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"Reflecting on the everyday activities in our lives and the raising of our children, we have often confronted the simple fact, 'There is something wrong....' We are forced to live a life that is commercialised, controlled and suppressed. In this world where materials prevail, we seek to create an alternative community, filled with the spontaneity and creativity of independent and free individuals".A very much more radical idea of what green consumerism might amount to has come from Japan.
The Club was formed in 1965 by a Tokyo housewife with the idea of exploiting the possibilities of bulk buying to obtain cheaper food for its members. In the 1970's, a profound change took place, when it dramatically widened its horizons to take account of social issues and growing worries about the environment. For example, its members switched from buying synthetic detergents to using ecologically benign soap powders. When they discovered they couldn't buy additive- free milk anywhere in the conventional market, they simply set up their own milk processing plant using produce from an organic dairy. The club has now developed into a major institution, with half a million members, mostly women, throughout Japan. It also wields increasingly powerful financial muscle in the form of large investment funds and an annual turnover of about £160 million [UKP].
The basic unit of the club, which is run according to Gramscian socialist principles, is the autonomous local group-of han- made up of up to a dozen families. These hans are linked to the local and regional branches which have full-time staff. Since its inception the club has moved a long way from concerning itself with basic material goods and services. It has also developed a distinct social ideology based on cooperative principles, a parallel political movement and a focus for campaigns over environmental protection, womens rights, health, welfare and peace issues. In the 1970's members tried to influence local politicians to see
their point of view. when they failed, they stood for office themselves with the slogan "political reform from the kitchen". Their first successful candidate won office in 1979.
There are now 31 club members in three regional prefectures.
Seikatsu's most intriguing and revolutionary innovation is the way it integrates the roles of the producer, consumer and investor. Club members seek direct and personal relationship with their producers; for example they visit their organic farmers to become acquainted with the production process, its problems and ecological impact. At harvest time, they help in the fields. The farmer has a guaranteed market, and doesn't have to advertise and knows that everything ha produces will be bought, so prices are kept at a reasonable level. The buyers get better quality food than is available in the ordinary shops and, unlike most consumers in western countries, they know precisely where this food comes from.
Seikatsu now supports the entire organic movement in Japan, with farmers dealing directly with the hans. As its consumer power has grown, so have its ambitions as a movement for social change. In 1986 the Club launched a national campaign with the slogan: from Collective Buying to All of Life.
Seikatsu's (Japanese for "life") participatory approach, the linking of producer and consumer and its active campaigning stance ensures a greatly enhanced awareness of all the implications of daily consumption, and of the organised potential of green consumers to reclaim control over where they place their spending power on a regular basis. The Club now employs 700 full-time staff, and operates its own dairy farm, milk packaging factory, paper recycling coop and home help network, as well as its own regional centres. It has built up a range of 400 basic, high quality grocery products selling at prices similar to these of supermarkets. Most of the fresh foods are delivered to the door, twice weekly in the case of additive-free milk, organic vegetables and fruit, free range eggs, cheese, fish, pork. Longer-life items such as rice, pulses, soap and washing liquids are delivered monthly.
Families place their orders a week in advance through their han, which agrees to take a basic minimum amount of groceries. Payment is made monthly in arrears, annual membership of the club being set at £48 [UKP].
Members also benefit from the low-cost insurance cover from a non-profit benefit fund.
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