MEPRA Learnings: Time for Ethical Business
Ananda Shakespeare, MEPRA Strategy Board Member and Founder of Shakespeare Communications, on the rise of ethical consumerism and why brands need to work with an ethical PR company.
On websites and print, we increasingly see phrases about products like ‘fair trade,’ ‘organic,’ and ‘cruelty-free.’
It feels like in the new millennium, everyone has developed an acute awareness of ethical consumerism, best described in simple terms as a form of social activism – or ‘voting with your wallet’ in which consumers buy from brands purporting to minimize their environmental or social impact.
From buying local, organically-produced food, avoiding high street fast fashion or ensuring no animals were harmed in the production process, there seems to have been something of a renaissance in ethical consumerism, which fills us with joy and optimism.
Skip back 25 years, and I was in university studying communications and environmental science with a subscription to Ethical Consumer magazine. Setting up environmental charities in my spare time, I felt strongly about what we were buying, why we were buying it and, crucially, how it was produced and where it came from.
Today, millions of millennials – led by the likes of vocal environmental activists Greta Thunberg, Alexandria Villaseñor, and Jerome Foster II – are demanding a more equitable world, which centers around a greater understanding of the environmental impact and holding governments and companies accountable for this impact.
Campaigns to end plastic waste, food waste, and textile mountains have gained mass followers and credence in recent times, and my days as something of a ‘lone wolf’ campaigner have now morphed into me feeling far more part of the pack.