Shopping with Purpose « A Seat on the Bus

Posted by: silencedosomething | March 11, 2008

Shopping with Purpose

Put your money where your beliefs are and shop with confidence. Below are companies and vendors, artisans and folks who make products that are not run by foreign governments without conscience and make an effort to be positive forces in their community and the world. The list is terribly short, but will grow with time. Please feel free to comment with additions for the list. This is not a stand for isolationism, but instead a statement that globalization must be wise and for the better of all.

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Responses

Excellent idea!

Thanks so much! It’s just getting off the ground, but we’re hopeful and excited. Even small changes make a world of difference.

By: Kim Campbell on March 14, 2008
at 5:11 pm

I recommend categorizing the entries specific to the product. This would make a quick reference list in the sidebar for people to find the item they’re looking for.

I fooled around with the categorizing thang this eve…maybe it needs a different presentation. Does this seem easier? MHQ

By: Polar on March 14, 2008
at 7:48 pm

For example, Household cleaners would be a Category. Toilet bowl cleaner & floor cleaner would be tags. OR you could break it up into specific rooms. Kitchen, Garage, laundry as categories. Whatever. The list may be small and easily managed now but think about it a year from now.

I’m playing around with tags…maybe we should put you on as a contributor and help us organize!

By: Polar on March 14, 2008
at 8:00 pm

Well, I’m vegan, so I guess it goes without saying that everything I purchase has a bit of thought put into it. My ethics when it comes to purchases are ideally three-fold - no animal products or testing, ecologically sustainable or at least as undamaging as possible, and The Human Factor.

So, this means I don’t buy much. Honestly, the first is easy enough, the second is getting easier, but the third is what most people don’t seem to give a shit about, and so it is hard to find companies that bother with it, especially because places like walmart make it difficult for companies with ethics to survive financially.

Anyway, I would say that in general you can go to etsy and find a lot of stuff that is made by an individual, and it is easy to find the animal-free stuff, and you can often find organic material being used, and sometimes even reused material. For instance, I got handkerchiefs made by someone in … I don’t know, Tennessee or something, and they’re made from her husband’s old oxford shirts.

And then I got an iPod holder (and let’s ignore the toxicity of the iPod itself, right?) that is made from an old wetsuit.

There’s also american apparel, though I have heard not-so-great things about their sexism and their treatment of their workers. (proving that just because it is made in the U.S.A. doesn’t mean the workers are treated any better) New Balance and Earth Shoes both have factories here, and in canada (I think) and in China. But since the companies are committed to an ethical stance, they actually monitor the factories periodically to make sure that The Human Factor is okay.

I think it is important to support this - in other words, it is more powerful to selectively support factories in other countries than to boycott the country altogether.

Erm. Shoes. Mooshoes has a lot of vegan shoes. I think that Vegetarian Shoes (a brand) are all made in the U.K.

No Sweat is another brand that is into labor stuff.

Splaff is a brand that has wallets and belts and some shoes made from reused bicycle tires. (The shoes have treads made from the tires, and hemp outers, iirc.)

There are other companies that go the recycled tire route for wallets, bags, and other stuff, I just can’t remember them atm. (and they can be really pricey)

Lush is a soap/moisturizer type of place that uses mostly natural ingredients and it is all made in Canada and the U.K.

7th generation is unfortunately completely unsupportive of animal rights issues, and so I now use: CitraDish for dish soap which turns out to have a lot less chemicals anyway, some home made soap I got at a farmers market called “union street soapworks” made by a guy who was living in the dc area at the time, not sure if he’s still here, but he does sell online. Though honestly just about any farmers market will have people selling soap!

For laundry wash it is Ecover, which is plant based, and for which the ingredients are in english rather than chemistry, which I always figure to be a good sign. I didn’t see where it was made.

For contact solution I use “clear conscience” which is made in the U.K.

For tub and tile cleaner I use “naturally clean” which is an enzyme based cleaner made in the u.s.a.

For face cleaning/moisturizing, etc, I use Evan Healy, which I get through innate solutions. It is a Canadian company (evan healy is) and the ingredients are flower essences primarily. Organic as well.

Oh, and then you should think about fair-trade for stuff as much as possible. Chocolate is a HUGE example. Slavery is alive and well in this world, and if you’re not buying fair-trade chocolate, you’re supporting slavery, essentially. You can also get fair-trade teas and coffees and bananas.

One last thing before I get banned from commenting for not being able to stop talking! I recently learned that I’m required to get a pair of “business” (as opposed to business casual) pants (and maybe shirt, if I can’t make something I already have work) which sent me in a tizzy, because this is NOT something I can find at the thrift stores (I’ve looked) and I have my ethical requirements, which are really hard to come by for anything other than casual clothes. A friend pointed me to this blog, which I think will help (for my first two requirements, though I might not be able to get all three): http://eco-chick.com/index.php

Dear Deb,
Feel free to write as lengthy comments as you wish…you’ll never be banned for adding opinions and provoking thought here! It’s funny you mention Etsy, because thats on my list to add to the blog. Its an amazing site where just about anything can be found and theres something wonderful (at least to me) knowing the items are handcrafted. We’ll be looking for links to add your suggestions…thank you so much for the information. I completely agree with you about not boycotting countries outright…but, it is very difficult with countries like China. So little is available that doesn’t harm people, either in the buying or the making. I’ll happily buy something if it meets my criteria, which are very similar to yours. Thanks for stopping by and looking forward to seeing you around these parts! MHQ

By: Deb on March 15, 2008
at 1:24 am

hi all, i’m trying to find canadian versions for your site, and it’s proving challenging due to our dollar being less than desireable in the past few years…

however, upon a just-now shopping spree at my local thrift boutique i thought of you both and your message here. you can find alot of household items at thriftshops that are “homegrown’ or made in other countries with ethical regulated standard for their workers (this would require some research on buyers part). anything that i peeked at tonight i made sure i knew where it was made or it was old enough to be made when the longevity of workstaff was considered by their employers. at the very least, items bought in thrift shops are recycled from one household to another, thereby not perpetuating mass production of ‘fashionable’ yet disposable items…and saving a buck or two from one’s wallet means it can go wherelse it’s needed.

i’ll be back with links…fan-freakin-tastic site!

peace,
Lil

By: Lil on March 15, 2008
at 1:52 am

Oh, yeah, something else I had researched recently was recycled/reclaimed picture frames. There are other companies that do this too, I think, but I like what these people have to say so far: http://www.recycledframes.com/

I haven’t actually used them yet, but I will next time I need a frame!

Of course, as is usually the case when shopping with a conscience, it ain’t cheap.

But I figure that just gets us to consume less, and that’s not a bad thing either.

By: Deb on March 15, 2008
at 2:20 am

Am I the first to comment? Well…
I don’t know how much help this will be, but I usually start my day off by clicking on this site:
The Rainforest Site There are vendors there that could probably use some help.

It’s a free site, and for a good cause. I have buttons if you’d like. Let me know.

I think what you two are doing is a marvelous idea. Keep up the good work.

Peace,
=RD=

By: Rainbow Demon on March 15, 2008
at 4:27 am