| Backpacking Trip II | 11:26 PM |
Too tired to blog about the trip, but here're a few quick highlights: got stung by a bee on the first day, had to take a dump in the middle of the woods with no cat shovel or toilet paper, girl group "bathroom" trips, climbed up and over this crazy steep and narrow ridge, and met some damn cool people I'd never met before and hung out with some damn cool people I already knew.
Self photo at top of Parson's Peak near Vogelsang in Yosemite
| Ethical Investing | 10:58 PM |
I admit that in the past I have made my stock purchases based on sentimentality. Well, I say in the past, but it's really my only method. I'll do the research to make sure it's a sound company to invest in, but my heart does the picking first. A couple of weeks ago I was trying to pick some new companies I wanted to own stock in and someone suggested Starbucks (SBUX). My immediate reaction was no. But from a financial standpoint, Starbucks is a sound investment, and one of my financial management company's top 25 picks year after year. They grow, they make money, they're a great company for any investor.
I'll admit that I ignorantly dislike Starbucks. I have always preferred to support small, local companies and somehow hold it against the coffee giant for being everywhere. If there's another coffee place around, I'll purposely not go to Starbucks so I can frequent the other place. I visit my local Tully's instead of Starbucks in Noe Valley -- and yet, as a friend pointed out -- exactly how local and small is Tully's?
I can't imagine investing in a company that I purposely avoid, but if the returns are good... Now that I have a small chunk of money for the first time in my life, it's interesting to me how tempting it is to just invest in successful companies without regard to their practices. I would really, really like to invest in Nike. But the unresolved sweat shop stuff makes me uneasy.
I now know that Starbucks, on the other hand, is known for its corporate responsibility (though lately it's had some labor union issues). It treat employees well, supports local communities, supports coffee farmers, etc., etc. I made myself walk into Starbucks last week and took notes on all its splendor: the ethical water, organic free trade coffee, the little stand with stuffed polar bears and walruses that said, "what you do at home can save their lives." All that and they support local artists (Irene Hendrick's prints were up on the wall). I had a vanilla latte there while I waited for my shuttle, and couldn't help but think that "corporate responsibility" and "environmentally friendly" were trendy now. Have you been to your local book store lately and browsed the new releases section? Not that this doesn't make these efforts less important or disingenuous, but would as many companies be trying and would it be so easy to do if it wasn't so popular? Supply and demand -- walk through your local grocery store. Sometimes I wonder to myself, are all those products labelled environmentally friendly, organic, healthy, low fat really what they claim to be?
I chose not to invest in Starbucks. I opted for one of PowerShares' alternative energy ETFs (PUW), along with a couple of other sentimental choices. But I'm glad I did the Starbucks research -- now I can buy my Starbucks coffee with no guilt, knowing that they're out there trying to save the world and all.
