You have cute things. You have hip things. You have cheap things. You have really good clearance racks. You have good branding, marketing, and style. But when you put a “Made in USA” sticker on something that was really made in China, that is not okay.
As discussed in a recent post, I am on a quest to be more informed about where the products I buy are being produced, and I’m making an effort to buy things that are produced ethically, with some assurance that the product wasn’t made in a sweatshop where workers are being exploited.
Let me tell you though, I’m cheap. I’m on a budget, big time. We are a one-income family until my husband finishes grad school and that glorious day arrives when he gets a J-O-B. I realize I have nothing to complain about, and I’m not complaining. Our family’s situation is superb in terms of the majority of earth’s inhabitants. But I still can’t (and I don’t think I would even if I could) shell out $250 for a pair of blue jeans. So my sweatshop-free, ethically/socially responsible product quest may have to lead me on a winding path.
In fact, this quest may lead me full circle to where I started, shopping at thrift stores, on Craigslist and eBay, and at garage sales to buy perfectly good things that are slightly used. They may have been made in a sweatshop initially but at least if I buy them used, I’m putting the money back into a charity organization or my local economy rather than to that retailer who is buying their goods from a sweatshop.
Posted by Kristen Ramsey in Fair Labor, Thoughts and ramblings Tags: ethical buying, fair labor, made in China, made in USA, Rodney White, social responsibility, supply chain, sweatshop, sweatshop free, Target
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