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Category: Fran Hawthorne

  • The Last Straw for Starbucks, but Not for the Environment or the Disability Community

    In a world polluted by plastics that humankind just won’t quit, Starbucks plans on phasing out plastic straws in its 28,000 stores by 2020. Many applaud the company’s decision to do its part in reducing marine plastic pollution, even though the caffeine watering hole will be replacing the straws with sippy cup-like lids made from—you…

  • The Only Reason to Shop at Whole Amazon Foods

    By Fran Hawthorne: I tried not to buy anything from Amazon or Whole Foods when they were (relatively) smaller, independent companies that treated their employees horribly, fought unions, forced local merchants out of business, and (in Amazon’s case) were destroying the companies that publish my books. So why would I shop at the merged version…

  • Two Questions About Lands’ End Yielding to Anti-Choice Activists

    By Caitlin Meyer Lands’ End recently did something wonderful and bold. Their newish CEO, Federica Marchionni, launched a feature in their spring catalog called “Legends,” which aimed to highlight a broad range of individuals who have made a difference in the world. Their first pick, Gloria Steinem, was beautifully photographed and interviewed by Marchionni about…

  • Socially Responsible Small Businesses Often Grow Very Large

    By Fran Hawthorne Image credit: Steve Rhodes | Flickr Organic ingredients can cost nearly twice as much as processed ones. The price of solar and wind energy has dropped but still remains far above coal, oil, and natural gas in most of the U.S. Small business owners are among the most vocal opponents of raising…

  • Did Burt’s Bees Become Clorox’s Bees?

    By Fran Hawthorne Image from Flickr user Mr. TinDC Ben. Jerry. Tom. Burt. They are icons of the ethical-shopping world, the patriarchs (there are no famous matriarchs) of the small crop of natural products that made the leap from the health food niche to supermarkets and chain drugstores in the last couple of decades: Ben…

  • Dov Charney: Sex and the T-Shirt

    Long before the board of American Apparel decided to fire founder and CEO Dov Charney for ethical misconduct, Fran Hawthorne had come to the same conclusion. In an excerpt from her award-winning book ‘Ethical Chic: The Inside Story of the Companies We Think We Love,’ Hawthorne profiles the problematic former head of American Apparel, and…

  • We Need More Tenure Protection for Workers, Not Less

    ‘Ethical Chic’ author Fran Hawthorne on the teacher tenure conundrum, and why the recent Vergara v. California decision could further erode worker protections everywhere.

  • President Obama’s Carbon Emissions Plan: Where Do We Fit In?

    By Fran Hawthorne #495311811 / gettyimages.com Of all the problems the world confronts today, climate change undoubtedly affects more people, with more potentially dire consequences, than any other single issue. Yet most people, looking at the EPA regulation that President Obama just proposed for cutting carbon emissions in order to combat climate change, are probably…

  • Pfizer’s Defeat is a Victory for Health Care and Consumers

    By Fran Hawthorne   #487818109 / gettyimages.com Why are prescription drug prices so high in the U.S.? Pfizer’s attempt to acquire the giant British drug company AstraZeneca—which finally collapsed in late May—pinpoints several reasons in a nutshell. (Or should I say, in a once-a-day pill?) Not by coincidence, this would-be merger also reveals some of the…

  • Credit Suisse and the Other Type of Ethical Business

    Fran Hawthorne, author of ‘Ethical Chic: The Inside Story of the Companies We Think We Love,’ compares the recent Credit Suisse scandal against other cases of unethical business behavior.