Debate: Ethical shopping

When shopping, do we care about anything more than the price? Do we think twice that the shirt might have been made in a run-down factory of a developing country? Or the carpet we love – so magnificent in its detail – was woven by little girls, sitting for hours in a sweat shop instead of being in a classroom? Following the outcry over the deaths of 1,100 workers in the Rana Plaza facility in Dhaka, Bangladesh, last month, we debate whether such tragedies can change shopping behaviour and create safer environments in factories.

Join our debate. We will be raising the following points:

• Low cost plays a bigger role in purchase decisions than ethical production.
• You have to be rich to be an ethical shopper.
• Social media can create the awareness needed to end inhumane working conditions.
• Consumer pressure is enough to change policies of corporate giants, even if governments of outsourced countries take no action.

To join the debate with other readers, send us your requests at readers@gulfnews.com or share your thoughts on the topic by clicking on the ‘Post Comment’ link below.