the policy or action of using vigorous campaigning to bring about political or social change
In this consumer driven society, am I a minority who is not comfortable purchasing consumer goods manufactured under unethical and unfair labour practices? I have made a commitment and a conscience effort to purchase products that are manufactured in countries that follow and respect the ILO standards.
As a shopaholic, I was very impressed to see this soccer ball at Heatons a few weeks ago.
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4 comments:
Diane, have you seen or bought the Good shopping guide available at Amnesty International? It has product groups and then rates the products for the company's practices such as labor, whether they contribute to dictators, etc. It is interesting.
You're not alone at all. People don't understand, maybe, because they don't particularly want to do so. It's not that they're simply stupid, but willfully stupid: they refuse to believe that "cheap" simply means that somebody else has paid for it in inhumane treatment.
Having an ethical standard, though, does tend to make you stand out, and to endure being looked at strangely. I can't imagine what it's like for you, if you're anything like us, and we live in the San Francisco Bay Area!
It's really hard to get people to change their behaviour. When you look at two t-shirts, and one of them is €7.99 and the other is €59, it's almost impossible to find people who will pay the extra money.
Either BBC or RTE had a documentary on about Chinese factory workers a few months ago. My housemate and I watched it and had a great conversation about the price that is paid, by someone, somewhere, for cheap goods. Next week, when he needed work shirts? Dunnes, shirts for €12. He simply didn't see why he should "pay more for the same basic shirt".
I try to buy ethically, but it's hard.
It's not about price, though, and that's the terrible fallacy. You could be doing the "right" thing in buying the cheap one - you simply don't know unless you do the research yourself or unless you find somebody you trust to have done it already. That's the beauty of these agencies ... at least, unless you're willing to do the legwork yourself.
Hemp or flax yarn instead of cotton, is the next decision to make, concerning the environment. There's a fun one.
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