What 'Buying Ethically' means

Hi members, I thought it'd be a good idea to have a post about what buying ethically means to you, and to broadly outline my ideas about the topic and this community.

I strongly believe that every dollar we spend is a vote. I have personally struggled to make informed spending decisions and to find ethical alternatives - and so I'd like this community to be used to share information about existing products & companies, and to draw attention to some great alternative products & companies.

To me, 'ethical buying' can come under any of these 4 categories:

  1. Ethical production - the most obvious category, this includes products that have been produced with little environmental damage, human exploitation or animal cruelty/habitat destruction (eg. Lush).
  2. Quality production - products that are built to last a long time. Making one thing to last a long time will have much less impact than buying a poorer quality product that will need to be periodically replaced.
  3. Ethical design - These are new or alternatively designed products that result in a more sustainable lifestyle. Good examples are re-usable products that can replace a disposable product (eg. diva cup)
  4. Second hand items - Using what we already have is always going to be more sustainable than having something new built.

Edit: 5. Home made/grown items - the best way to be sure of where your items come from is to build them or grow them yourself!

If you know of a product or company that meets any of the above criteria - please post it!

I'd love to hear your thoughts, let me know if you think I've missed anything or if you have any thoughts about building this community.