Photo: Dennis Gerbeckx, Creative Commons, Flickr
Environmentalism is becoming a big deal. More and more companies, including Wal-Mart (WMT), are jumping on the environmental bandwagon, straining themselves to make changes so that they can show consumers how environmentally conscious they are.

Photo: Kasei, Creative Commons, Flickr

But even as sales of the Toyota (TM) Prius and other hybrids go up, the fact is that there are near-slave labor conditions at some assembly plants in Japan. Green Biz reports on some of the problems that environmental enthusiasts are ignoring:

One-third of assembly line workers are poorly paid temp workers. Its parts supply chain is ‘riddled with sweatshop abuse,’ including trafficking of tens of thousands of foreign guest workers, sometimes working 16-hour shifts. …
Yes, it’s great that Wal-Mart has made a raft of commitments to reduce waste and increase energy efficiency, but many of those promises have worker safety implications the environmental groups and company seem willing to ignore.

This information should encourage a new, ethical, level of scrutiny for environmentally-friendly investing. Is it right to save the earth but ignore the plight of thousands of workers in sub-standard conditions? On the flip side, what about supporting companies that provide opportunities to the poverty-stricken, but whose environmental practices are questionable?

There are companies out there with practices that are more friendly toward the environment, that treat their workers and suppliers with dignity and humanity. But they are few and far between, especially among the more solid earners. (Starbucks — SBUX — is one, but, though its share price is up right now, it is still having earnings issues.)

With proxy voting season nearly over, we are reminded that we can use our voices as shareholders to work for change in the companies that we invest in, rewarding them for progress in the right direction. Perhaps it is time to start including human costs with environmental costs when we talk about sustainability? Or maybe we can work on one thing at a time. But that means that we may need to prioritize our investments: People first? Or the environment?

Disclosure: I own none of the stocks listed above. After writing this, I’m trying to decide if I still want to buy a Prius.

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