What Does Being Ethical Mean?

So, what does being ETHICAL mean?  Before we can answer this question, we first need to look at another question, what does ethos mean?

Etho who …?

The word ethos (said with a fake Greek accent, think Zorba the Greek) relates to the characteristic spirit of a culture, era, or community, as manifested in its attitudes and aspirations.

Therefore, it can be said that at the beginning era of the 2020s (in this crazy as shit year of the Covid pandemic) many people have an aspirant desire to live more ETHICALLY and more humanely on the planet.

This one planet that we all share, with all other life forms and which is the only (known) planet that we know of that can sustain life in the vast Cosmos. And while our man Elon Musk may have his sights on Mars, for now, this is it. EARTH – there is no Planet B and we simply gotta figure this out.

Back to the etymology of the word ETHICAL.

ETHICAL derives from the word ethics

Ethics, in this instance, applies to a set of moral principles and beliefs especially ones relating to or affirming a specified group, field, or form of conduct. You with me so far?

It also means the moral principles that govern a person’s behaviour or the conducting of any activity.

One could view this as the moral correctness of specified conduct, the conduct, in this instance, would be how to live as a civilized Human Being, without harming yourself, the Planet, or anyone else around you

Getting it?

Shopping Ethically makes Shopping Easier

Sorry, what?

Bear with me, I can explain.

Shopping for anything is much easier when your choices are limited! Think of it this way. You are going to a Coco Chanel party and need a little black dress. When you’re shopping you will only be looking at … you’ve guessed it, little black dresses! That immediately narrows your search and, once in a store, you know exactly what to head for!

When shopping for clothes, I know what colours suit me. I never buy anything cream or beige. Oranges and yellows are a no go. Browns and greens, although I can wear them, they won’t fit with my wardrobe, which I try to keep to an easy mix-and-match. So when out shopping, I know what to look for and where not to waste my time.

See where I am going with this?

I have just ordered a new mattress. I wanted one that is eco friendly. That immediatley elimiated 90% of the mattresses on the market! (Do you know that 73.2% of stats are made up on the spot?) When researching mattresses I narrowed down 3 or 4 eco, planet-friendly options then went to lie on them in the shop, and chose from there. Easy!

What does it mean to live ethically?

To live an ETHICAL life means that you live with consciousness and awareness. Hold love in your heart for yourself, your fellow human beings and the Planet – and yes, that’s Planet with a capital ‘P’.

Even before Covid struck, the Planet was in a perilous state; habitat loss, species loss, climate crisis – and YES, it’s a crisis, let’s accept that and get on with dealing with it, overpopulation and stress on natural resources is the norm of the day.

In collective, unspoken agreement, people who identify as conservationists, or those who wish to live more sustainably, realise that the world needs help. We choose to do away with certain products, became morally steadfast in our convictions and instead look toward other ways of being a Human.

There are many ways that we can live ETHICALLY on the planet, one of which is to buy ETHICALLY sourced products.

By this I mean products that have a low carbon footprint, use no, or minimal plastic or recycled plastic. Does not contain parabens, sulphates, or any oil derived ingredients. Does not contain any nefarious E numbers, or complicated, long Latin, chemistry sounding names that hardly anyone can pronounce.

What does being ethical mean to us?

Being Ethical means being more conscious of the entire supply chain. It means supporting small, home industries and smaller suppliers who often make and manufacture their goods as passion products (we like to support such people and their products) and which are not (generally) mass-produced. Viva PASSION!

Our passion at My Ethical Earth is to find only the best products that meet these criteria.

We strive to live as ETHICALLY as possible, we don’t always get it right – Yes, we lose our temper at times and show some snotty motorist the middle finger as well, but rest assured our heart is in the right place.

As the ancient Greeks pointed out, to live as a civilised Human Being means that you live with consciousness about how you conduct your daily life.

Living this way will enhance your experience of life, will not harm any other life forms that you share the Planet with, and makes for a healthier experience for everyone and everything on dear Planet Earth.

So come on folks, It Takes Each of Us and we can all make better choices.

Feature photo by Ravi Roshan on Unsplash