The Elephant in the Room

Conscious Consumerism

Unless you live in a cave, odds are you’ve heard that Ringling Bros. & Barnum and Bailey Circus will be phasing out elephants in their shows by 2018. This is welcome news to elephant advocacy organizations, as well as animal-rights groups globally. A shift in the acceptance of captive, and I might add – tortured animals, forced to perform for our entertainment seems to be taking hold.

Our very fascination with particular mammals; whales, dolphins, primates, elephants… should have been the first clue that entering into an agreement in which capturing these animals, separating them from their offspring and families, forcing them through seclusion and food deprivation to follow our commands was in any way an okay idea. Our connection to these animals has everything to do with our similarities – and quite possibly their superiority – in intellect, morality, social codes and emotions.

Powerful documentaries like The Cove and Blackfish have no doubt played a significant role in raising the awareness of how terribly wrong we have been to exploit these wild creatures. Sea World’s free falling attendance rates and stock value seem to support this notion.

“There’s been somewhat of a mood shift among our consumers. A lot of people aren’t comfortable with us touring with our elephants.” – Alana Feld, executive VP to Ringling Bros. Parent company, Feld Entertainment

My mantra remains consistent: Vote with your dollars! But to do that, you have to be informed, or at least curious and a bit dubious, about the organizations you are supporting. To my shock and horror, I recently discovered that Bob Parsons, CEO and founder of GoDaddy  is a rabid big game hunter who gets a particular thrill killing elephants. Ok, I know – maybe people living in glass caves shouldn’t be throwing stones. Now to begin the arduous task of moving hosting and changing domains. Urgh!

The point being, it’s hard! It’s hard to know the practices behind the many corporations that we support daily. But pulling back the veil and exposing the true mechanisms at work is a big part of change. We talk a lot about transparency these days, with good reason, since exposing the motives and methods of individuals and companies, versus costs to the collective, helps to pave a path to change. It can be a thorny path however.

 An organization calling itself the

Elephant Protection Association (EPA – ironically) seems to have been co-founded by Rob Mitchell and Doug Bandow, both gun rights advocates, with primary advisor Shannon Alford (NRA lobbyist) primarily to insure that their members will continue to have big game to hunt. While trolling for donations and support from the most elephant-sensitive among us, they fund legislation to block the anti-ivory bills. America is the second largest ivory market after China, and since you can only get ivory from dead elephants, the proposed ivory-ban bill would most certainly reduce elephant slaughter.

So why would the Elephant Protection Association fight the very bill aimed at protecting elephants you might ask? – because the bill would certainly hinder those (Americans) who would like to shoot an elephant.

You can’t make this stuff up folks.

Another influence on the heightened awareness of the plight of our fellow creatures is extinction rates. Over 2000 species worldwide are critically endangered today according to

Fish and Wildlife Services. Loss of habitat due to human encroachment and climate change are the primary forces wreaking havoc on our wildlife. With the addition of poaching, both African and Asian elephants make top 10 endangered species list. 100,000 elephants have been poached and slaughtered in a 3 year period.  The “sleeping giant” that is our conscious connection to all living creatures has been slow to wake – but it’s stirring. We are becoming more and more aware that bio-diversity is the ‘canary in the coal mine’. We ignore mass loss of species at our own peril.

At a recent Mother’s Out Front meeting, there was a lot of discussion on the power of grassroots movements and how to harness like views and voices to create meaningful change – MOF’s case, fighting Climate Change on a legislative level. After all, why should the Koch brothers be the only voice in the room?

The divestment movement is the most powerful tool consumers have at the moment. And no, you don’t have to have the Rockefeller’s stock portfolio to exercise your choice in what, where and who you support with your dollars.

For example, it’s never been easier to opt for renewably sourced energy. Most cities offer the option by simply checking a box on your electric bill. If a certain corporation’s environmental record doesn’t jibe with your standards, stop buying their product. Oh, and there’s an app for that! Buycott helps you organize your everyday spending so that you can fund causes you support and avoid funding those you disagree with.

The influence of economic divestment is continually at work on all levels. Take the vegetarian, vegan, organic farming and local food movements as examples. Each of these movements began with a concern for animals. It turns out that the young (broke) hipsters that formerly frequented fast food joints like Taco Bell and McDonalds are much more interested in nutrition and responsible farming and food practices than was my generation at their age. These fast food institutions are feeling the heat. You may have heard that Micky D’s experienced a 21% decline in global profits in its most recent quarter and CEO, Don Thompson was forced to resign. The most iconic of all fast food chains has also just announced that they will no longer source antibiotic treated chicken.

And speaking of tigers changing stripes, the US Taco Co. is a new Chipotle-style taco fastaurant designed to capture that casual-fast-foodie-with-a-conscience clientele. And guess which corporation is behind the curtain? Yep, Taco Bell.

Whether we are talking about Ringling Bros., Sea World or Taco Bell, the power of the ever evolving conscious consumer is clearly exerting influence on the future of our world.