Did You Know: COOP

Did You Know: Here in Denmark, COOP, a big corporation of convenience stores/supermarkets, have launched an app that allows their customers to check the carbon footprint of the stuff they’re about to buy. It will tell you the green difference between potatoes and rice, or chicken or pork.

Further, you can see where your footprint lies compared to the average of other customers.

Why would a company facilitate this? The simple answer is: because their customers want it. Danish consumers want to reduce their carbon footprint and one of the most effective ways of doing that is by being deliberate about which groceries we buy.

A more cynical view is that it is a way for COOP to wave a flag and say ‘we are doing something about climate change’. Being green looks good. But who cares how it looks if the impact is real? Corporations are allowed to prosper and make money out of being conscientious about the environment.

That this move comes from a demand in the public and is facilitated by a private business should come as no surprise. Governments are hopelessly sluggish when it comes to climate change. Perceivably, real change will come from the interaction between consumer and retailer. If there’s a demand there will be a supply. 

Could the same thing happen in hi-fi? What if we could compare different speakers to each other? And not just looks, price, bass extension, sound, etc., but also their carbon footprint?

That is the purpose of Green Audio Review: to evaluate hi-fi gear with an ear to the traditional values of sound, aesthetics, price, build quality, but also to how a product was brought in to this world. What did it take to get your shiny new speakers from the drawing board into your living room?

That is an important aspect – maybe even the most important in the years ahead. For speakers and amplifiers, but also pork chops, t-shirts, cars, and the electricity in our homes.