Has coronavirus made us more ethical consumers?

The pandemic has heightened our awareness about how we live, work, engage and consume.

But has it made us more ethical consumers?

Before we answer that question let’s first define what an ethical consumer is:

Ethical consumerism is a form of political activism based on the premise that purchasers in markets consume not only goods but also, implicitly, the process used to produce them. (Brittanica)

In other words, as ethical consumers we should be looking at the whole supply chain from sourcing of materials, to manufacturing, distribution and how we purchase, use, and dispose of our goods to see if it has been done in accordance with what is deemed ethical.

I don’t think many of us are there yet by that definition.

Maybe, a better question to ask is: Has COVID made us more aware as consumers and citizens?

I believe it definitely has, and this could be the pathway to us becoming more aware about the ethical implications of what we buy and consume.

We have become more aware about where our products and services come from, who makes them and supplies them, and how workers are affected in their production. In Australia, COVID made us realise that the bulk of our purchases originated in China and that a more diverse supply chain is less risky.

COVID helped us rediscovered the importance of local communities, especially in big cities. So when we saw our neighbourhood businesses in trouble and people losing jobs during lockdown, we started to buy local. In this sense, coronavirus played a pivotal role in changing consumer behaviour by highlighting the interconnectedness of businesses and jobs in local communities, our prosperity, and its fragility. This has seen the continued rise in Australians buying Australia Made products during the pandemic. 

We learnt the vital importance and value of people working in essentials services such as supermarkets, warehousing & distribution, healthcare, cleaning, education, and IT. We were also made aware about workers’ wage exploitation when we realised that many Australian fruit picking jobs where not being paid at award rates with many farmers having previously relied on backpackers and cheap foreign labour. Or how the global fashion industry looked the other way denying any responsibility as it sent many thousands of women and their families in developing nations into poverty because their work dried up and no one was providing them with wage subsidies or support. COVID shone the light on the issues in supply chains and exposed the unethical behaviour of those businesses who continue to exploit workers and profit at their expense. It showed us who is really paying for that $2 t-shirt of that $1 punnet of strawberries.

The pandemic raised our awareness about climate change as we witnessed the significant drop in air pollution when most of the world went into lockdown, showing us how not driving fossil fuel vehicles cleaned the air we breathe overnight as well as saving us lots of money and time. We become aware about the cost of energy to power our homes 24/7 and the importance of the internet and technology to keep us connected professionally and personally which highlighted the value of reliable, cheap, renewable energy to further reduce the impact of CO2 on the atmosphere and keep us powered.

As a result, those who can afford to, are choosing to buy products that are ‘good for the environment’ and checking the ethical credentials of brands as they go.

With COVID, we started to understand the true cost of things and their real value. Homemade is on the rise in terms of crafts, hobbies, and home cooking, as is the importance of family and the interconnectedness of all relationships.

All these factors are contributing to accelerated changes in what and how we buy and consume.

So, are we there yet when it comes to being ethical consumers?

Some are by the strict definition, however for too long ‘ethical consumer’ has been limited to products we buy and their supply chains, and while that’s very important, I believe it’s a too narrow definition that does not encompass all that we are as humans.

We are becoming more aware as citizens and how we can make more ethical purchasing decisions.

COVID has also highlighted that we are more than consumers.

And that’s a very good thing.

Remember, everybody lives by selling something.

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