There has been greater awareness of ethical consumption in the recent years, largely due to global warming and distasteful business practices. So what is it all about and can everyone participate, or is it something fancy that only the wealthy can afford?
First popularized in 1989, ethical consumerism has evolved from solely focusing on environmental consequences of consumption, to also including consumer practices such as fair trade and product sustainability. An ethical consumer uses/buys only products that are ethically sourced and produced, and/or products that are not harmful to the environment and society.
The Price Tag of Sustainability
Making better buying decisions promotes sustainability for causes such as fighting global warming or supporting fair trade. And some of the more commonly known options include buying organic produce, driving an electric car, or buying clothing from labels that claim they follow industry guidelines on fair labour practices and reporting.
Thankfully, being an ethical consumer is more than just about products that are labelled as environmentally-friendly or produced in a certain way. It is actually about being thoughtful about our purchases, and considering how our lifestyle affects other people, communities and the environment.
Break out of fast-fashion buying behaviour
We love to shop.
A high demand for apparel drives up production, which not only gives rise to potential issues such as child labour and sweatshop labour. The resource-intensive process of textile manufacturing also makes it unsustainable: 3,000 litres of water (900 days’ worth of drinking water) is required just to produce one cotton shirt
TIP:
Rather than discarding all of our unwanted clothes, we can instead donate those that are still in good condition, so they can be reused or recycled and not end up in landfills before they’ve reached the end of their “shelf life”.
We waste food as much as we love food
Food waste makes up half of the daily waste disposal of households in Singapore, of which up to half could have been prevented.
Food waste can be easily avoided with the following simple tips:
Plan and Prep
Do a quick pantry survey before embarking on grocery trips to avoid buying food we already have, and take time to prep the food for easy snacking/cooking after coming back from the store.
Save Leftovers
Besides reducing leftovers by cooking just enough, get creative with leftovers and use them for another dish/meal instead of throwing them away.
Tracker
Do periodic stock-taking of the items in our pantry so that they do not end up forgotten and expire.
Storage Pro
Learn to prevent premature spoilage of fresh produce by storing them in a proper manner. For instance, do not put ethylene-producing fruits (bananas) together with produce that are sensitive to this gas (apples).
Product traceability is something less known in terms of ethical consumption. Basically, as an ethical consumer, we want to save resources and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from/carbon footprint of the products we use/purchase. Thus, given that transporting products from far-off places will generate more emissions and use more packaging to protect the product, we are encouraged to opt for locally produced items as much as possible.
Be the Change that you hope to see
Ethical consumption is not a life-changing practise that requires us to do a complete overhaul of our consumer choices. In fact, it can be as simple as reducing the consumption of unnecessary packaging by:
Every change no matter how small, has an impact. And we can all contribute to making a difference, one step at a time.
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