A friend of mine who isn’t short of a few quid has just cancelled his order for a new Tesla because of Elon Musk firing loads of his twitter employees.
I personally try very hard not to touch anything to do with Amazon due to reports of how some of their workers are treated. What brands out there truly try to be ethical?
28 comments
Rapanui seems to be fairly ethical. They are aiming for a circular economy in clothing. I’ve got two of their t-shirts and had them a couple of years and they are still going strong.
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Timpsons seem pretty good. They try to build a supportive workplace and offer good perks to their employees. And they employ a lot of ex convicts who can’t get jobs elsewhere.
Patagonia seem to be pretty ethical
Adnams Brewery go out of their way to minimise their environmental footprint as much as possible. They also give a lot of support to the local community and local charities. And they seem to look after their staff better than many companies, promoting from within rather than recruiting managers from outside – one of the current board members started out with the company as a cleaning lady.
Riverford. Ella’s Kitchen. Pukka Teas. Co op Bank
Patagonia are pretty solidly ethical.
John Lewis is also pretty good.
If you have a refill shop near you, they have more ethical products (often from local and/or small/independent businesses, with no/less packaging), I’d definitely recommend them.
There’s a big overlap between people going /r/zerowaste and wanting generally more ethical products (eg, sustainably made, workers paid fairly etc) so that sub might have advice if there’s something specific you want an alternative for.
Smol are good for cleaning products IMO (I use their dishwasher and laundry pods). Refill shops (and sometimes farm shops) may also sell cleaning/household stuff from brands like Fill or SESI.
For shampoo and bath/body stuff, I’d suggest Gruum or Faith in Nature.
Oxfam shops often have a section for new “ethically made” products.
He didn’t think of not ordering a Tesla when Musk shot a car into space just because he could?
Gandys clothes seem pretty decent. Started by 2 guys who lost their parents in the Asian tsunami, pump loads of money and time into building schools.
WUKA (period underwear) is an excellent ethical brand that supports so many good causes.
Community Clothing and Peregrine are both 100% made in the UK all the way down to the threads and buttons.
At least you know everyone in the supply chain is getting a reasonable wage and is properly protected by our employment law. Which is a thousand times better than what most brands give their third world supply chains.
All your money staying in the UK and promoting industry in deprived areas is a nice bonus.
There’s a magazine that reviews brands/products for how ethical they are – you’d need a subscription to get the full info but there’s a fair amount for free on there.
https://www.ethicalconsumer.org
See also https://www.ethicalsuperstore.com – each product has tags denoting what category of ethical the product comes under.
Paramo. As well as making the best waterproofs on the market (imo), they give workers in the Bogota manufacturing facility a share of ownership of the company, as part of an employee ownership trust so the company, as well as sister company Nikwax, were given by the original owner to the employees.
They are also pretty good for sustainability, with a garment return scheme and really great customer support and repairs
Summit Ice, if you’re in the market for winter jackets that aren’t affiliated with holocaust deniers.
Your mate should probably cancel his order over the ethics involved in mining lithium never mind firing twitter employees….
I enjoy the irony that he was happy with Tesla’s well publicised poor working practices prior to Elon taking over twitter … I suspect your friend is more the “look at my halo” type than seriously into ethical purchases.
Sorry but your friend cancelled the Tesla because some Twitter employees got fired? They didn’t give a toss about the child slaves mining lithium in Africa, but this is what put them off?
https://uk.bookshop.org/ for books. They act as an aggregator for lots of local independent bookshops.
Tony’s Chocoloney is a chocolate brand built around anti-slavery practices. It’s a bit expensive, but it’s genuinely really good chocolate, and much more ethical than other chocolate brands like Nestle.
Richer Sounds. He gave the company to the staff.
Finesterre
Pretty important to say that when it comes to the fashion industry, the most ethical thing you can do *really* is stop buying new shit. Yes there are *ethical* brands, but in terms of the wider picture, we need to see primark and such die. The fashion industry is toxic.
The reality is that we’re not giving up looking and feeling nice anytime soon. I’m not preaching, I am guilty of this too, but it’s kinda the truth.
Obviously can’t speak for the way the company runs etc. but Aldi giving their employees three pay rises this year alone to keep up with inflation is pretty damn nice of them, and compared with how most big companies run – not the norm. It should be the standard and it sucks that it’s not, but it shouldn’t go unappreciated.
Hotel Chocolat are pretty ethical. They pay their workers (both in shops and on farms) a very fair wage and invest in community projects that train farmers in places like St Lucia and Ghana. Their chocolate might be pricey but its fair considering the high cocoa content in the chocolate.
“Try really hard not to touch Amazon”
Translation = I still use it I just tell people I don’t like using it.
It’s truly depressing that I’ve read so many comments and only recognised one of these brands
Argos, not for their ethics, I know nothing about that, but because they’re a super good alternative to amazon. Always check them.
Not L’Oréal. It’s ilegal to sell cosmetics tested on animals in the UK, yet it’s a legal requirement to test cosmetics to sell them in China. L’Oréal sells in both countries. How? Loopholes, UK loopholes specifically.
Coop is a good company, it’s mostly Fairtrade and coop is a type of business which prioritised employees. Other coops are John Lewis/Waitrose. Mutuals are also good, just avoid PLC’s basically.