How to Save the Planet while You Shop: Discover the World’s Top Online Marketplace for Sustainable, Fair Trade Goods

BY MEGHAN MCDONALD

photo: artem bali

The Importance of Voting with Your Dollar: How to Save the Planet as You Shop

Let’s cut right to the chase: Every time you buy a product or service, you are either voting for a sustainable, humanitarian, and ecologically sound future for all life or one filled with pollution, destruction, and inhumane treatment of workers, plants, and animals.

This concept is called voting with your dollar, and it is one of the most powerful ways you can help make big, positive shifts in the direction of a healthy, sustainable future on this planet both locally and globally.

Every time you support and shop with brands or stores that promote ethical, environmentally sound values, you direct money away from companies with harmful practices, forcing them to either change and stop their destructive practices or go out of business.

Not only that, but the more people are buying organic, sustainable, fair trade, and natural products, the cheaper they get due to economies of scale. Due to this fact, it is now cheaper than ever to shop sustainably; and unlike years past, there are socially conscious options for virtually every product on the market, so you can powerfully vote with your wallet.

Make no mistake about it, this is how we solve the planets biggest problems starting right now.

Where to Find the Best Eco-Friendly, Fair Trade Brands and Products

But all of these options present another set of issues: How do you know which brands to vote for that are actually doing good versus those that are just marketing themselves as sustainable when they are really not (aka greenwashing)? And beyond that: How do you know where to find these companies and products in the first place?

Up until recently, to find and keep track of all the brands and companies doing good in this world, was basically a part-time job involving serious time spent researching and seeking out these products.

But that’s all changing thanks to The Etho—an online marketplace founded to promote and expand fair and ethical trade practices by exclusively selling ethically sourced items.

The Biggest Challenge in Voting With Your Wallet Just Got Solved

The Etho saves you countless hours of endless searching and vetting by bringing all of the best sustainable, eco-conscious, transparent, and ethical brands all into one place, making it easy and convenient to live a life of positive environmental and social impact.

This woman-owned and operated company, is like an online Amazon.com of only products and services that contribute to the life and planet-supporting future that we all want—without having to sacrifice comfort, luxury, style, quality, or any of the other things you love.

In addition to highly fashionable clothing for men, women, and children, The Etho has everything from handmade jewelry, luxury vegan handbags, and biodegradable yoga mats; all kinds of beauty and self-care products; and even home goods like candles, artwork, and bedding.

The Etho’s mission was inspired by the CEO’s time spent traveling abroad in which she regularly saw beautiful places filled with hard working people (and the unique things they made) who were almost always stuck in crippling poverty. As a result, they’re on a mission is to create a higher standard of living for marginalized communities around the world, by supporting trade relationships that reflect a higher ethical standard, and changing the way people think about and participate in commerce.

They have spent thousands of hours vetting and sourcing brands and products from around the world that meet their stringent quality standards, so you don’t have to and can simply feel good about what you are buying, knowing that you are contributing to a better world with every purchase. Literally.

The Etho is making it easier than ever to do the right thing. Every brand they sell must adhere to their 7 Core Principles of Ethical Production, which are adapted directly from the Fair Trade principles set by the WFTO. No matter what you are shopping for, whether clothes, coffee, beauty, or cleaning supplies, each purchase is supporting fair wages and safe working environments for workers across the globe.

As you shop this holiday season and beyond, remember that you can play a major part in setting positive change into effect RIGHT NOW by making a commitment to voting with your wallet—by voting with your dollars. Every purchase counts. Every purchase matters because they collectively add up to a lot of money and can be the difference between perpetuating an environmentally and socially destructive enterprise or shutting it down forever in favor of a future that works for us all.

To learn more about some of the eco-friendly, ethical, and innovative products and brands that The Etho supports, visit their website: The Etho

This article is a sponsored post written in collaboration with The Etho, whose products and ethos complies with Conscious Lifestyle Magazine’s stringent quality and integrity guidelines.

About The Author

Meghan McDonald is the Co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of Conscious Lifestyle Magazine. She holds a master’s degree in social psychology from San Diego State University where she conducted award-winning research into the nature of human social behavior. She is an advocate for many environmental and social justice causes and a champion of social impact-focused brands and products that adhere to high sustainability and ethical standards. As a regular travel and lifestyle contributor to Conscious Lifestyle Magazine, Meghan funnels her extensive knowledge of natural products, organic living, and consumer behavior into researching and reviewing brands and products that promote health, wellbeing, sustainability, equality, and positive social change. She has traveled to over 25 countries and loves exploring diverse destinations worldwide while documenting the local artisans and businesses offering conscious, healthy alternatives.