor and deforestation in their supply chains.

Since receiving our generous donation from CREDO, we have leveraged pressure from tens of thousands of consumers to persuade Amazon to commit to powering 100% of its operations using renewable energy by 2025. This new commitment, which is five years earlier than the company’s initial target transition date, encompasses Amazon’s corporate offices, fulfillment centers, and Amazon Web Services (AWS) data centers. Though Green America continues to push Amazon to improve treatment of warehouse workers and garment workers in its supply chain, we are also celebrating the company’s acceleration of its clean energy goals as more corporate renewable energy purchasing translates to increases in our country’s overall renewable energy capacity.

CREDO’s donation is not only supporting Green America’s digital actions, but also our on-the-ground efforts to counter climate change. A portion of CREDO’s award was used to support the growth of our nonprofit’s Climate Victory Gardens campaign, which is enlisting thousands of Americans to use regenerative gardening practices (such as composting, not disturbing the soil, and eliminating the use of pesticides) in their own communities. This month, Green America reached 9,306 registered Climate Victory Gardens! Using estimates from Project Drawdown, these gardens have the potential to collectively sequester 4,557 tons of carbon each year – the equivalent of eliminating emissions from driving 38,093,225 miles – while also supporting pollinator health, reducing stormwater run-off, and producing organic food! Visit our website to register your own Climate Victory Garden or learn how to start one.Earlier this year, Green America also joined 200+ allies in the launch of the Pay Your Workers email campaign. This campaign demands that apparel brands pay garment workers their normal wages throughout the duration of the pandemic, protect workers’ rights to organize, and sign on to a severance guarantee fund. CREDO members can support this new campaign by taking action here to become part of the collective consumer voice pushing corporations to adopt practices better for people and the planet.