Do you know where your money is going? Chances are, you have an idea, but cannot trace where your dollars go after you give it to the person at the register. Knowing where your money goes is a key point in being an ethical consumer. Not only knowing where your money goes, but where your products go as well. This all may sound like gibberish to you, but I decided to write this article to help give some ideas on how to be more aware of what you’re consuming. This may sound boring and a little difficult, so here are some ideas on how to be ethical consumer in your everyday life with minimal difficulty!
Clothing
Fast Fashion 101- The most popular clothes of the season are being sold for cheap at stores such as forever 21, H&M, etc. You may think those are deals when clothes are so cheap, but looking past the store and into the factories where the clothes are made, you can see that many garment workers are working in unfathomable circumstances. Also, when your clothes prices are lowered, so is their pay. With people consuming about 80 billion new pieces of clothing each year, the clothes are worn over a short period of time and the clothing industry uses cheap dyes that go into the ocean making the fashion industry one of the heaviest polluters of water.
How can you help?
-
Go Thrift Shopping! Thrift stores are a great way to help combat fast fashion as well as have your own unique style, while spending as little money as possible! Feel free to go to your local thrift store and mix and match from different sections and have fun with it!
-
Clothing Swap! Thrift shopping can be made even more fun when you switch clothes with friends! Grab a group of friends and bring some clothes that you may not wear or think your friends will like and swap! Hosting a party with a big group of people makes it a fun way to make friends and expand your wardrobe!
-
Good on You! Good on You is an app created to tell you what brands are good for ethical clothing. Also, it gives you suggestions on better places to shop. This app doesn’t only tell you which stores are not ethical stores, but also gives you suggestions based on those similar clothing preferences that are ethical!
Environment
Fast Environment 101- How many times have you been to the beach and saw how much garbage is left on the shore and not thrown away? If you think it is a lot, you are not hallucinating. Enough plastic is thrown away to circle the Earth four times! Billions of pounds of plastic can be seen in the ocean and can harm not only humans, but sea animals who see the plastic as food, entering their stomach, and even killing them. You can help by simply limiting your plastic consumption in your everyday life.
How can you help?
-
Reusable water bottles! Not only are reusable water bottles better for the environment, but they cut down the cost of having to keep buying water. Just find a water station and fill up your water wherever you go. Reusable water bottles are a cheap,helpful, and convenient way to cut the use plastic in our environment.
-
Reusable Ziploc bags! Sandwich bags are highly efficient, but may cost a lot with purchasing over and over, and also increases the use of plastic. To help, buy reusable plastic bags (Find My Favorite ones here!) that are easily washable and more convenient as well.
-
Reusable grocery bags! When going to the grocery store, instead of plastic, bring your own bags! They can hold more items and can cost from a minimum of 99 cents!