A Good Week

Making a commitment to buy more ethically as a consumer is an easy decision to make, but actually finding out the information can be a challenge. Luckily, The Ethical Company Organisation is devoted to just that. Kat Alexander, the Director tells us more.

I have been part of The Ethical Company Organisation since its inception over 11 years ago.  The organisation is all about Good!  The purpose was to bring ethical shopping to the masses, by empowering individuals and businesses with all the information they need to make positive purchasing decisions.  This has been achieved through exhaustive research, which is then published in our annual ethical shopping book, The Good Shopping Guide – now in its 10^th year.  The Good Shopping Guide has been described as ‘a Which? Guide for Ethics’ – readers can easily see who the good, the bad and the ugly companies are depending on their ethical conduct.

The findings of our research still manage to shock me!  Over the last 10 years, some companies have made real head-way when it comes to improving their Corporate Social Responsibility records, but many still have a long way to go, particularly with practices like animal testing for example, which is still rife within some large, well-known companies within the health & beauty sector – something which is hard to believe in the 21^st century.

My position at The Ethical Company Organisation includes organising independent Ethical Accreditation for those genuinely ethical companies featured in the book.  As consumers become more aware of what ‘being ethical’ means, Ethical Accreditation is a good way for companies to communicate their strong ethics to their customers (through our Ethical Company/Ethical Award logos).

Having come from a background in advertising, this job makes me feel good!  There is a real purpose to it – not only are we empowering consumers with the information they need to support the good and avoid the bad brands/companies, but we are also encouraging businesses to behave more responsibly.

I do believe that ethical shopping power (boycotts included) can and has resulted in good, even a simple brand-swap (which often doesn’t cost any more or compromise on quality), can help – as long as these decisions are based on sound brand comparison research, and that is what we provide.

During A Good Week, you can buy a copy of The Good Shopping Guide through our website and get another copy free!  Pass your free copy on to a friend, colleague or relative so that they can join ‘the good movement’ by only buying brands from the most ethical companies.