Ethical consumerism

Ethical consumerism ^W - buying things that are made ethically i.e. without harm to or exploitation of humans, animals or the natural environment. This generally entails favoring products and businesses that take account of the greater good in their operations. ^[1] An extension of the idea, doing more with less, overlaps with the first part of Reduce, reuse, repair and recycle.

What communities can do

• promote fair trade and become a fair trade community
• promote second hand, charity shops and used bookstores
• promote and take part in Buy Nothing Day and Buy Nothing Christmas
• buy recycled products
• organise a Carrotmob campaign
• find eco product supplies
• support or set up zero waste suppliers, eg see News item October 7, 2013, in right hand column
• support sustainable, green or eco-tourism initiatives
• practice event greening
• promote closer to home tourism
• lobby for Government action to enforce the use of bio-degradable plastic bags by supermarkets, or banning plastic bags altogether
• encourage the use of Reusable shopping bags
• encourage use and appreciation of local and Community resources

Consumer protection

Consumer protection is a group of laws and organizations designed to ensure the rights of consumers as well as fair trade, competition and accurate information in the marketplace. The laws are designed to prevent businesses that engage in fraud or specified unfair practices from gaining an advantage over competitors. They may also provide additional protection for those most vulnerable in society. Consumer protection laws are a form of government regulation, which aim to protect the rights of consumers. For example, a government may require businesses to disclose detailed information about products—particularly in areas where safety or public health is an issue, such as food. Consumer protection is linked to the idea of consumer rights, and to the formation of consumer organizations, which help consumers make better choices in the marketplace and get help with consumer complaints.

Other organizations that promote consumer protection include government organizations and self-regulating business organizations such as consumer protection agencies and organizations, the Federal Trade Commission, ombudsmen, Better Business Bureaus, etc. A consumer is defined as someone who acquires goods or services for direct use or ownership rather than for resale or use in production and manufacturing.

Consumer interests can also be protected by promoting competition in the markets which directly and indirectly serve consumers, consistent with economic efficiency, but this topic is treated in competition law.

Consumer protection can also be asserted via non-government organizations and individuals as consumer activism. ^W

Fair trade

Fair trade is an organized social movement whose stated goal is to help producers in developing countries achieve better trading conditions and to promote sustainability. Members of the movement advocate the payment of higher prices to exporters, as well as higher social and environmental standards. This movement requires particular actions of the purchasing managers and other personnel, that is directly responsible for purchasing and can affect the level of green consumering. The movement focuses in particular on commodities, or products which are typically exported from developing countries to developed countries, but also consumed in domestic markets (e.g. Brazil and India) most notably handicrafts, coffee, cocoa, sugar, tea, bananas, honey, cotton, wine, fresh fruit, chocolate, flowers, gold and 3D printer filament. The movement seeks to promote greater equity in international trading partnerships through dialogue, transparency, and respect. It promotes sustainable development by offering better trading conditions to, and securing the rights of, marginalized producers and workers in developing countries. ^W / See also Fair trade debate ^W

Carrotmob

Carrotmob is a nonprofit organization based in San Francisco, California. It uses buycotts (a form of consumer activism where a community buys a lot of goods from one company in a small time period) to reward a business's commitment to making socially responsible changes to the business. Carrotmob also refers to a global movement of community organizers who use the Carrotmob tactic of consumer activism as a way to help change businesses in their communities. In a Carrotmob buycott, businesses compete to be the most socially responsible business, and then a network of consumers spends money to support the winner. ^W

Sustainable tourism

"Sustainable tourism is the concept of visiting a place as a tourist and trying to make only a positive impact on the environment, society and economy." Tourism can involve primary transportation to the general location, local transportation, accommodations, entertainment, recreation, nourishment and shopping. It can be related to travel for leisure, business and what is called VFR (visiting friends and relatives). There is now broad consensus that tourism development should be sustainable; however, the question of how to achieve this remains an object of debate. ^W

Eco hotel

Eco hotel is a hotel or accommodation that has made important environmental improvements to its structure in order to minimize its impact on the environment. The basic definition of a green hotel is an environmentally responsible lodging that follows the practices of green living. These hotels have to be certified green by an independent third-party or by the state they are located in. Traditionally, these hotels were mostly presented as Eco Lodges because of their location, often in jungles, and their design inspired by the use of traditional building methods applied by skilled local craftsmen in areas, such as Costa Rica and Indonesia.

Today, eco hotels also include properties in less "natural" locations that have invested in improving their "green" credentials. ^W

Green conventions

Green conventions or green meetings are conventions which are conducted in ways which minimize the environmental burdens imposed by such activities. Green event planners apply environmentally preferred practices to waste management, resource and energy use, travel and local transportation, facilities selection, siting and construction, food provision and disposal, hotels and accommodations, and management and purchasing decisions. The practice is known as "event greening" or "sustainable event management".

Green conventions, meetings, conferencing and events are part of an international movement to achieve a sustainable world economy and livable planet. ^W

Volunteer travel

Volunteer travel, volunteer vacations, volunteer tourism or voluntourism is travel which includes volunteering for a charitable cause. In recent years, "bite-sized" volunteer vacations have grown in popularity. Volunteer vacations vary widely in scope, from low-skill work cleaning up local wildlife areas to providing high-skill medical aid in a foreign country. Volunteer vacations participants are diverse but typically share a desire to “do something good” while also experiencing new places and challenges in locales they might not otherwise visit. ^W / See also Volunteer travel, Controversy ^W Potential volunteers may wish to satisfy themselves that projects involve local communities sufficiently, meet locally idetified needs and are consistent with local community aspirations.

Resources

• Buy Nothing Day site through the Adbusters Media Foundation
• Buy Nothing Christmas, includes alternative gift ideas, for example a set of coupons to print and give to family members that include two free homemade desserts, three back massages, or an evening of child care.
• Consumer Resources for Buying Green Products on Green Wiki
• GoodGuide Transparency Toolbar
• 'Good Stuff? A Behind-the-Scenes Guide to the Things We Buy', March 2004, is a free online publication from the Worldwatch Institute. It traces what goes into the production, use, and disposal of 25 common consumer items, including compact discs, cell phones, baby goods, and chocolate, and sheds light on hidden impacts that consumers may be unaware of. For example, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reports that the air inside a typical U.S. home is on average 2-5 times more polluted than the air just outside - and in extreme cases can be 100 times more contaminated - largely because of the use of chemical cleaners and pesticides. Good Stuff is available via worldwatch.org where it can be downloaded for free.
• Plastic Free Living from Plastic Free July

News and comment

see separate article: Ethical consumerism news

Sustainable consumption controversy

"Yet individual initiatives alone do not necessarily help to build strong, healthy communities (although they can free up time that could lead to greater community involvement), nor can they address the structural obstacles to genuine consumer choice the lack of organic produce in the supermarket, for instance. Some critics even argue that, pursued in isolation, individual initiatives can be counterproductive.

"An "individualization of responsibility", as political and environmental scientist Michael Maniates notes, distracts attention from the role that such institutions as business and government play in perpetuating unhealthy consumption. Moreover, to the extent that individuals see their power residing primarily in their pocketbooks, they may neglect their key roles as parents, educators, community members, and citizens in building a society of well-being." ^[6]

See also: Criticism (of Ethical consumersim)^W

Events

2018

Nov 23 - Dec 3 MAKE SMTHNG Week, 2018: Fri-Mon

2017

December 2 - 10 - inaugural MAKE SMTHNG Week, a worldwide event focused on the maker movement

2015

November 28 - International Buy Nothing Day

"a day for society to examine the issue of over-consumption", and kick off a season of supporting local economy and family. In North America, Buy Nothing Day is held on the Friday after U.S. Thanksgiving (a day earlier than the international day). US sustainable community events / Wikipedia, Activities

May 24 - 31 - World Fair Trade Week

wfto.com

February 13 and 14 - Global Divestment Day, "Let’s make fossil fuels history." / Fossil Free

Campaigns

Break Free From Plastic

Fossil Free, a project of 350.org

Wake Up Call

See also

• Ethical consumerism UK
• Alternatives to plastic bags
• Community resources
• Ecotourism
• Fair trade
• Food, sustainable community action
• Green Christmas
• Greenwash
• Localism
• No such thing as waste
• Overview of eco-hostels
• Plastic bags
• Plastic bag programs
• Reduce, reuse, repair and recycle
• Sharing
• Travel choices
• Voluntary simplicity or simple living

local information can be found, or shared, via our many location pages

Interwiki links

Wikipedia: Ethical consumerism, Anti-consumerism, Carrotmob, Degrowth, Eco hotel, Fair trade, Fair trade debate, Green brands, Green conventions, Greenwashing, Post growth, Second-hand shop, Sustainable tourism, Used bookstore, Volunteer travel

Greenwiki: Greenwash

SourceWatch: Greenwashing

External links

• BankTrack.org
• Carrotmob, according to the website "We are not currently active, but feel free to learn about past campaigns or contact us!" (accessed 13 12 14)
• Consumers International, world federation of consumer groups, based in London, England. In campaigning for the rights of consumers across the world, CI seeks to hold corporations to account and acts as a global watchdog against any behaviour that threatens, ignores or abuses the principles of consumer protection. ^W
• Fairtrade International
• Fashion Revolution
• International Centre for Responsible Tourism
• International Ecotourism Society
• The Man in Seat Sixty-One, train travel guide
• Morsbags
• Planeta.com, think smart, travel slow
• POC21, innovation camp for open-source sustainability, talking place at Chateau de Millemont (Paris) in 2015, building "the tools we need for the world we want."
• Provenance, "Creating and fostering open and accessible information about products"
• Sustainable Travel International

References