As most of you already know, Shein was exposed as being an extremely unethical company in 2022. This is because of its violation of labor laws, stolen clothing designs, and drastic negative effects on the environment.  Because of these factors, I believe Shein deserves the widespread backlash it got. However, I am also puzzled by this, as many other popular companies are doing similar things while facing little to no consequences. 

Many brands you use day-to-day may go against the same morals that lead you to boycott Shein. Clothing companies accused of child labor include Nike(accused by Discourse magazine), Zara(accused by Business and Human Rights Resource Center), and Urban Outfitters(accused by IndieGetup). Brands that violate other labor laws like underpaying or mistreating their workers include Forever 21(Accused by Los Angeles Times) and American Eagle(Internet Public Library).

Although most popular companies are extremely unethical, there are some ethical replacements. Ethical online clothing stores include Levi, Lucy and Yak, and Known Supply. Of course, there is an extensive amount of other ethical clothing companies available as well, but these were a few I found that were cute and at least semi-affordable. Additionally, any smaller, local businesses are also more likely to be sourced ethically. It’s great to shop at ethical businesses, but a lot of the time it can be unaffordable for the general public. However, thrifting is arguably the most ethical way to shop and costs far less than fast fashion. Any other way to reuse clothes is also great, whether that means shopping at vintage stores, online thrift shops, or even wearing your mom’s old clothes! 

Other popular brands that have been accused of using child labor include Apple(Accused by Business Insider) and Samsung(Accused by New York Times). Amazon was also accused of mistreating workers and violating labor laws by the U.S. Department of Labor. Unfortunately, the only ethical phone company I was able to find is Fairphone, which isn’t currently sold in the US. One of the best things we can do to avoid buying unethical technology is to be more conscious when upgrading phones, avoiding upgrades unless they are really necessary.

In addition to clothing and technology, the chocolate industry is a particularly filthy business when it comes to child labor. The companies Mars, Hershey, and Nestle have all been caught sourcing from farms that use child labor, all accused by Wisestep. Unfortunately, these three companies own nearly all of the chocolate you could find at your local grocery store, including Reeces, Snickers, Twix, KitKat, M&Ms, and much more. Ethical chocolate brands are rare, but here are some you will likely be able to find at your nearest grocery: York, Ritter, Chocolove, Alter Eco, and Marich are all fair trade and don’t source from farms that use child labor(The Good Shopping Guide). 

Unfortunately, child labor and overall unethical brands are all around us, in the food we eat and in the clothing we wear. This makes it difficult to buy nearly anything without supporting child labor, violation of labor laws, and environmental disaster. I am not suggesting that you shop entirely ethically, though it’s amazing if you can. Even just swapping out a few unethical products for more ethical ones is progress, and is of course much better than nothing. With a mixture of thrifting, buying from ethical companies, and reusing products, you can vastly reduce your support of unethical companies. It’s also great to reduce spending in general, thinking about whether or not you need the product you are thinking about buying, even with the negative effects it might bring. Our shopping habits lead to great consequences, so we must consider them as a factor while deciding what to put our money towards.