Life as we don't know it

Ethical Buying

Tuesday, April 26, 2011 @ 11:26 AM PERMALINK

While undergoing my PR Corporate module last semester, one of the topics covered was crisis management. While in school, it is always assumed that the company wants to make changes, this is highly likely, one reason I feel like I don't know if I can work in Public Relations once I'm done with school.

In this time, so many companies are saying they are green. So many brands can say they are natural yet contain ingredients which are banned in the EU. So many companies are saying they have becoming greener, buying ethically but these claims all turn out to be lies.

I've religiously read about PEG, Parabens, Sodium Laureth Sulfate and from looking at labels find that they appear is so many products claiming to be 'organic' or 'green'.

I find that big companies like Shell are killing people and forcefully evicting them from their homes to get more space to drill for oil, Nestle is slowly and surely fighting to cut down even more rainforest, L'Oreal wants to do more animal testing, BP and its lax standards has caused major devastation. Unilever fires workers from third world companies and doesn't pay them simply to save costs.

The problem is, everything is owned by these companies! Bodyshop? Owned by L'Oreal which is owned by Nestle. Lipton teas, Ben and Jerry's owned by Unilever...Milo and Kit-Kat? You guessed it Nestle! Capitalism has allowed a few huge companies to basically own 70% of the world's products and we are all pawns in this corporate game.

This is not really a post about where to shop because even I'm not sure where to shop. I find it hard to believe that any big company/ company owned by a conglomerate can truly be ethical and as a struggling student in a country with no natural resources, I am hard pressed to find local cosmetics that are self made or products that fit my budget while being completely ethical.

So what now kittens?

Where do you buy your consumer products, do you buy ethical? Do you think it's not important?

Labels: ethics, Insights