If you read my other blog post ethical consumerism and why it matters, then you may have clicked on the bottom of the page to get here. This post is sort of my sequel to that one, so if you haven’t read it yet I recommend you take a second to! This post is short and sweet. If you are trying to become an ethical consumer, these tips should lead you in the right direction. I personally try to be mindful of these everyday. If you stick to these tips and work on them a little by little, you will improve in no time!

1. SELF LOVE:  Being an ethical consumer starts with self love. When you love yourself you learn to love, have patience for and respect the things around you. The motivation behind ethical consumerism is a respect and therefore concern of the well being of all other entities.
2. CONSUME LESS: When you start taking the time to research what you buy it takes more time because you are being more intentional with your purchases. Being and ethical consumer takes work! It is difficult to “impulse buy” when you are cross checking where the product comes from. The things you will consume will also be a little more expensive. There are no ethically sourced pants where the material, labor and transportation are all under $10-20. The people who made those pants virtually did it for free and live in such desperate poverty they cannot deny exploitative work. So you may end up consuming less, but the things you purchase will last you a long time. Your possessions made with love and quality and will hopefully feel less disposable. Trust me, this is a liberating thing, not a debilitating thing.
3. CHANGE ONE HABIT AT A TIME: Hopefully you are feeling really inspired right now! You are ready to read all the expert interviews about organics, fair trade clothing and sustainable energy. My advice is familiarize yourself with one subject. So familiar that you can explain it’s importance to a friend if they ask you. Having a strong concept of why being an ethical consumer is important to you, motivates you to pursue it without giving up. And take action! Reading about buying fair trade is great, but what is even better is eating out one day less a week to save up the money to actually buy fair trade coffee. On a similar line of thinking, making changes in our lives is not about overhauling everything and making a big shift. Often times when we take on too much at once we overwhelm ourselves and set ourselves up for failure. How many New Year’s Resolutions get ruined this way? Maybe you started a rigorous workout routine, but as soon as you get sick one day the whole thing is out the window. My advice it to take it moment by moment. Every second of your life (that you remember) ask yourself, “Am I being my best self in this moment.” Ethical living is about learning to live every moment through love and respect of all things.
4. WRITE DOWN YOUR PLAN: Similar to the point above, taking action is really important. It is the thing that makes a tangible difference to others and really leads to forming new habits. Organizing a specific time to prep wholesome meals for the week makes that task much more likely to happen! Put it in your calendar. Make a list ahead of time of what you want to cook and what you need to buy at the farmer’s market to save time and money. Create an alarm on your phone to wake up 15 minutes earlier so you can start your day of with meditation. This is a piece of advice that I am still working on myself, but find so valuable. When you write something down it becomes tangible, and this can be a very powerful tool.
5. BE PATIENT WITH YOURSELF AND OTHERS: Changing your habits is about you and you alone. The purpose of this website is not to tell you how to live your life. It is a tool to help you inform yourself enough to make the choices you want to. You should not feel guilty if you don’t know it all or you aren’t perfect 100% of the time, but be open to learning and being wrong. Extend the same courtesy to your neighbor. Meet them with empathy and love. This way they feel inspired and not attacked for making the choices they make. Every life we individually chose to lead is a valid one. Just because we don’t see eye to eye with someone doesn’t mean they are a bad or ignorant person. If we meet each other from a place of love it we can live a life where other’s freedoms are not stepped on by the way we choice to live. Love the person in the sweatshop, love the plant or animal that nourishes you, love the light bulb that lets you see at night, and love the person who couldn’t care less about being an ethical consumer or whatever you are passionate about. This doesn’t mean you have to agree with them or not hold them accountable, it just means come from a place of love and compassion and exercise a willingness to listen.

You can find ethical businesses at the top of this page by clicking on the sustainable business locator button!