Do You Care Where It Comes From?
Posted on by Forest in General, Saving Money & Finances
I try to be as frugal (but sensible) as possible in general. When I first started I had this way of life I would just buy the cheapest item possible and although in the short term this saved money, cheap things often last less time so long term can cost more. So I learned that lesson fast and now a mixture of quality and price dominate my purchase decisions.
Considering these things may make you a good frugalist, especially as you become really good at seeking out cheap items with good quality but cheaper items often come at a higher price to the human(s) producing them on the other end. This is the case with more expensive items too but it’s more evident with the cheap items often due to the country of origin.
Do you consider the story behind the object?
Just take a look at the label in the shirt you are wearing…. Right now, find it and take a look!
My shirt says 100% Linen, Made in India….. What is the story behind this shirt?
Well my part of the story is that I purchased this shirt from Gap in the UK about 10 years ago now. It’s a blue cotton shirt that it still doing really well. It’s faded but I like that and it makes me feel like the weathered old expat that I am in this sandy city. I love this shirt but someone may have suffered so that I could purchase this at an affordable price. I believe I paid about 20GBP, which is not the cheapest but much cheaper than going to a taylor and getting a shirt made where I could trace the whole story back to the cotton.
I know this shirt was made by Gap and according to Knowmore.org Gap have had a number of Human Rights violations and fair trade violations with one of the most recent ones being in 2007:
“In October 2007, Indian authorities raided factories in New Dehli that produce clothing for The Gap. They found children as young as 10 who were sold to the factories by their families, sewing garments for The Gap’s children’s apparel line. The Gap says the clothes produced at these factories will not be sold in the U.S. and it has ended its contract with the factories. Though The Gap does employ monitors to oversee its factories, there are only 90 monitors for 2,000 factories. Source: ABC7 News, Oct. 29, 2007“
Knowing that this shirt could have easily been made by an exploited 10 year old puts a big invisible stain over one of my favorite shirts…. This stain won’t come out in the wash sadly!
Now with clothes in general any item in any price range from Houte Couture items to $2 bargain shirts could have all been created in these terrible conditions. However there are some ethical companies and they are more likely to be in the mid-high price range but for moral reasons, in my eyes at least, it may be worth us thinking about purchasing from them a little more.
Clothing is an obvious target and although many of us consider it mildly when purchasing there are other aspects of our life that are never thought about. Think about pretty much EVERY item in the $1 store. Most of it comes from cheap factories in countries like China where regulation over factories is very low. It may be worth considering an American made (although great conditions are not always guaranteed here either!) Tupperware item at a higher cost for moral reasons.
How can higher priced moral purchases actually save you cash?
I still make immoral purchases, I must make that clear! Sometimes I do choose price over morals and often I just don’t consider the purchase enough…. I am a learner.
However I am slowly getting more knowledge and more considerate and I actually believe my informed ethical purchases often save me cash.
- Companies that try hard to make ethical and moral conditions for their workers often work hard to produce higher quality items. These items will likely outlast any cheap alternative!
- Researching purchases often leads to owning less stuff. Impulse purchases that probably never get used are sitting in everyone’s kitchen cupboard, wardrobe, garage…. Someone may have suffered for something you never use!
- The more we as consumers make the ethical choice the more the big companies will be forced to create better conditions. For example Fair Trade coffee (although not a perfect system) is now available at a price that is affordable to most. Many years ago this was just for the rich! Financial Samurai talked about the power of bloggers in his recent post “Personal Finance Bloggers Cause US Retail Sales To Plunge” and I believe this concept goes for all things. Let’s purchase well and write about it too!
But these poor factory workers need their jobs!!!!
I’ve talked about this briefly before. The reasoning of some people not to change their purchasing decisions is based on the idea that by not buying up a ton of cheap crap you will eventually cause the bad factories to close and these people with bad jobs will end up with no job at all!
I have been thinking about this a lot and here is my (current, but ever changing) take on it.
This blog is mainly aimed at USA (and UK) readers so I am trying to at least change one person’s thoughts a miniscule amount. Even if USA stops buying all the crap from China there are plenty of other countries to keep buying the crap in the short term…. However it may make the room for a few well meaning factories to open, even in China, India, Taiwan, where ever!) and help to create better conditions at least for products in USA.
Things may cost more money but hopefully more things will be home produced too cutting down on transport costs and strengthening the home economy.
What do you think, what have I missed?
This is very much a ramble post! I believe frugality comes with great responsibility and if you are rich it adds even more responsibility to our fellow man (I know I sound like one of those darn socialists people are so scared of!!!)
I want to know what your opinion on the matter is (for or against) and what you have been doing to make informed purchases. I know many of you chose organic and local now when possible so please let me know more about it.
Thanks a million for reading, you guys rock 
Continue the discussion by leaving a comment or posting on the Frugal Zeitgeist Forum “Ideas and Thoughts for Making Ethical Purchases“
loading...
16 Responses to “Do You Care Where It Comes From?”
Trackbacks/Pingbacks
-
-
June 16, 2010
[...] Frugal Zeitgeist: Do You Care Where It Comes From? [...]
-
-
September 9, 2010
[...] Frugal Zeitgeist: Do You Care Where It Comes From? [...]
Leave a Reply
-
Cheapest Places To Live In America
-
Zagat’s World Best Movies
-
Cheapest Places To Live
-
Does A Minimalist Lifestyle Breed Laziness?
-
How To Simplify Your Life
-
How I ended up back in school on the first day of the Egyptian Revolution
-
Frugal Zeitgeist is crap…. But that is going to change!
-
755 Restaurant Corporation Georgia Franchise Has 32 Restaurants
-
Lost Credit Cards What to Do
-
Top 1% Keep Getting Richer
-
Forest: Thanks Maria, I am sorry and really happy people a...
-
maria@moneyprinciple: Hi there! I have to say that I never got into read...
-
-
-
Monevator
15. Jun, 2010
I think you should actively support moral choices where you see it and it fits your thinking, but that avoiding certain countries output does more harm than good.
The reason South East Asia is no longer subject to famines and insane poverty is because its citizens have moved beyond subsistence agriculture to a more developed economy.
These aren’t middle class Western kids who have been taken from school to work in sweatshops. They’re kids who would otherwise be lugging bags of rice in a field from the age of 6 (to oversimplify).
Would I rather they were at school and that conditions in the East were as good as here? Absolutely, 100%.
I just think their populations getting richer – and following the same arc of wage and health and safety growth we did – makes that more likely.
loading...
Forest
15. Jun, 2010
Hey Monevator, thanks for chiming in so quickly.
Maybe I didn’t make it fully clear but I don’t think you should outright stop purchasing goods from certain countries at all.
I think it’s more of a case of tracing back the story of a purchase. Not all S.E Asian and Chinese factories commit atrocious human rights violations and many companies still have goods produced overseas in more ethical conditions…. So the real trick is to think before you just buy the item, do a little research if you have the time and try and put your money to the places where people are being treated better to lead by example…. Sooner or later everyone will wake up and things will slowly get better (of course by then someone else will be being exploited, but what can we do!!!).
I don’t think India or China’s ark to a “modern” society is anything like USA’s was so I don’t like the comparison in general. Of course there are similarities but it’s an overall assumption that they are behind USA…. This isn’t clear cut like many think and as their growth is different I think it’s fair to look at the situation differently and make different judgements.
We can’t easily stop the unethical ways of whole nations, especially when they are being supported by home grown corporations who should know better!!! I think we need to send our home grown corps a message and push them to at very least prove they are adhering to basic human rights whilst giving us the goods we ask for…. A 2cent in the dollar price rise may be all in takes in some cases for them to keep their profit margins, who knows!
I live in Egypt right now and I see poor first hand…. It’s extremely sad and many people are thankful for the terrible jobs they have to do…. Sadly though I just see the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer, statistics may show society getting richer as a whole but they need to look a little closer at things to get the real picture.
Much of what I say is thought and of course I may be wrong… Thanks for kicking off the dialog, I appreciate it.
loading...
Financial Samurai
15. Jun, 2010
I do care, hence why I actively boycott crap when I hear bad press on their labor conditions.
iPhone and iPad for example…. shiet conditions in China at Foxconn factory with 20+ suicides means something is wrong and I won’t buy.
Abercrombie & Fitch with their racists ads, screw them.
It is good jobs are provided. But the companies need to also provide a decent environment and treat their workers with dignity.
Best,
Sam
Financial Samurai recently posted..Being Overly Content Can Be Detrimental To Your Career
loading...
Forest
15. Jun, 2010
Absolutely what I talking about Sam.
I am writing on a shiny MacBook right now and I love the thing but only recently started to look up the acts of Apple as a company
….. I know they are not necc the worst but they are doing some poor things that is for sure and I am a little hurt by that!…. It’s not just the cheap crap that is being produced in poor conditions.
loading...
Financial Samurai
16. Jun, 2010
Don’t worry, those factories are just making ipads and iphones! But still, same company though.
Financial Samurai recently posted..Being Overly Content Can Be Detrimental To Your Career
loading...
Forest
16. Jun, 2010
Ha ha, yes the same company
…. This isn’t their first bit of immoral work though…. Money and shiny objects speaks more than people’s rights sadly.
People would never boycott a new Apple product no matter how bad the conditions it was made in were
…. Maybe the would buy it first and then complain after!!!
Anyway no iPad for a while for me until this mess is cleaned up, going to do some research on this….
loading...
Kevin@InvestItWisely
15. Jun, 2010
I agree with a lot of what you have to say, Forest. While we do need to look at things in a different light (the comment above about how the kids would just be hauling rice instead is relevant), that doesn’t mean we can’t do better.
I don’t want to put these people out of work, but it would be great if they had better working conditions. However, the power here lies entirely within the consumer. If people demand cheap crap, then the factories have little choice but to cut costs as much as they can. If people want stuff of higher quality, then they must demand it by using their voice and their dollars.
Although these countries suffer from pollution, hard working conditions, etc…. we have to realize that they are modernizing, and that they are better off than they were before. The answer isn’t in putting them out of work by only buying local, because everyone benefits from comparative advantage; instead, the answer is in encouraging the factories to improve pay and working conditions by being willing to spend more money on the items that they produce! The fairtrade coffee example above, even if not perfect, is an example of how we can move toward this.
Kevin@InvestItWisely recently posted..Weekend Reading, at 300 km/h
loading...
Forest
16. Jun, 2010
Absolutely, some companies are only using factories with above satisfactory working conditions…. These people need praise. Sadly the price of the item does not always determine it’s morality….. Just read Sam’s comment about the iPhones and iPads… You would think a big ticket item like that from a well renowned company would be produced in fair conditions… but it’s not so.
A Gucci shirt or an Old Navy Shirt may well come from the same factory floor but are a world apart in cost.
As you say we need to praise and push the good companies using the good factories, no matter what country they are being produced in.
The whole modernizing thing I am not completely sold on. I mean I agree they are working hard as a country to basically follow in the foot steps of USA, UK etc etc but the reality is that this initiative is led by rich people wanting more money and will not necessarily result in a better world for people.
It’s always an assumption that the “modern” world is better for people but if you have never seen television you will never miss it…. In some ways i could be more beneficial for a countries peoples to fight to keep their simpler ways of life….. Obviously this is confusing issue I am trying to understand myself so I am not fully formed on the views… Some “modern” things such as medicine and communication is obviously good for a society in many ways so….. like I said, very confused :s….. Will have to think about this some more
.
Thanks for your comment.
loading...
Amanda L Grossman
15. Jun, 2010
Hello!
This is a great article–pairing together the need/want to be frugal with quality and moral practices.
Personally, I only buy cage-free eggs. I know this may sound hypocritical, as I do not care as much about other moral issues, but for some reason thinking about chickens in cages where they cannot move around really eats at me. I will gladly pay the extra dollar.
Amanda L Grossman recently posted..Article Round-Up
loading...
Forest
16. Jun, 2010
Hey Amanda, if eggs are your priority that is cool by me
…. We all have our beliefs and issues we like to address.
I have been vegetarian (have eaten fish here and there but stopped now!) for almost 10 years and only buy organic free range eggs too, despite the price…. I would love my own chickens one day.
loading...
Kevin@InvestItWisely
16. Jun, 2010
Hey Forest,
I think it’s in part about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. First you need food, water, and shelter, and then you need some level of comfort, and once you have that, then you look for more
Have you heard of the story of South Korea? The country was completely destroyed in civil war back in the 50s. The infrastructure was completely obliterated and the country was as poor or poorer than Africa today.
However damaged the infrastructure was though, the people’s spirit wasn’t broken. With the aid of the US, the Koreans were at least able to keep the southern part of the country outside of the grip of communism, and proceeded to rebuild their country from the ground up.
They went through some problems similar to what China is facing, though on a much smaller scale because the country is far smaller. They went through dictatorships, times of severe corruption, and hard working conditions. Even today, Koreans are one of the hardest working people on the planet.
However, look at the country today. Their living standards have skyrocketed. Unlike their hostile neighbour to the north, the South Koreans are well-fed, well-clothed, and relatively prosperous. It is a highly competitive society, but it is a society which has rebuilt itself from ashes and grown to become a major player in the world economy, today. Look at Samsung and Hyundai. Look at the city of Seoul and its modern subways and highways. The South Koreans have kicked some serious butt…
Today, now that the country is considered a high-income nation, they are focusing on cleaning up the environment and reducing corruption. A few years ago, an elevated highway in Seoul was torn down and turned into a city river park. The rapid expansion of the subway made this possible.
Sometimes I look to them with a bit of envy. They didn’t complain that they couldn’t do it, they didn’t say that it was too hard, and they didn’t wallow in their own misery… nope, they went and they did it, and they are still doing it. If only some of that attitude could rub off on us in the western world.
No country is without their problems, and in Korea the problems today are working yourself to death and drinking too much, as well as living in a hypercompetitive society and living next to a belligerent neighbour, but they are certainly much better off today, and they got to where they are today mainly through industrialization and modernization.
loading...
Forest
16. Jun, 2010
Well I have certainly never heard it summed up so quickly
…. Korean’s I have experienced are damn hard workers that is for sure!
In the case of Korea I guess they had no choice but to come up to the standards of the people who were helping them rebuild…. I am sure they are very very thankful for where they are now. I do envy that kind of work ethic.
loading...
Funny about Money
27. Jun, 2010
I sure do care! It’s hard to find consumer merchandise that ‘s made in America, however. When I do find it, I privilege it if the quality is decent.
As for the argument that those poor (10-year-old) factory workers need their jobs…well, American factory workers needed their jobs, too.
And right now America needs jobs, lots of jobs. We need to bring back those jobs we sent overseas.
loading...
Forest
17. Jul, 2010
Hey Funny About Money, yes I know that argument is thin. Sadly the corporations only think of one thing and that is profit! So they will not bring back the jobs until American’s stop buying their products….. Boycotting them is the only way i see it possible for this to happen!
loading...