Because with the current state of our system, I don’t believe it’s possible to live in the broader society and not benefit from the exploitation of individuals across the world.

As someone who was trafficked and fought for their life to escape exploitation, this disturbs me. I have nearly vomited thinking about this. It’s felt like an evil has creeped into my bones.

It’s led me to change my diet (currently plant-based), the clothes I wear, what services I give my money to (staying away from subscriptions services that make money off of their uploaders and pay peanuts back— if their lucky), re-using products I once would have thrown out, attempting to repair things instead of replacing them outright. 

All of this in addition to my volunteer efforts and donations.

It’s why I’m placing a huge focus on transparency. Because as someone who deeply understands the plight of the exploited, I’m constantly looking for information on where the things I buy come from.

Typically, I have to jump through hoops to find it, in many cases finding no information at all.

I understand how most of us (myself included) have come to accept atrocities done away and out of sight from us that we’d need to dissociate to carry out ourselves. In the extreme sense: child trafficking, broader slave labor, abuse of animals, and destructive environmental practices.

While a part of me wants to shame us all, I also understood too much about human behavior. Particularly how we act in a way that is deeply rooted with (perhaps inseparable from) opportunity and gain. And that we gravitate toward behaviors that put us in a more favorable position.

The point of me writing all of this is to communicate to you my present stances. I once was more interested in consumerism than ethics. Where I tried to save money instead of well-being, supporting people and companies that had already hoarded so much at the expense of so many. I saw the funds saved as advantageous. Why shop from a local grocer/ farmers market when a big box supermarket is open later and has cheaper prices? As someone who works nearly 20 hours every week as a volunteer feeding people on Long Island, I understand not all of us have this luxury. However this is something I can now choose— and something I am working on.

I once saw the mighty dollar as the be-all end-all— the thing that ought to dictate our very lives. Where the advantage was money saved so I could spend more money on more things.

Now, I see suffering behind that way of living and those decisions. And how they support the very thing that nearly condemned me to oblivion. 

The advantage I now see is not money saved, but the humane treatment of all parties involved.

The long is road (and I believe impossible to change in a day), but I believe it is the culmination of our decisions that lead to something greater.

In the case of my business, step-by-step I find more ethical suppliers (even if it costs me a bit more). In the case of my personal purchases, I believe the same holds true.

For a list of almost everything I use, what company it comes from, and the country of origin, click here (spreadsheet format).