Ethical buying

[kaoskat]

Honestly, I don't think about it a great deal. When offered an option, I do choose the better of the two, but I don't hunt things down and dwell on it. I have other causes that are more my focus.

Exactly the same here.

May I ask what you mean by other causes?

I mean that my focus on changing the world lies in other places. Not that there is anything wrong with this, I just have limited time, funds, and other resources and my concerns lie elsewhere. I spend my time, money, and efforts on researching and supporting those things.

[achab1984]

This is something I think about quite a lot, both in terms of sociological and ecological impacts.

The main thing I think for both of these things is to source things as locally as possible. Firstly because if it is from your own country you have more chance to understand and have an impact (politically) on how it is produced in terms of working conditions and environmental impacts. Secondly, the biggest ecological (and indeed sociological) challenge we face at the moment is climate change, and anything we can do to reduce the carbon footprint of our consumption is good.

The second thing which follows is that we simply need to reduce our consumption. Just because we can do or have something, it doesn't mean we should. We don't need new clothes or a new mobile phone every few months, we don't need to eat fresh strawberries in December etc. So whenever I want to buy something I stop myself and ask if I truly need it, given the ethical and environmental costs of its production. Buying fewer things would also mean that we could afford to buy more ethical items instead. Maybe instead of buying 10 New Look or Primark dresses, we can buy one quality, locally hand-made dress.

My two most recent steps have been reducing my meat intake dramatically (largely to reduce my carbon footprint) and starting to make my own bathing and cleaning products (without the animal cruelty and crazy chemicals). Personally I find it liberating rather than a chore. I could talk about this forever, but I'd like to see what other people feel about it for now.

I totally agree with you on the need to reduce our consumption. We are a big society that has to consume consume over and over and we are never happy! I talk and think about it a lot as being big into simple living and minimalism!

I buy only the things that I need and try to keep the wants on the down low Ponies are the only thing that I am not very good with, I always want to get more. I should be happy with the ones that I do have right now!

[StoryDreamer]

I buy 90% of my clothing used and I try to buy from local bookstores. I am fortunate to have 4 amazing local bookstores - including 2 childrens bookstores! - near me. We have a fantastic farmer's market here with local meat, bread, fish, vegetables you name it. I even buy fresh local pasta here - made from scratch. I buy local soap and bath products too, because I'm a big bath product fan and they have the best stuff! Finally, I try to read the labels of products and not buy animal tested things. That's quite easy though, it's usually right on the label.

I don't go out out my way to research each and every thing. I just buy local. Also you will rarely find me in a horrible chain restaurant like Fridays or something like that. I haven't been in WalMart in a year. I will not shop at Hobby Lobby, and I've not supported Darden restaurants nor Chick Fil A for their political stances. I've been boycotting Chick Fil A for about four years now.

[banditpony]

For me, my focus tends to boil down to buying what you need, when you need it. I'm not the best at it, but I do try my best. And usually if you buy junk, it won't last long. My dad is my inspiration -- he uses stuff till it falls apart. I swear his pot holders were 15 years old before I bought him a few new ones.

[Whippycorn]

Honestly, I don't think about it a great deal. When offered an option, I do choose the better of the two, but I don't hunt things down and dwell on it. I have other causes that are more my focus.

Exactly the same here.

May I ask what you mean by other causes?

I mean that my focus on changing the world lies in other places. Not that there is anything wrong with this, I just have limited time, funds, and other resources and my concerns lie elsewhere. I spend my time, money, and efforts on researching and supporting those things.

Sorry I wasn't clear. I was asking you to elaborate on what the causes were. I'm just interested to know how other people prioritise different issues or causes. There are so many worthy issues and causes that it could be hard to decide where to focus our efforts.

My efforts are mostly focused on climate change because it's something that will affect everyone. Even more so because those who are currently most disadvantaged will be the worst affected, and inequality in quality of life will become even more pronounced.

[kaoskat]

Well.....It's hard to put into words and I do many things. The cause I devote most of my time, money, and efforts to are my sponsored children. There are also the homeless in my own community and my work for a local animal rescue. And there are others that are less consistent and more random. And I'm not terribly comfortable talking about these things because it isn't about me. Though I will happily tell you all about my sponsored kids. They are the best kids ever!

[nhal039]

This is a tricky question and it hit home for me this year due to watching a film about kids getting trafficked in Africa to work on cocoa farms :/. I have made big changes on everything in our lifestyles now by rarely buying new things, by buying free trade food, all our vege and fruit are brought direct from farmers (most are spray free which also helps the enviroment), our beef came from home kill, we have reduced our rubbish we put out to go to land fill greatly. We get all our water from tank water, we rarely buy fish due to disgusting fishing practices.
I still have a way to go before I am happy with how i treat this great earth and the people in it, i would love to get down to having only say one bag of rubbish go to land fill a year.

[achab1984]

If only everyone on this planet on would care for it and stop doing things that are destroying everything. I love reading what you all have to say

[SunPony]

Ah, to clarify, the sugar cane issue to me is more environmentally-related rather than worker-conditions related.  But I am still glad to hear that worker conditions are okay! 

A agree with avene1984, it is interesting to read everyone's responses to this!  I enjoy learning about things like this.

[Whippycorn]

Well.....It's hard to put into words and I do many things. The cause I devote most of my time, money, and efforts to are my sponsored children. There are also the homeless in my own community and my work for a local animal rescue. And there are others that are less consistent and more random. And I'm not terribly comfortable talking about these things because it isn't about me. Though I will happily tell you all about my sponsored kids. They are the best kids ever!

Sponsoring kids sounds awesome! Where are they based? I'd like to do something like that. I have given people those gift aid cards before (where you sponsor a child's education or a village well etc on their behalf). Sadly financially at the moment I can't do long term sponsors, this year I have had to put a hold on all of my regular donations. I'm hoping I will be able to start them up again next year though. Actually, those are a good example of how hard it is the decide where to focus your resources. There are so many worthy charities, I wish I could make regular pledges to all of them! A friend has what seems to be a good system; each year he chooses a new charity to donate to, so he can support as many different causes as possible within his financial ability.

[invaderhorizongreen]

Personally I would love it if more appliances were built to last again, it saves both resources and the environment.

[kaoskat]

Sponsoring kids sounds awesome! Where are they based? I'd like to do something like that. I have given people those gift aid cards before (where you sponsor a child's education or a village well etc on their behalf). Sadly financially at the moment I can't do long term sponsors, this year I have had to put a hold on all of my regular donations. I'm hoping I will be able to start them up again next year though. Actually, those are a good example of how hard it is the decide where to focus your resources. There are so many worthy charities, I wish I could make regular pledges to all of them! A friend has what seems to be a good system; each year he chooses a new charity to donate to, so he can support as many different causes as possible within his financial ability.

I sponsor with an organization called Children International and I love the organization nearly as much as the kids I sponsor. They do amazing things and are completely wonderful to deal with. I can give you any information or answer any questions you would like about them or what they do. I'd prefer to do it through pm though so I don't OT this thread too much. And that goes for anyone interested. I've been sponsoring for over 13 years now and once I started I never looked back. I'd give up eating myself before I'd give up helping my kids and their families.

[Galactica]

We do think about these things a lot, and as many of our groceries as possible, come from a local farm, or is alternatively organic and locally grown (there is a farm drop right near our house every month).  I don't pretend that everyone has that option of course, we are very lucky.

Clothing is harder.  The only way to be truly safe from supporting things like poor factory work conditions or child labor, is to buy all of your clothing second hand.  But I am a professional and have to dress up somewhat. So I try to buy clothing from companies who have good reputations.

It's impossible though to buy responsibly when it comes to technology/gadgets.  Everything from the bits in your smartphone to the computer you are typing on right now, is made from parts that come from factories that probably do have deplorable working conditions.

[Whippycorn]

I sponsor with an organization called Children International and I love the organization nearly as much as the kids I sponsor.

I've just had a brief look at the Children International website. It seems like there are a few other similar organisations too. I've though before that I'd like to support an organisation that sponsors girls, because educating girls in particular I believe is key to eliminating inequality and ending the cycle of poverty.

It's impossible though to buy responsibly when it comes to technology/gadgets.  Everything from the bits in your smartphone to the computer you are typing on right now, is made from parts that come from factories that probably do have deplorable working conditions.

I think this is an important point, that many people don't seem to consider at all. Especially as there is a new iphone or ipad coming out every couple of months, and people clamoring to be the first to own the next imperceivably different upgrade. If you're not obsessed with being on trend, however, it is possible to be more ethical. Every mobile phone and computer I have ever owned has been second or even third hand.

Personally I would love it if more appliances were built to last again, it saves both resources and the environment.

I watched a documentary recently called The Light Bulb Conspiracy which explored planned obsolescence as a means to keep up demand for new products. So many products designed to fail, even printer cartridges programmed to only print a certain number of pages before saying they're empty. But there are organisations like http://therestartproject.org/ that are trying to empower people to repair and reuse their electronics. They even have a link to free software that will reprogram the obsolescence chip in your printer to stop lying about ink levels! 

This video briefly highlights the inspiration behind the project: http://therestartproject.org/consumption/we-are-the-circular-economy/

One point she mentions is particularly poignant to me. I know many people who shop at farmers markets, use chemical free cleaning products, avoid packaging and plastic bags, but then replace their igadgets every couple of months! So many otherwise conscientious people seem to have a blind spot when it comes to technology! 

[HavACrumpet452]

Working in warehouses in the US isn't all that great for work conditions either, so made in the US doesn't mean much to me. I've slaved away with long hours, overheated, lifting boxes over half my weight, working on a line moving so fast nobody could keep up but they'd rather redo bad packages than slow it down one notch so we could put out more "good" packages to begin with, supervisors yelling at everybody, no health care, 10 minute lunches, minimum wage, and the list goes on. All you're doing when you buy made in the US stuff is supporting US companies who could pay a living wage to their workers and still make billions in profit, but they won't. No different than supporting MOST companies outside the US despite only the bad foreign companies making American news.