UPDATED WITH VIDEO: The socially responsible consumer

Would you pay more for a bag made from rags designed by Rajo Laurel but created by poor mothers in Antipolo, or nicely designed Green Leaf katsa bags made in ac family-friendly factory in Paranaque, or health and beauty products that do not use chemicals harmful to the environment or tested on animals?

That the calculus is not as tough as the thousands of dollars premium Honda Accord Hybrid owners pay for earth-friendly wheels is obvious. But the brains behind these products hope that the result will be the same: consumers get a warm, fuzzy feeling for being socially responsible.

What’s the price tag you can live with for being socially responsible?

Personally, I wouldn’t buy things I don’t need even if they are good for the environment or can help disadvantaged groups. But I would pay more even if the benefits will not be immediate. Organic produce, for example, are much more expensive but long-term benefits far outweigh the costs.

In Echostore, a new one-stop shop in Kape Isla at Serendra for products that are environmentally friendly and made by disadvantaged groups, I found several treasures: Malunggay pesto in a jar, Lyf Saver (a minty, camomile preparation for de-clogging nostrils and removing nausea, no addictive chemicals), Messy Bessy environmental home cleaning products that are made by sexually abused young adults trying to get their lives back, beaded bags (they are really gorgeous!) made by women in a correctional facility, export-quality and organic-certified muscovado sugar and brown rice grown by farmers in Negros province.

Were they more expensive? Some were priced competitively, some more expensive. Yeah, I like the warm fuzzy feeling.

The store is the new advocacy of Pacita Juan (of Figaro Coffee fame), writer-artist-curater Jeannie Javelosa and Reena Francisco—three friends who decided they can’t save the world from cavities—but that they can use their marketing and organizational prowess to help marginalized sectors and make a sustainable business at the same time.

This is the “doing good” part that shows people are not just talking about changing the world. This is the part that can swing the fight in favor of getting the Philippines away from The tipping point of poverty.

“A lot of these great products made by women in their homes for example are out there and we see them in bazaars but we don’t know where to find them after the season ends. Now, you can find them all here in the store,” says Juan.

Juan and her partners make sure the products in the store are sustainable and usable. “If we sell Nito products, we actually find out if they are also planting Nito,” says Javelosa. Apparently, they were turned off by the Zesto bags that were the rage for some time because they discovered that makers were not recycling the materials, but were actually having those Zesto plastics printed!

The products retain their own branding, and when they can eventually make it out there in the consumer world on their own, Echostore will make space on their shelves for newer products that need help.

“That’s the whole point, make these small businesses sustainable. This is a concept that we want piratable,” says Javelosa.

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