How to be a socially responsible consumer

Corporate social responsibility is all the rage in business these days. Fairtrade stickers are running rampant on labels, publishing massive codes of ethics and making them known is important and businesses are facing multiple dilemmas in keeping their CEO’s accountable for their actions.

While this pattern may seem good for our society and reflects our consumption habits in a positive way, it is important to not be fooled by big corporations claiming to be ethical.

So how can you become a socially responsible consumer?

First, know your facts.

Fair Trade is a non-profit organization where “Products that bear our [Fair Trade] logo come from farmers and workers who are justly compensated. We help farmers in developing countries build sustainable businesses that positively influence their communities. We're a nonprofit, but we don't do charity. Instead, we teach disadvantaged communities how to use the free market to their advantage,” said the Fair Trade website.

While Fair Trade’s intentions are for the better, their methods are not terribly effective, as Colleen Haight states in the Stanford Social Innovation. Buying Fair Trade is a good start for consumer consciousness, but it should not be the end all. The majority of farmers are not facing Fair Trade benefits and are still being treated poorly.

To overcome this, another way to support laborers in third world countries is to encourage buying premium products. Premium products mean it requires premium work, which means the matter of the work requires the worker to be paid a higher wage in order to provide quality work.

I know what you are thinking, premium means expensive. But $2 to $3 dollars more is worth helping those who are still only make 5 cents to make your “expensive” product.

Another important thing to consider is the motivation and follow through from companies who claim to be ‘ethical.’

Corporations like Walmart are coming out with grand public relations documents that claim corporate social responsibility, but it is important note their motivations  behind this plight.

As C. B. Bhattacharya in a Forbes article notes, corporate social responsibility has become all about marketing and not so much about benefiting the society. When the focus is on making the company look good for competitive and profit motivations, their efforts towards sustainability are not as effective.

American capitalism creates a difficult decision for consumers – they can buy cheap and the best deal, or buy from ethically sourced companies. While you can have both, it isn’t terribly common.

To answer the question from above in the simplest way: don’t buy cheap.

I know it’s hard because we’re college students and money is not abundant in our lives currently. But in the long run, being a socially responsible consumer will benefit you with the ripple effect.

Buying ethically means you are supporting the world economy, which means businesses stay sustainable and even better, the gap in the world between the haves and the have nots lessens.

-DOANEline