Wisdom & Knowledge - Chapter 4.1 : Ethical Consumerism

As per the Britannica Encyclopaedia Ethical consumerism, form of political activism based on the premise that purchasers in markets consume not only goods but also, implicitly, the process used to produce them. From the point of view of ethical consumerism, consumption is a political act that sanctions the values embodied in a product’s manufacture. Simply put, when you buy a product, you are also supporting the complete value chain of the product – its manufacturing process, the company’s conprinciples and all the benefactors and their practices. Ethical consumerism means being aware of this power you hold as a customer over the way a product is produced or sold. The most common motto used by sales professionals is “Customer is the King”; and the king decides how a kingdom shall function Every time we buy a product manufactured using hazardous or inhumane labour conditions we are supporting the practice; when we are calling the underage kid at a shop to place an order we are supporting child labour. I know some of you might debate that the child might be the sole earner of the family, but even in that case we can extend the courtesy of asking him about his work condition & education. A proper counselling of parents & children has been found one of the most effective means of supressing this. Even today India has close to 10.1 million children working across various sectors. As per The Child Labour Amendment Act, 2016 a child is allowed to work if the following conditions are fulfilled, provided that no such work under this clause shall effect the school education of the child:

1. helps his family or family enterprise, which is other than any hazardous occupations or processes set forth in the Schedule, after his school hours or during vacations
2. works as an artist in an audio-visual entertainment industry, including advertisement, films, television serials or any such other entertainment or sports activities except the circus, subject to such conditions and safety measures
3. no continuous work for more than 3 hours, min 1 hour break after 3 hours & max 6 hours in a day inclusive of his waiting

This is the first factor concerning ethical consumerism – human rights. This refers to how a good was manufactured or service was provided. Right from their working conditions to the minimum rights, incentives and salary breakup provided to all on a timely basis. This means no sweat shops, child labour or worker abuse involved in the process. For most companies this data might be hidden far behind the curtain to ever come up but that shouldn’t stop you from looking and educating anyone you can. Educate them about their rights, educate one and he shall spread the message further. Another recent highlight with respect to this area is the delivery personnel for companies such as Amazon, Flipkart, Swiggy etc. Shopping online has made shopping for us so easy and quick that we are used to having the products delivered to us at the fastest speed even though it might not be a priority for us. A recent case highlighted by a friend was when the delivery personnel in Mumbai came to his door drenched in rain at night & when asked why he didn’t wait for the rain to stop or come tomorrow, he responded with the fact that his incentive was dependent on shipping the product by today.

Most websites provide us with an option to choose a non-rush delivery option; we can choose that if the product is not needed urgently by us. We can keep doing our part by treating any employee of any company with respect & dignity irrespective of their job but what we need to do as a customer is to challenge the companies to improve their way of working to prevent the rights of others. It’s not like we have not taken a stand against a manufacturer, The Swadeshi Movement, 1905 & the present ongoing situation with China where we have taken a stand against the Chinese regime for their ill practices. So why not for basic human rights?

That's just one area of ethical consumerism, more areas coming up for discussion.