If you are keen to be as ethical a consumer as possible, then this will mostly be about making sure that the companies you are using are ethical in themselves. It can often be hard to know about whether they are or not, as some of the less ethical ones are obviously not going to make a big show of it. However, you can narrow down your options by looking out for a few key ethical standpoints that you might want a business to follow if you are going to support them. Let’s take a look at some of the most important of these now.
Plastic-Free
These days, there is really no good excuse for overusing plastic. The problem with plastic is that it does not recycle easily, and in many parts of the world it can’t be recycled at all. It is made of oil, so it takes a lot of that non-renewable source to make it, and every bit of plastic you use is just harming the planet in multiple ways. There are a number of companies out there that have shunned plastic in their packaging, so look for those. There are even one or two, such as No Evil Foods, which can be said to be ‘plastic negative’, so those are obviously worth supporting in particular.
Anti-Slavery
If you look at the bottom of a lot of companies’ websites now, you will notice that they often have a statement on modern slavery. That’s because slavery is still very much a problem in the world today, and you need to make sure that the products you are using are not in any way related to businesses that make use of those supply chains. You should therefore always look for those statements on modern slavery, and make sure that you are not supporting a company that supports it in any way, even i
Carbon Neutral
As we all know by now, carbon is a huge problem which is going to make Earth completely inhabitable if we don’t do something about it very soon. The problem with carbon is that it leads to the creation of greenhouse gases, which in turn heat up the planet to the point where the ice caps melt and so on. In many respects we are already too far behind, so any avoidance of carbon is now absolutely essential. As a result, it’s important that you look out for companies that are carbon neutral in design.
Green Energy
As a part of that, you should also think about trying to use companies which are only using green energy where possible. A lot of companies are getting to the point where most of their energy is from green sources, and a lot of this depends on the governmental decisions being made. But as long as you are looking into this, it is much more likely that you are going to be supporting the right people. That means you can call yourself an ethical consumer at the same time.
