Do you shop ethically, or according to your moral compass?

[PollyRockets]

This was raised on another thread and instead of derailing I thought I'd create a separate post.

Do you or people you know shop ethically, and if so, how far do you go?

I go pretty far with it, so I don't just refuse to buy clothes from fast fashion retailers using slave labour in Nepal, I also refuse to buy from any company that advocated for, funded or supported brexit, this extends to companies where people with significant control of the business did so (even if the public face of the business did not) so since 2016 I haven't purchased warburtons bread, shopped in the white company, not stepped foot in a Wetherspoons and transferred all shares out of Hargreaves lansdown etc.

I don't use the dodgy car washes near me or the larger nail salons due to concerns around slave labour and exploitative hiring practices.

As a family we are also now changing our next 2 years travel plans to remove states that have implemented strict abortion laws in the US (although I will be sad to miss the Texas state fair in October!)

Others on the previous thread also mentioned around nail salons, strip clubs etc. so wanted to see how common this might be across MN.

To make it an official AIBU - AIBU to think people should shop as ethically as they can afford to?

No I don’t do any of that tbh

I do think about these things but I'm more considering the environment I suppose. I mostly shop locally, I buy second hand or I buy clothing or household items that will last.

I avoid companies I do not agree with to a point but it's not always possible to know who manufactures items

Gosh. I don't know if I have the head space for it in 2022.

. Also, I have family in Texas, and other family in countries that are not great on women's rights, so I am not sure how that would work for me.

I don't buy fast fashion or go to nail salons at all, but that is because I am not keen on either, not really ethical reasons.

I do.There are things that are important to me (slave labour,animal welfare etc)

Not to that extent. We get most of our local meat and dairy from local farm shops so we know how it's been raised and reared.

I don't avoid companies due to investors / owners political leanings or anything like that, personally that's not something that really matters to me. I wouldn't not visit states or countries when I didn't agree with their laws either - Texas state fair is still on my 2023 holiday list!

Yes: if people are going to say they have ethics then they should put their money where their mouths are rather than simply saying “I think X is morally wrong and am going to bore the pants off you pontificating about it but I don’t actually live my life by my own set of moral values.”

I shop according to my ethics: but my ethics are more or less “I am the centre of my own world and not that fussed about much else” which obviously makes it a lot easier.

I just recently had a conversation on this subject with my partner.Sadly I believe majority don't care or think they are not voting with their pounds.

Nah, worn down and can’t be arsed with all the stuff we’re not supposed to do now

What’s the issue with Hargreaves Lansdowne, Wetherspoons and Warburtons?

I prefer to avoid fast fashion, and will choose a fairtrade version over others, and local over imported.

But that’s also environmental concern - I haven’t flown long haul for years, for example. But I was late to switch away from a diesel car, because I don’t want to replace items which are still working perfectly well (I have only ever upgraded mobile phone once since I first got one in 1998, from brick to smartphone when the brick’s battery became loose and couldn’t be made snug again so calls kept cutting out). My fully functional iPad is now, irritatingly, classed as ‘vintage’ - I loathe inbuilt premature obsolescence. So will seek out items which are simpler, more durable and capable of being repaired when making future choices.

I shop according to my budget and only according to my needs (I don't have enough money to buy things on a whim).

No. Not a all. I try to only buy second hand clothes now for me and the kids but sometimes I need something specific.

Do I agree with child abuse, exploitation, and slavery.....no

Do I fund it. Yes.

Meat for animal welfare and environment- local & organic (less is more) .

I also by most of my pulses as organic & fair trade, I bulk buy and found there is less packaging. On the bottom line, pay the same for 500g pack supermarket lentils as for my organic and fair trade ones.

Yes, as much as I possibly can.

In answer to your AIBU question, ‘should’ is a difficult word. In an ideal world lots of things ‘should’ or ‘shouldn’t’ happen. However I strongly believe that by and large people are better left to make their own life choices, and by extension that means they are free to make choices I’m not happy with or disagree with.

I don’t spend a lot of time agonising over what other people do - my focus is on my own life and my own choices.

No I shop according to my budget which is generally too low to shop ethically. Ethical shopping is really for the wealthy, makes them feel better about all the environmental damage from their many holidays and SUV's.

The only things I do ,
I only buy ethical meat and I don't buy cheap fast fashion .

I do as much as I can afford as often as possible.

I think its easier to do the more affluent you are though. On that basis I'd find it hard to judge others who weren't able to make equivalent choices.

To just think about it to the extent you are OP makes me think you're unlikely to be a household that will have to make decisions over Heat or Eat this winter.

No I shop according to my budget which is generally too low to shop ethically. Ethical shopping is really for the wealthy, makes them feel better about all the environmental damage from their many holidays and SUV's.

^This

You are obviously well off and can afford to do that. I do little bits but couldn't afford to do all that. Warburton's do coop own brand bread, so maybe they do tesco and asda too? I'd love to have rhe money to be this choosy.

Equally OP I didn't intend to sound judgy at you although reading back it did sound a bit. Apologies.

I do still think we are entering a time when do many people are struggling and making these decisions is a luxury few will have.

I do to some extent. I find time more of a barrier than money. We all have different ethical stances. I try and avoid palm oil and buy clothes than use fewer chemicals and water and pay makers well (and that is expensive, so it's only the adults in the household that do it and we have hardly any clothes). But I eat meat and am not bothered about Brexit positions of sellers. I agree it's important to understand the impact of our purchases.

I hope you have a great time

I'll have to try and make fried butter at home - but fear it won't taste the same

I’ll tend to avoid any company with a pride flag, or who support Labour, and mainly buy clothes made in Europe.

That's exactly it for me

I'm not comfortable financially supporting people or causes I don't agree with

I wouldn't have funded vote leave myself, so why spend money with companies where a potion of my spend will support that same cause.

You’re not making much sense here. Warburtons are not sending money back in time now for Brexit campaigning, so buying from them isn’t supporting Brexit.

Do you avoid spending any money with German companies who were central to the Nazi program, or is that less of an issue to you than Brexit?

As mentioned in post they are part of a list of companies where they as a business or people with significant control supported and funded vote leave/Brexit

In my view I wouldn't support that cause myself, I actually categorically disagree with it, so why spend money when a portion of that will go to causes I strongly disagree with.

Everyone has different lines for ethics so it's interesting to see what people value. I don't give a shit about animals so am not a vegan on the flip side.