The truth is that there are dozens of things that go to make up an ethically positive product, and some of them are not at all obvious until you really think about the issues involved.
Take the difficult topic of third world manufacturing. There are obvious reasons why we should be happy to buy, say, an item made from natural materials in a poor Asian country. What could possibly be wrong with transferring income to a poorer country and promoting the use of sustainable resources? It’s an ethical no-brainer.
But what if the workers are exploited in sweatshops? What if they are children? That’s not ethical is it? We don’t want to be supporting that kind of thing! But hang on; what if the only income a family can earn is the pittance paid to its children? Boycott the product and reduce the family to destitution? How ethical is that?
So perhaps we can audit the producers and make sure that they are managing their people to our standards? Hardly worth thinking about. Any standard that depends on audits to keep it at an acceptable level will last just as long as it takes the auditors to sink into their Club Class seats on their flight back to the first world.
There really is only one way to resolve this management dilemma. You have to cut out the link that allows exploitation to take place in the first place. If the workers manage themselves, either in the traditional co-operative model or by recruiting professional management, and if the business belongs to them, to their village or their extended family, then you can be reasonably confident that the level of exploitation is set by the local cultural norms, and not by the international business system. And any increase in sales, perhaps by you buying some of their products, means a real increase in the production workers’ incomes.
So, as well as the country of origin and the materials used, you need to think about the ownership and management structures of the producer. Get that bit right and you really do have an ethical no-brainer. One problem faced by the major retailers is that the size of producer they need to deal with is generally far too big to be a third world cooperative. That’s one reason why the “ethical market” in most first world countries tends not to be the preserve of major established retailers but of innovative, often start-up, businesses. They and their suppliers think on the same kind of scale, and understand each other’s constraints and opportunities. They respect each other, and that’s the whole secret of ethical trading.
Here’s a link to a business in the UK that understands these issues really well, and that works with co-ops around the world. Check out what they say about their suppliers. Biome Lifestyle is a favourite place for eco, recycled, organic gifts and products in the UK
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eco, recycled, organic gifts and products in the UK