February 10, 2017
It’s likely that your bricks, cotton, tobacco, leather, bananas, cattle, peanuts, clothes, shoes, pineapples, Gold, jade, alcohol, fish and Christmas decorations were all either made by children or slaves, according to the Department of Labor.
Luckily the U.S. has promised to enforce a boycott of items they know are produced by forced labor. Hopefully this will force these markets to start acting more ethically. Already the Thai fish market, a market that heavily relies on forced labor, is transforming and has released over 2,000 trapped fishermen. One of the benefits of capitalism is that the consumer has the power. Companies won’t make items that you won’t buy.
It’s about time that the U.S., the largest consumer in the world, starts to consume more ethically. Here are six ways you can be a more ethical consumer.
It keeps money in the local economy, so you know where that money is going. You also are supporting small businesses and giving them the opportunity to grow and hire more employees, increasing the job market. Go you!
Reduce your carbon footprint. Try to reduce your plastic and beef consumption. Plastic isn’t only dangerous for your health (chemicals inserted into plastics can be absorbed by the human body—remember that the next time your drinking bottled water), but it also injures wildlife and marine animals, pollutes underground drinking water, allows invasive species to sale their way into new habitats on plastic trash floats (it sounds ridiculous, but it’s actually true!), and requires oil (a non-renewable resource) to make.
Beef is the worst livestock for the environment, according to the BBC. They consume nitrogen six times the rate at which eggs and poultry do, and emit five times more greenhouse gasses, not to mention that they’re large animals who need a lot of space to roam around in, meaning a lot of trees have to be cut down to breed them. You don’t have to go vegan if you want to help the environment, you just have to cut out beef.
Remember when Abercombie and Fitch was sexualizing seven year olds? Or when it sold t-shirts with blatantly misogynistic slogans? Or when their CEO had to step down because he was awful and discriminatory? Yeah, you did that America—you said we’re boycotting Abercombie and Fitch because they’re not behaving ethically, and you got results!
Maybe you really don’t care about animal cruelty, but more likely you do but choose to perpetuate cruelty out of convenience or expense. It’s worth the small extra expense, according to Men’s Health. If everyone refused to eat factory meat, animals wouldn’t be treated so poorly in the first place. Or you could save yourself a ton of money by becoming a vegetarian!
Planes are convenient but not exactly environmentally friendly. Next time you travel consider taking a train (they’re classier anyway). If you really do have to fly, try to pack light: it will reduce the weight which means less carbon emissions.
Not only will you be supporting local businesses, but you’ll probably be healthier too. You’ll also limit resources used to transport produce. It’s a win-win for all and your local farmers will be so happy that you’re supporting their work!
