Today, there are many swindlers in our world who are cashing in on our desire for sustainable and eco-friendly products. But how can we detect a fake? I'll use an interest of my own to demonstrate.
Some years ago, I fell in love with Kona coffee. Because soil has a great impact on the flavor of coffee beans, growers in the highlands of Hawaii found that volcanic soil produces a very unique flavor. Because Kona-bearing region is quite limited in scale, the coffees it produces can be a bit pricey. The coffee's taste can also be quite strong, which is why Kona is often blended with other types of beans.
And so, upon seeing that people are willing to pay a premium for Kona, coffee sellers by the droves began to falsely label their products as authentic blended Kona. Some have even been accused of adding tobacco ash to their ground coffees to mimic the flavor, thus deceiving unsuspecting consumers. As much as I'd like to claim that people who love Kona should know the difference, not everyone does. And not everyone cares. This, of course, is what swindlers are relying on.
For those of you who do care about the authenticity of the environmentally friendly products you buy, learn to examine a product beyond its label. This includes learning a bit about the person or company who made it. You can look for certifications and things of that nature, but you often need only to see whether a company cares the way you do. If they do, they won't just be selling natural tote bags. They'll be in pursuit of this initiative on a grander scale. Instead of cashing in, you'll see them investing their time and energy toward making the world a better place.
A person who truly loves something will not just sit and do nothing about it. And they won't have to convince others that they do. Just as your friends know the things you're passionate about, you'll detect the passions that others have. Sometimes, in order to determine a product's authenticity, we need not look further than into the hearts of those who made it. This is something that swindlers have never been able to mimic or duplicate.
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