General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsNew App Lets You Boycott Koch Brothers, Monsanto And More By Scanning Your Shopping Cart
In her keynote speech at last years annual Netroots Nation gathering, Darcy Burner pitched a seemingly simple idea to the thousands of bloggers and web developers in the audience. The former Microsoft MSFT -0.85% programmer and congressional candidate proposed a smartphone app allowing shoppers to swipe barcodes to check whether conservative billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch were behind a product on the shelves.
http://www.buycott.com/ (The App Is Free)
Burner figured the average supermarket shopper had no idea that buying Brawny paper towels, Angel Soft toilet paper or Dixie cups meant contributing cash to Koch Industries through its subsidiary Georgia-Pacific. Similarly, purchasing a pair of yoga pants containing Lycra or a Stainmaster carpet meant indirectly handing the Kochs your money (Koch Industries bought Invista, one of the worlds largest fiber and textiles companies, in 2004 from DuPont).
She wasnt aware that as she delivered her Netroots speech, a group of developers was hard at work on Buycott, an even more sophisticated version of the app she proposed.
I remember reading Forbes story on the proposed app to help boycott Koch Industries and wishing that we were ready to launch our product, said Buycotts marketing director Maceo Martinez.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/clareoconnor/2013/05/14/new-app-lets-you-boycott-koch-brothers-monsanto-and-more-by-scanning-your-shopping-cart/
Ichingcarpenter
(36,988 posts)I didn't see that at the site
thanks for the post.
GP6971
(31,166 posts)At least for my iPhone
Nye Bevan
(25,406 posts)we can do it
(12,189 posts)el_bryanto
(11,804 posts)Does that make me a bastard? Or just part of a bastard?
What is my bastard index?
It probably doesn't matter, as I purchase up to $40 of music a month from I-Tunes, so I'm still supporting a company who employs Chinese slave labor.
Thank goodness none of the other products i consume are morally tainted.
Bryant
Nye Bevan
(25,406 posts)I was simply pointing out the irony of using an iPhone app to figure out which less than ethical companies to boycott.
Live and Learn
(12,769 posts)I am always checking for the company logo to ensure it isn't one of theirs. This will make my life a bit easier.
shenmue
(38,506 posts)I will get it.
safeinOhio
(32,688 posts)thanks
DeSwiss
(27,137 posts)By turning away from them, we control them. Get it???? THEY HAVE NO POWER. WE HAVE IT ALL. THEY KNOW THIS. THEY LOVE DIVIDING US TO KEEP THINGS THE WAY THEY ARE. AND WE UNWITTINGLY GO ALONG WITH THEM. THEY KNOW WE CAN BRING THEM TO THEIR KNEES ANY TIME WE WANT TO.
- But we don't. There'll be hell to pay, if we ever wake up.......
K&R
Iggo
(47,558 posts)..."The French Aristocracy never saw it coming, either."
Katashi_itto
(10,175 posts)Katashi_itto
(10,175 posts)truebrit71
(20,805 posts)Katashi_itto
(10,175 posts)obxhead
(8,434 posts)Seems to work quickly and easily. Tonight I'll play with it to set up my conflict list.
Katashi_itto
(10,175 posts)randome
(34,845 posts)But this sounds pretty damned convenient so I'm in.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]You should never stop having childhood dreams.[/center][/font][hr]
Katashi_itto
(10,175 posts)Katashi_itto
(10,175 posts)jmowreader
(50,559 posts)If you make plastic products and you order 28 boxes of virgin polypropylene, there's a good chance you'll get more than one manufacturer's product in your order...and Koch Industries is a huge producer of polypropylene. They make a lot of other petrochemicals and also own an ammonia plant.
So in short, you can't fully boycott Koch Industries without becoming a caveman...you can, however, not buy the things you know they make.
marions ghost
(19,841 posts)thx
backscatter712
(26,355 posts)It's pretty polished and runs well.