Despite everything, I still believe that most people are good at heart. We have good intentions, although we don’t always carry our good ideas through. There are ways, though, that we can help to make the world a better place without making major changes to our lifestyle. Ethical shopping is a way to help other people and the environment. It offers a lot of feel-good factor for pretty minimal effort.

In the past, consumers have considered a few factors: convenience, quality, and price. The Internet has completely changed the convenience of shopping. Rather than having to choose between different size stores in different locations, you can shop from stores around the globe in the comfort of your own home. You can shop on the Internet and have everything from groceries to furniture to plants for my garden delivered direct to your door.

With this new convenience, shoppers have more control over what they buy. Over the past few years, we have all become more aware of the environment. It is trendy to be “green”. Consumers want products that are good for the environment, and ethical for the producers. Ordinary people are shopping increasingly with their conscience. Yes, you might be able to buy a cheap T-shirt for a dollar. But you would feel guilty that it was made in a sweat-shop in an underdeveloped country, possibly by children. Wouldn’t you rather spend a little bit more and know that it was a fair-trade product made by workers who benefited from the profits and were guaranteed good working products?

How can you shop more ethically without breaking the bank? Here are a few simple tips.

• Buy locally when you can. We all want to support local businesses and farmers, and it is surprisingly easy to do so. Use the internet to search for farm shops in your area. In my experience buying directly from the farm (some even deliver) is as cheap as supermarket shopping, and the produce is fresher and of a higher quality. If you’re in the UK, Farm Shop is a great resource to help you get started. 
• Buy approved Fairtrade products. Products marked as Fairtrade are good for the producer and meant to improve the living conditions of people in difficult circumstances. You can buy Fairtrade products from a wide range of stores (for example, Walmart or ASDA), or you can go directly to their website to learn more about their philosophy and shop. To get double the feel-good factor, buy fairtrade products from charity shops like Oxfam.
• Shop from ethical websites. There are a wide variety of these, and you can buy everything from baby supplies to organic cleaners and clothes. A few of these companies include the Ethical Superstore, Smartly Green, and Get Ethical.
• Use the internet to buy from independent and small businesses rather than from big companies. Obviously this works better for some products than others, but it is particularly good if you are looking for unique items such as hand-made clothing, jewellery, and artwork.
• Use re-usable shopping bags rather than disposable plastic ones. If you forget them and do use plastic bags, make sure to recycle them (there are collection points at many supermarkets).

Enjoy buying yourself great products that let you feel good about making a difference in the world as well.