This is, in my opinion, a high burden placed on an individual to to always research how every company they interacts with operates.

Unfortunately, as a consumer many ecological decisions are forced on me because corporations aren't regulated properly. Blaming the consumer to make better choices is asking someone to become intimately familiar with something that they shouldn't be concerned about, and to stay up to date since corporations change their business practices frequently.

This is something ultimately that needs to end up on governments to regulate businesses, and trying to shift the blame to consumers is quite frankly unfair. And even worse, it's ineffective and disheartening to them. People can make better choices for themselves and their local environment. But don't saddle Bob and Sally with saving the planet. It's an untenable ask.

It's not simply changing a behavior of an individual, it's a dramatic shift to their lifestyle. Not in choosing the more ecological option, but asking them to remain interested and vigilant on every decision they make. Picking what fish to buy at the supermarket shouldn't involve figuring out who caught the fish, googling the company, researching what their fishing practices are, and then figuring out if that is a sustainable practice. It's not simple or quick, and most people just really want to figure out what everyone in their family will all eat for dinner that night. We can't expect someone to do a half hour or more of research for every purchase.

This is why government needs to regulate these industries for us. They have the time and knowledge to assess all of that and the power to enforce companies adhere to those practices. We need to help educate people that regulating a business is not the same as regulating their choices or their behavior as an individual. That these sorts of regulations and legislation simply do not, and will not, ever apply to them so that they will encourage their legislators to push for regulation.

All my food comes in plastic. My potatoes come in plastic bags. My lettuce has a plastic label and twist-tie on it. My shredded wheat cereal is in plastic. Even my eggs, which are in cardboard cartons, are put in disposable plastic bins for shipments. As a consumer in my area, the only choice I have that isn't plastic, is nothing. Consumers cannot make this change. The only people in the market who can change it are the suppliers who decided to put everything in plastic to begin with. This not something we can consume our way out of. It takes either personal accountability on the part of the suppliers, or it takes a government mandate.