If you want a better world for your children, start buying with your heart
Everything we buy has a history and it is up to us as consumers to ensure that it is not a history of exploitation of people and resources.
Image: iStock
We all know by now that climate change is a horrible reality that will still cause a lot of damage and heartache in the world.
What we should remember is that we, as consumers, are to blame for this: our buying patterns and our insatiable thirst for more stuff is causing climate change.
Washing machine broken? Buy a new one and throw the old one away.
Want to buy new clothes? Go out and buy what you like without thinking how it was made and the damage that was done to the people in the supply chain, as well as the environment.
Washing machines can be fixed and used again, but we are too busy earning money to buy more things to wait for the repairer to show up.
Various countries have electronic graveyards where electronic equipment such as laptops and cell phones are discarded to make space for a new model.
Research has shown that people care little where that nice new shirt comes from when they buy it. They only care about the price and do not think twice about how the environment was destroyed to produce the cotton that was picked by people who hardly earn a dollar a day.
How many of us bother to go to a store’s website to read its sustainability statement? This is where you read the rules for its suppliers, such as zero tolerance for pollution and child labour practices, but it is easier not to know. Then you don’t have to feel bad about where you choose to shop.
Without consumer pressure retailers will not fully support ethically made products. Yes, there is a lot of talk about sustainability in advertising, but that should not let us relax about how ethical the goods we buy are produced and grown.
Are our big retailers just following token sustainability without being committed to sustainable and ethical trade? Do we ever hold them accountable? Do we know how to hold them accountable? Are we teaching our children about ethical and sustainable products?
It is a fact that consumers do not know enough about the fact that retailers are the ones who can change this. They make the rules in the supply chain, not the suppliers. The suppliers produce and supply what retailers and their customers want.
If we can go on for weeks about the price of garlic and ginger, is it not time to start seeing the bigger picture?
If you have access to the internet, you can search for information on sustainable manufacturing and production processes that will enable you to read a retailer’s sustainability statement and see if they really do what they say in their advertising.
Everyone talks about leaving a better world for our children, but how about we start talking about leaving better children for our world – children who will grow up to be responsible adults with sustainable buying practices who will understand that the ethics behind our products really matters the most?
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