As regular readers know, I have a commitment to ethical consumption, which means in part a strong bias towards the working conditions of the people who make the things I buy. And today is that made-up sound bite of an observance, Cyber Monday, when people will either shop online or not. But what, if anything, [...]
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Category Archives: Ethical shopping
Stand up for Hartmarx workers
My mother’s opinion of Hart, Schaffner and Marx suits — “they’re good” — has stuck with me, even though I was too young to wear (or buy) suits at the time. And because they exist, people like me, who buy whenever possible U.S.- and union-made clothing had a vendor. And they’re still good suits.
Well, they [...]
Use your voice, less electricity to save mountains
Cranky Cindy wrote about mountaintop coal mining, and the environmental disaster is causes.
Universalist fun fact: the much-reported town deluged by coal ash, Harriman, Tennessee, was the site of the church extension project of the Young People’s Christian Union, a predecessor to Unitarian Universalist young adult ministries.
Not-so-fun fact: coal is not clean. It pollutes the air, [...]
Never Buy Day
As I confessed in my last post, I shopped today — vegetables, dish soap for the office, a yoga mat — on this countercultural Antifeast, Buy Nothing Day. So what?
It’s clear that the polish has warn off the observance. After all, isn’t deferring a purchase by a day the economic equivalent of security theater? Paraphrasing [...]
Fairtrade clerical shirts coming
Anglican priest and blogger Andii Bowsher (Nouslife) notes a new company in the UK that makes and sells fairly-traded clerical shirts. That’s good news. One downside is the US dollar exchange rate against the British pound. (Not that clerical shirts are particularly cheap in the first place.) Also, in my experience 100% cotton black shirts [...]
New ethical certification for kosher food
Religious life and ethical consumption are two of my interests. Non-Jews might miss growing story in the Jewish and secular press, so I want to mention Hekhsher Tzedek, a new kosher certification that includes the ethics of production in parallel with religious regulation. (For news about it, it’s easier to follow Rabbi Morris Allen’s [...]
Union-made men’s dress shirts
I’m losing weight — 34 pounds so far — and am beginning to swim in my old clothes. I had already planned to replace much of it because they are showing signs of wear, but only with clothes I know can be sourced without sweatshops. I’ve had to step back a bit from my US-made, [...]
New anti-sweatshop guide
Co-op America has released its new sweatshop clothing alternatives guide. Just in time, too, as the old one was showing its age. (I notice First Unitarian, Portland, Ore. gets a mention in the caption on p. 7.)
Download the PDF here.
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Ethical consumption update
The pressure on world grain production — crop failures, diversion of biofuel production — has created huge price increases and I have a hard time imagining how millions of the world’s poorest people will manage to eat when they get priced out of the cheapest food available.
Point one: Cyclone and storm damage leaves Bangladesh’s [...]
Getting clothes the right way
I just mentioned Project Runway: a delightful show with tons of pluck that enlivens an industry that I want far, far away from me. (I enjoyed Six Feet Under, too, but that doesn’t mean I trust funeral homes now.) The unspoken assumption of the show is that women are decorative and probably vain, and [...]
