Conscious Consumer Shopping Guide

What Is It?

Often called “voting with

your dollar,” conscious

consumerism is a way to

support your values every

time you walk into a store.

It can be as simple as

buying fair trade clothes, or

as grand as boycotting a

misbehaving corporation.

University of Missouri–St. Louis

1 University Blvd. B216 Benton Hall

St. Louis, MO 63121-4400

314-516-4246

Put together by the Whitney R. Harris World Ecology Center.

All content for this brochure was

procured from Learn Vest.

What To Look For:

Is it made from

recycled,

recyclable and

renewable

materials?

From glass bottles to reusable

bento boxes, you can keep

landfills from filling up by

choosing products that will have a

second (or third, or fourth) life.

Shop smart: Renewable

materials aren’t always obvious.

So look for the little triangular

recycling symbol, labels that

advertise plant-based materials

and FSC-certified wood and paper

products, compostable materials,

and items made from post-

consumer recycled content. And

given the choice, go with the

option with less packaging.

Does it support the

community?

Outsourcing to developing countries

can be cheaper but often comes with

poor oversight, terrible working

conditions, wages too low to live on,

child labor, and other disturbing

issues.

Shop smart. This is difficult to

assess just by looking at a product,

but some companies are notorious

for cutting corners. If it doesn’t have

a fair trade label, you can use “Good

Guide” as a fast assessment.

Is it animal testing- and cruelty-free? Animal testing is almost

universally condemned

by consumers, but there

are still a few companies

out there who do it.

Shop smart: This one is easy. Look

for one of these two symbols that

proudly declare no animals were

tested, or search PETA’s cruelty-free

database.

Is it locally made?

If a product is locally made, it didn’t

have to be shipped over long distances to

get to your door. This means less oil was

used and less carbon released.

Shop smart: Manufacturers are required

to label products with their country of

origin. Retail websites will indicate

items’ country of manufacture. If all else

fails, ask the seller where it was made.

Is it free of harmful

or carcinogenic

chemicals?

Every once in a while, a manufacturing

ingredient gains notoriety for being

poisonous, now we have Bisphenol A

(BPA). The U.S. has lagged behind

Europe and Canada in regulating BPA

and several other chemicals, so it’s up to

you to look out for them.

Shop smart: Start by looking for

products that are BPA-, paraben- and

sulfate-free. This will either be clearly

indicated somewhere, or you can look at

the ingredients if it is a beauty product.