This is a collaborative post: There are people less fortunate than others who produce the things they need all over the world. These include the clothes that we wear, the jewellery that we show off, the things we eat and consumer electronics. However, many items produced for richer countries by poorer countries are done so unethically and usually unsustainably.
In addition, the people who produce these goods are not paid a fair wage even when compared to low pay in their own nation. It isn’t uncommon for these workers to have little or no rights in the workplace. Children are also often employed in manufacturing businesses overseas, even by some of the world’s biggest brands.
Diamonds and Gems
The debate over diamonds has raged on for decades because of the uncertainty about where diamonds come from and the extremely inhumane conditions in diamond mines. So-called “blood diamonds” are produced using child labour, exploited workers and even slavery.
Murder and abuse are common in a blood diamond mine. A popular alternative is to purchase lab created diamonds, which are produced by specialised machines in manufacturing conditions. These machines mimic the heat and pressure that are required to create a natural diamond and no one is harmed in the process.
Footwear and Clothing
Clothing, footwear and sporting goods such as footballs are often produced in underdeveloped countries by exploited people in India, Brazil and China. Primark is an excellent store for buying stylish clothes at an affordable price. But their pricing is low because they employ workers as young as 14 years old in countries that allow such practices.
When it comes to sustainability, buying natural materials is the better choice over synthetics. This is because synthetics require production practices that cause a lot of pollution, so you should consider hemp, bamboo, and linen clothing for sustainable fashion purposes.
Alternative Animal Products
Currently, there is a massive demand for alternative animal products thanks to the vegan movement. The vegan trend is currently well underway and aims to cut animal products as much as possible by replacing animal-based products with plant-based products. New plant-based burgers are examples of advances in flavour technology that are being used to trick the brain.
In blind taste tests, many applicants could not distinguish between real meat and plant-based meat. Therefore making the case for plant-based foods as a sustainable alternative to animal slaughter. Additionally, technological advancements allow for meat to be grown in a lab from a single cell, reducing land usage for animal farming by upto 99%.
Second-Hand Electronics
The prolific use of consumer electronics in the 21st century is growing so rapidly that they are becoming unsustainable. The manufacturing processes involved in making such devices as smartphones, computers and gaming consoles require exotic materials such as silicon, coltan and gold. These are expensive materials that promote conflict.
Coltan is worth so much that the exploitation of workers in coltan mines has been compared to that of blood diamonds. In addition, large manufacturers such as Apple and Sony use coltan in their mobile phones to manufacture tantalum capacitors. One way to reduce the need for such materials is to consider purchasing used rather than new electronic devices.