Ethical Shopping Guide
Companies + Brands With a ConscienceIt’s hard to wade through websites and online shops, and even harder to know whether their products are something you could support with a clean conscience.
So? We’ve done some of the work for you.
Below are lists of resources, brands, shops, and products we can recommend based on information we can gather. Our criteria involves human and earth protection: positive efforts in environmental stewardship, no forced labor in the making of products, and ethical treatment of employees.
We’ve also included some links to Amazon if the brand is available there. We know it’s not a perfect store, but we also understand that it’s not always possible to shop locally (the ideal situation) with every brand you want to support.
For more info and brand updates, check out Free 2 Work.
And finally, few affiliate links are used here, which means at no extra cost to you, making a purchase by clicking our links helps support this site. Thanks!
Accessories
Clothing & Shoes
Food & Drink
For perishables like produce and meat, and for non-perishables as well, first try to buy locally. Check out Local Harvest for resources near you. And if you’re curious, I’ve written about both the coffee and chocolate industries.
Furniture & Home Goods
Health & Beauty
Check out the Skin Deep Database for updates.
Jewelry
Toys
Almost, Not Quite…
These are brands that we can’t fully endorse as an ethical option, but they’re almost there, for a variety of reasons. Some hangups might be issues with the treatment of their employees, environmental choices they’ve made, or simply radio silence when it comes to disclosure.
If they can fix their current issues, we’d love to include them in our Guide. Consider these brands as an option before shopping somewhere well-known for its atrocities… but definitely prioritize the ethical options listed in our Guide first.
- Banana Republic
- Gap
- H&M
- Ikea
- Old Navy
- Tom’s of Maine
- Zara
- Zara Home
And finally….
If you’d like a more visual (and comical) explanation of fast fashion, and why it has to stop—starting with us, here’s a clip from Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (language warning).