![]() Thankfully for said brands, they always just so happen to be the ethical option. Individual action has been completely co-opted ![]() Brands too worry about the climate crisis and waste and human rights, and they want us all to shop ethically to help them fix the problems. The concepts of sustainability and overconsumption have been adopted into the lexicon of marketing, and you don’t have to look hard to find a brand Instagram which echoes the aesthetic and parlance of an activist platform. “ Buy Better, Wear Longer,” advises a $4.5billion denim giant with 50,000 retail locations which saw its e-commerce business grow by 29% last year. “The world doesn’t need more clothes,” declares one brand which is most certainly in the business of making more clothes. Is the very concept of the ethical consumer flawed? In fact it’s buying so much in the first place that is causing so many problems. However, we do not exist simply to buy things and use them up. Now, as many as 1 in 3 UK consumers claim to have stopped buying certain brands or products due to ethical or sustainability-related concerns.īrands, the media, government – and just about everyone – uses the word ‘consumer’ to mean people, while corporate branding has been snuck into every facet of public life, from schools to transport. The movement found early inspiration in Naomi Klein’s breakthrough 1999 book No Logo, in which she forensically unpicked consumer capitalism. By aligning your purchases with your values and, as the saying goes, ‘voting with your wallet’, you become the embodiment of morality every decision guided by principles. ![]() Over the past decade, it’s felt like the ethical consumer has emerged as the template for what it means to be an ethical human being. As we reach peak greenwashing, Sophie Benson investigates the real meaning behind ‘ethical consumption’.
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