An Ethical Epiphany
I’ve had a bit of an ethical epiphany this week (I know, big stuff!). My thoughts were inspired by a post that I read on Making It Up. The original post was about Nestle, whose products I boycott – but that’s not the issue I’ve been thinking about. I was inspired by a comment that Jax made in the debate about her post:
“It is incredibly hard to know where to draw the line, and there can be times when I personally feel utterly overwhelmed with it all. But you do have to keep going, and all you can do is make the decision at the time, with the information you have, that is right for you.”
I worry sometimes about the volumes of ‘stuff’ that we (me, my family, and the planet in general) produce and consume. It bothers me at Christmas and my children’s birthdays when they receive more presents than they need. The thought of all these things being created, using resources, when more than enough exists and is wasted already, boggles my mind.
I’d been reading a bit about ethical clothing production. The Taking Liberties report produced by War on Want last year shows that big high street stores such as M&S, Debenhams, Arcadia group, Monsoon and Next are all buying from factories in India where researchers found “systematic exploitation, violenceand repression, long and stressful working hours, casual employment relationships, and exclusion from the social rights, protection and benefits [that workers] should be entitled to”. For all I know, that might just be the tip of the iceberg. Just a little googling connected the names of a host of other brands with unethical employment practices overseas.
The way I see it, I’ve a couple of options here. I could thoroughly research clothing production, and buy from places on the high street that I’m confident have robust ethical practices. But who has the time and energy to do that? And even if I did, the information isn’t readily available. Could I be certain that I was buying from an ethical supply chain?
I could start shopping with ethical clothing companies such as People Tree and Ascension. In fact, I’d love to. I’d love to see clothing companies like these become the norm, not just niche brands for tree-hugging lentil-weavers. But of course, sourcing materials properly and paying workers a fair wage costs money; these clothes represent excellent value, but they’re not cheap. Our budget can very rarely stretch to such treats. Plus they don’t deal with my first problem: how can I justify buying newly manufactured ‘stuff’, when there’s already more stuff available than we know what to do with?
The logical conclusion, I think, is that I have to stop buying new clothes. I have to take myself out of the supply chain, and start using the things that already exist, that other people have chosen to throw away. I think this puts me ethically ‘in the clear’ – the garments may have been manufactured unethically, but by only using them after someone else has paid for, used and discarded them, I’m not supporting their production.
Having come to that conclusion, I’ve found I’m actually quite excited about it. It’ll mean hunting through charity shops. The ones in Durham seem to be stocked with unfashionable, old ladies’ clothes, but hopefully if I take an afternoon away from the kids to have a proper rummage, they’ll throw up some gems. There are a couple of ‘vintage’ shops there too, which I’m not sure about. Is vintage just ‘second-hand’ with a higher price tag, or is it worth shelling out a little more for the best pieces? I guess I’ll have to learn! I also discovered that Oxfam have an online shop, which I’ve been eagerly browsing and will probably be awaiting a delivery from soon! The only disappointment is that I don’t actually need anything new at the moment. Like I said, we’re always on a budget, and I’m also trying to be mindful of the great advice I read on This Mid 30s Life: think hard about what clothes you actually need, and stick to that list when shopping. I need to do a proper wardrobe assessment before I start hunting for second-hand bargains. I also need to think hard about the clothes already in my wardrobe – I reckon that there are a couple of dresses in there that aren’t getting worn because they’re a ‘weird length’ – take them to a seamstress and I might even wear one for Cybermummy (yes, I am planning my wardrobe this far in advance).
I’m not sure how I’ll get on. There may have to be some exceptions to the rule: I don’t fancy wearing second-hand socks and pants, and when I stop breastfeeding in a few months, I’m definitely going to need a couple of new, well-fitting bras. Shoes, I think, will have to be bought new too. I’m really lucky to get the majority of the kids’ clothes as hand-me-downs from my sister-in-law, so I don’t need to worry too much about their consumption. The things I buy for them tend to be the odd piece I really like, or essentials such as vests and socks. While I’m shopping for me, I’ll keep an eye out for little bits for them too. Maybe it’ll be great, and I’ll stop buying new things in other areas – I’m really inspired by the amazing finds I’ve seen on The White Approach, and I’d love our house to have a bit of the same. Or maybe it’ll be terrible, and turn out to be a step too far. Either way I’ll try my best to keep you updated.
I’d love to hear what you think. Do you have any tips for finding great charity shop pieces? Where else could I be shopping? And do you consider ethics in your shopping? Is my logic right? How can we find a balance that we’re happy with?
Photo credit: net_efekt on Flickr Creative Commons
Very thought provoking piece and you are certainly more well informed than me.
I wish you best of luck in your hunting and sewing!
xxx
Thank you! (I won’t be doing any sewing myself, though, that’s a sure way to ruin a dress!)
Last year, one of my new years resolutions was to buy all of Milo’s clothes second hand (minus underwear and shoes) and it was really pretty easy. I bought most of them used from ebay, which took a bit of time as I had to sort through a lot of really ugly clothes, but it was also very rewarding and it saved me a lot of money! I’d say we’re about 1/2 and 1/2 now.
As far as toys go, I’ve always been really, really picky about the things Milo plays with. Nothing plastic or made in China and, for the most part, friends and family have followed suit. I know it’s pretty controversial, but anything that didn’t was sent, brand new and boxed straight to the charity shop. It’s worked well for our family. Good luck, I’m sure you’ll do well! x
Wow, I would love to do that with toys, but I don’t think I could. About 90% of the toys we have are plastic! I worry that if I was to explain to people that we’ve decided to be more ethical in our toy choices, they’d say “but how can you do that when you have so much unethical stuff all around your home?” or think that we didn’t like the toys they’ve bought in the past (which often, I don’t!). But quite a lot of stuff my kids get is branded too, Toy Story, Chuggington, Thomas the Tank and suchlike. If we were to cut plastic we’d pretty much have to cut that stuff out – which would be fine by me as I think it discourages imaginative play, but I’m sure a lot of people would think I was depriving them, and then in a few years they’d see their friends playing with these things and feel they were missing out (?).
Actually, I’d be really interested to hear how you handle that as Milo gets older – how will you explain when he starts asking for a Buzz Lightyear?
I think it’s been a bit easier for our family since we stated our stance on toys/clothes/tv/food before Milo was born. We got A LOT of eye rolls and snide comments like, “Oh silly hippies, just wait and see what happens when you’re actually parents…”, but we’ve stuck to our guns. And now, generally, our friends and family honour our wishes.
I honestly don’t care if people think my son is deprived because he doesn’t own character and plastic toys because I know in my heart that he isn’t.
As for what happens in the future, I’m honestly not sure. I hope that we’re able to have open conversations with him about our feelings on these ethical issues, but that we’re also able to be flexible, you know?
This is an issue that hit me hard a few years ago. I probably get off easy because I just about never buy clothes. Heck, some of my clothes I’ve worn since I was 16. But it’s surfaced again with the baby on the way. She needs clothes and her mother needs to stop kidding herself about what a ballooning body will fit into. For kids’ toys and clothes I’d say check out your local NCT. Nearly new sales are brilliant and some branches organise regular clothes swaps too. Or you could organise your own clothes swap.
I’ll be hitting the charity shops soon but, to be honest, I may succumb to buying something new because good maternity clothing is hard to find there. Also because my bra size is always unusual, there’s no getting away from buying new.
I sold things at our last local NCT sale, but didn’t actually buy anything new because we get so much as hand-me-downs or gifts. And I find people don’t tend to sell basics like vests – perhaps they think nobody will want them? I tried to sell a set of seven matching vests for £1 and at the end of the sale I collected them (and loads of other clothes) unsold – there was just so much that it was probably impossible for buyers to look through everything.
Have a look at Ebay for maternity wear if you struggle with charity shops. My NCT sale has maternity wear too. And I’m impressed that you still fit into things you wore when you were 16! I don’t think I have anything that old.
I am very much “less is better” kind of person when it comes to clothes. I used to shop at charity shops when in college, but now that I’ve employed for a while and the budget allows it, I tend to buy things that are good quality and cost a bit more than Primark. I just don’t see how any item of clothing sold for £5 could possibly be produced ethically…
I think you’re right on that, although sadly the opposite doesn’t hold true: paying more for something doesn’t guarantee that the workers are treated any better. And places like Primark are so popular… there must be so many people who don’t give the ethics a second thought (like me when I’ve bought stuff from there in the past!).
Really enjoyed this post. I’ve been doing this for the last six months, although I actually think it’s much easier, to do, when you don’t have much money! For me I started off by not buying from Primark or anywhere along the lines of really cheap, disposable fashion, instead making sure I wear things until they need repairing and then do that instead of buying new things, which is great for shoes. Obviously there will always be some things you can’t get (or don’t want to) second hand, but treating yourself to odd bits of ethical fashion, or underwear, is fair enough!
I’d say charity shops, ebay and carboot sales are all fab for clothes and you can also try bigwardrobe.com, where you can buy more expensive items, that people have pre-worn, or swap items. The main thing is that you have to be prepared to rummage a lot, but I love charity shops and the rummage factor. I did a sewing skills course, which cost £50 for 2, 3 hour lessons a week, for 6 weeks, including material(!), before I went back to uni and went from hating sewing machines to being asked to take up trousers every time I visit my parents. It means if I want to change the length of a skirt or buy something which is too big, and take it in, I can. My sewing machine was brand new but on ebay so I only paid £50 for it, if you wanted to come to mine one weekend with the kids I’d be happy to show you. Honestly, it’s easy and so much cheaper than going to a tailor.
In my opinion vintage shops are for people who don’t have the confidence to really go for it in charity shops (most of the stock in vintage shops are charity finds) and are totally overpriced, but they are a good port of call for ideas. Try etsy.com as well for hand made jewellery, or make your own, but again charity shops are great for beads, broaches, etc.
Hiya Alex! I love it when the real world overlaps with my blog.
Sewing machine – hmmm… scary! One dress is linen but the other one is stretchy stuff, surely I will make a right hash of it and be left with no dress?! Maybe I will just make you do it for me! You’ve confirmed my suspicions about ‘vintage’. I’ll keep you posted as to how I get on. x
great post, and a really positive response to a sticky problem. And thanks for the link too – I’m glad the discussion inspired both thought and subsequent action. I’ve been pondering blogging a personal buy nothing new challenge, and was stuck on similar underwear/shoe areas myself, but I think it is time to bite the bullet and get stuck in.
And you’re in Durham? I love Durham, it’s where I was born, and went back to uni
Miss it loads.
Another thought – are there any clothing exchanges anywhere around? We’ve got a really big one for kids clothes just up the road, you can take in stuff to be sold, and buy things at really good prices. It’s well tucked away though, so if I hadn’t been told about it I’d never have found it. Or could you throw a swaps party? I’ve never done it, but I’m told other ppl find it very successful. Perhaps we could have a swaps table at cybermummy
Oooh, what a great idea! I get the impression some bloggers have more spare cash than me, perhaps they can swap designer handbags for my too-tight jeans?? I’m not sure about clothing exchanges, I’ll look into it – I guess I have a lot to learn! I’m quite impatient to get searching, but actually I don’t even need anything at the moment!
We’re in a village outside Durham and it’s lovely, I’ve lived in the north-east my whole life (apart from when I was away at uni).
Fab post. I try to strike a balance, the majority of my wardrobe is charity shop finds and hand me downs from a friend. We also have clothes parties in my town where people set up shop to sell off the stuff from the back of their wardrobes for a few pounds..I’ve got some lovely stuff from there! I draw the line at underwear though, I buy all that new! Have you heard of swishing?
http://swishing.com/about_swishing/
C xxx
Ooh, Chris, you’re a genius – there’s a Swish in Sunderland next week! How exciting! Not sure if it’ll work with getting the baby to bed and getting there in time but maybe… or if not then I’ll keep my eye out for the next one. Thanks very much!
Fantastic post, you have got me thinking thanks.
Ella at Notes from home has a carnival about ethical posts tomorrow, are you submitting this, you should.
I love car boots and jumble sales too – I know they make many people squemish but you can wash everything!
I am going to have to have a good think over this and see what I do.
Mich x
I didn’t know about the carnival but I’m in it now! Looking forward to reading the other posts too.
See, I don’t know about car boot – I’ve sold stuff at one once and it stressed me out so much. They seem like a lot of hard work for small reward… but maybe I’ll give them another go.
Brilliant post, I recently started addressing ethical clothes consumption and am on a similar learning curve. It’s not easy and I’m finding I have to do a lot of online research to find out what green credentials different companies have, just to buy the basics.
I hardly buy anything new, I buy a lot of second hand clothes at charity shops and car boot sales and we have almost all hand me downs for the children. Shoes and underwear are the exceptions. I’m looking at turning vegan too so that presents an additional problem over leather shoes vs sweaty other types.
When I lived in London there were certain charity shops where you could guarantee finding fantastic clothes second hand. Sadly none of those round where I live now!
I would love it if you would consider joining the ethics and activism carnival tomorrow at my site with this post.
It would be interesting to hear if you do figure out which mainstream companies are the best. I’ll keep an eye on your blog to see how you get on.
I have to admit I’m not personally concerned with animal rights, so I do wear leather. But I think the vegan options out there are better than they were a few years ago?
I’m looking forward to the carnival – it’ll be really interesting to read the other posts. I need to set aside a day to catch up on all the stuff I want to read!
The one point I’d like to make is from watching a couple of programmes where people from the UK were sent to work in sweatshops like you describe. They were sent to different places every week and they always asked the people they met what they could do back home. The answer was never was “stop buying these products”, the workers themselves always pointed out that if you did that, people might lose their jobs which makes the problem worse.
That doesn’t solve the problem of what to do, I realise – but it puts an interesting spin and demonstrates the complexity of decision making. You’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
Was that on BBC3? I saw trailers for it but never got round to watching it (I think because I often like to block these ethical dilemmas out rather than confronting them!). I see your point, but I don’t think I agree – if everybody stopped buying the products, yes there might be job losses in the short term, but companies would have to quickly rethink their behaviour. They wouldn’t stop producing clothes full stop – if consumers all demanded an ethical model than that’s what they’d switch to, to continue making profits. Of course, it won’t work because the majority of people won’t stop buying them. I guess we all have complicated choices to make every day, and like Jax said in the comment I quoted, we all have to make the decision that’s right for us at any given time.
Great article. It strikes me that we all have too much stuff in general. When I look at the amount of clothes (often bought cheaply) my two daughters get (I think people buy them these things because they think I won’t!) it’s sort of absurd.
Even they think so…!
Thought provoking post. Thank you
Glad you liked it. There have been plenty of times when I’ve bought cheap fashion, for all sorts of reasons aside from actually needing it, and it’s only very recently I’ve stopped to think ‘hang on, what’s going on here?’.
I always used to wear second hand stuff when I was younger – before it was renamed “vintage”! I went back to it a few years ago for the same reasons as you.
Since then I’ve given up my job so I don’t have the money to shop anyway as I earn bits and pieces working at home, and only buy something if I need it. I don’t miss it unless I go to in clothes shops or read fashion magazines, both of which are easily avoided.
I’ve got a book called “What I wore today” and there’s loads of similar fashion blogs with stylish everyday people on them – I find a look at something like that every now and then gives me ideas for mixing different items of clothing that I wouldn’t usually wear, that way you get a new outfit without buying anything.
If you are in the mood to but something though and can’t find what you want in a charity shop, there are some great vintage websites. Before I stopped work I bought things from Martha’s Closet(which has since changed hands) and Devoted 2 Vintage.
Thank you, that’s really useful, I’ll look those up. I think mixing things up and looking hard at things you’ve already got is key – makes things more fun too.
I volunteer at a charity shop and I have to say it’s fabulous! Most of my clothes are now charity shop finds!
On the bra/pants issues most of the ones we sell are actually donated unworn with tags so don’t be nervous about buying “second hand” because it may well not be! You’d be amazed the things people buy and never wear!
Enjoy! I adore charity shop rummaging!
Thanks Livi, that’s interesting about the underwear. I’ll have to investigate properly – the charity shops round here are a bit of a nightmare with the buggy, I need a few hours to myself to rummage!
I take the point, and I think it will be tremendous good fun to be out and about in charity shops. You will no doubt find some real gems. As to whether it puts you ‘ethically in the clear,’ I’m not so sure. I think buying ethically, and my own experience and in what I do for a job as well as a consumer relates more to food choices, is a very complicated decision. After all, who are you trying to please? Is it best to worry about the people perhaps being exploited in other countries to satisfy our demand for cheap stuff, or should we worry about the person who works part time for little money in a department store in this country who might lose their job if there is a downturn in the takings of the shop? That’s a tricky one. And someone still bought the clothes that were produced in a way which we may find unpalatable in the first place, just those people who shop in a charity shop didn’t have anything to do with it.
But back to food, because that is what I know a bit about and I hardly ever buy clothes. I once wrote an article about setting a challenge for my mother- to shop locally for food and never visiting a supermarket for one whole month. She succeeded, and it made her think. This was because I thought at the time that supermarkets were large corporations with no heart who damaged their supply chains. To a certain extent I think this is still true, but I have mellowed a bit. I buy food locally (just come back from the grocers and bakers and butchers up the road) but I also go to supermarkets. This is because I have decided on the face of it, so long as I make a broad range of buying decisions (local/big shop/local market/small shop) I end up with a good selection of food (because remember, being a consumer is inherently selfish) and I also support as many people as I can in the supply chain (from a Leeds chap who bakes bread to a teenager with a saturday job in Tesco’s to someone breaking their back but thankful for a job producing products abroad to satisfy us westerners).
I’m going to shut up in a minute, but I think you should spread your clothes buying around. You should shop in a charity shop- get interesting clothes and also support the charity. You should pay a little bit more for some clothes in a boutique owned by someone independent. And you should buy clothes from big retailers…but while you are there ask questions, write to their Chief Exec and start a campaign via your blog if something is unacceptable. Big organisations need customers to be happy, and bad publicity isn’t helpful.
Pretending something isn’t happening, or at least absolving yourself of any responsibilty for it by shopping somewhere that isn’t involved, makes us ethical superheroes but doesn’t get to the root of the problem. If big corporations say they are ethical but aren’t really it is called ‘greenwash.’ It’s a poor do if us as consumers could have the same charge levelled at us! Best of luck.
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Hiya Adam, thanks so much for commenting.
Hmmm… I’m quite surprised to read your comments about food shopping – I’d assumed with your job that you’d never shop in supermarkets. It’s quite reassuring to hear that you’re ok with them . I see what you’re saying about supporting the whole supply chain, but personally I’m less worried about someone in the UK possibly losing their job than I am about violations of human rights.
Also, are we assuming either
a) I consider the effects of just my own action, in which case it won’t make any difference where I shop as the vast majority will continue to shop with big retailers and nobody’s going to lose their job anyway, or
b) I evaluate my action on what would happen if everybody made the same choice – if that happened then wouldn’t big retailers make their production more ethical, rather than lose all trade (possibly continuing to employ people overseas as they’d still be cheaper than UK workers, even if they were given reasonable working conditions??)?
I suspect you may be right that I’m not ‘ethically in the clear’ either way. Simply removing myself from the chain doesn’t solve the problem. Bleurgh, life is difficult!
I loved your post. I agree with so much of what you say.
My approach is to buy less and try to buy more ethically. When I lived in a more affluent area shopping at charity shops was easier, where I live now I don’t think I could buy exclusively from them, particularly not for my daughter. With the money I save from buying less I subscribe to the Ethical Consumer – they do fantastic reports and give companies ratings based on all their ethical criteria. To do this it does not rely on the PR and Green Wash the companies want us to see but on old fashioned investigative journalism. Now before buying anything I consult their reports.
Good luck, I really look forward to reading about your progress.
I hadn’t heard of Ethical Consumer, that sounds really interesting and useful, thank you. Maybe I need to travel somewhere really fancy and have a good search through their charity shops!
Kirsty, great post and really interesting comments. Last year I decided I wanted to save money, I Ebayed a lot of clothes I never wore or gave to charity shops. I’ve tried to buy a lot less. Like you say that whole ‘what do I actually need thing’
I think there are a lot of complex issues at play here, having read Kate’s comment, I saw a programme on child labour (horrifying) but charities are in support of it, because the alternative is starvation for a family. Unfortunately, consumerism is so huge and global the massive sea of change is difficult. Often small companies end up being brought up by larger less ethical (Bodyshop being a lovely example) and so things are not what they appear.
One to things I struggle with is ‘time’ just time for shopping, I use supermarkets because I can shop on line in my lunch hour. I try to buy local or British to reduce airmails. I’ve always struggled with charity shops, despite everyone else’s ability to find good stuff I never do, and now I just don’t have time to hunt. Some great suggestions here, Swish and People Tree which is giving fair trade opportunities, which is a very positive things, developing countries are never going to develop without global exports and the economics of business/jobs/wages.
Good luck with your quest I shall be really interested to see how things go.