In This Article, We'll Cover:
- Why I don’t Shop at Amazon®
- How to Shop More Ethically, Sustainably, & Locally
- Awesome Amazon® Alternatives from Around the World
Where and how we shop matters.
Your money is an endorsement. It can perpetuate business practices, both the good and the bad.
Your money can endorse:
- Child labor, forced labor, & toxic worker conditions.
- Jobs and money taken away from your home country.
- Living wages & safe worker conditions.
- Plastic dependency & environmental pollution.
- Small businesses, your local economy, your neighbors.
- Sustainable supply chains.
There’s a few things in that list I’d much rather support.
Why I don’t Shop at Amazon®
Ever notice I never link to products on Amazon®?
I’m not an affiliate with them.
Sure, I’d make money if I did, but I refuse to sign on. It’s completely against everything I & How i Healthy stands for.
Why?
Because Amazon®:
- Allegedly has systemic discrimination against women and workers of color, resulting in lawsuits.
- Allows & promotes medical misinformation, pseudoscience, anti-LGBT, and anti-sematic materials. These are sometimes removed after backlash, sometimes not.
- Employee injury rates are twice the as high as the average for similar work in None-Amazon® warehouses.
- Has a huge carbon footprint and wastes about 90% of their plastic usage.
- Is “the worst offender for tax avoidance”. China, Germany, Poland, South Korea, France, Japan, Ireland, Singapore, Luxembourg, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom, United States, and Portugal have all investigated Amazon® for tax avoidance.
- Is a huge contributor to plastic pollution in our communities, environment, and the oceans.
- Is rampant with counterfeits & knockoff products. Many of which contain harmful things like lead paint. Some even were found to have rat droppings. (It’s so bad I made a whole Guide to Avoiding Counterfeits when shopping online)
- Imposes large fees to small businesses that do sell on their platform, taking 30% of the sale profits from the seller. All while allowing counterfeit products to undercut small business sales further.
- Leverages anti-competitive practices, several that have resulted in antitrust lawsuits.
- Many reviews on are fake/manufactured.
- Opposes efforts for worker unionization.
- Partners with big oil companies to find, drill, & extract oil.
- Potentially benefits from forced Uighur labor in China, according to the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.
- Produces copycats of sustainable products but without the sustainability.
- Provides jobs across the worker skill spectrum, many even locally, but those workers are subjected to poor treatment, low wages, & unsafe worker conditions.
- Takes profits away from local business and contributes to the decline of small businesses across the country.
(9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
And another big thing I don’t like about them?
It’s only my opinion, but:
Amazon® has the resources to set good examples & make real positive impacts.But they don’t.
Online Shopping Can Be Local Shopping
But I get it. Online shopping is convenient.
But there are better options than Amazon® out there!
Ethical online marketplaces are just as convenient, and they are so much better for people & planet.
An ethical shop does the work vetting sustainable & ethical products. So, you don’t have to. Shop with confidence and get on with your day.
Now take that awesome convince and make it local. Shop at an ethical online marketplace based as locally to you as possible.
Shopping local supports your local community, local jobs, and local businesses. Better than Amazon® shopping. (6, 7, 8)
Shopping local means ~ 2/3 of every dollar spent stays in local communities. Shopping local has ~7x more positive impact on communities than online third-party shopping. (6, 8)
Ready for the next level of local shopping?
Buy stuff made in your home country too. Not just a globally-made product sold at a local store.
Can’t get it made by your home country? Then opt for products from countries with values you endorse.
How i Healthy tends to link to USA & Canada-based shops/marketplaces because that’s where I’m located. Even though many of these shops ship worldwide, shopping in your home country supports your local economy better while also lowering transportation emissions. (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
The benefits of sustainable products can be erased.
If it’s shipped from the other side of world.
Often, locally produced options are the greenest options. (5)
That’s why I made this directory. To help folks shop as locally as possible. And through an ethical shop.
(What sex toys? Check out the Directory of Sustainable & Ethical Sex Toy Shops & Manufactures!)
Many of these shops have a “Made in [Home Country]” search option too! So, you can shop for locally made products through an online marketplace based in your country. That’s even less transportation emissions. Win win!
That’s why shopping local makes My Top Sustainable & Ethical Tips list.
All that said, this list is not all-inclusive.
Try typing your home country/city/state/province with phrases like “plastic-free shop”, “ethical marketplace”, “sustainable living” you might find an e-marketplace nearby.
Note 1: For the purpose of this article, “marketplace” is loosely defined as a shop. Most of the “marketplaces” listed below function as a single store with a curated inventory featuring different brands. But there are a few true third-party “marketplaces” that connect different vendors/brands to buyers though a single platform.
Note 2: Since I’m not located in most of the countries listed below, I’ve not shopped through these shops either. This list is a compilation, not recommendation, of shops.
Now, onward to the shops!
Use the buttons below to skip to your home country:
Africa & India
1. Brown Living
India’s one stop sustainable & ethical shop!
Find locally made goods that’ll ship 100% plastic-free & carbon neutral.
2. Conscious Lifestyles Collective
Community centered marketplace based in South Africa.
America
3. Afrobiz Marketplace
Shop by region/state for Black-owned brands for beauty & body products, fashion, and food!
4. Better World Books®
A online bookshop full of new & used books. BetterWolrdBooks® is a certified B-corp and has raised $27+million for libraries & literacy!
5. Blk & Grn
A marketplace featuring all-natural beauty, bath, & home products crafted by Black artisans.
6. Bookshop®
Support your local bookshop! Bookshop® is a certified B-corp and keeping local bookshops alive. I talk at length about them in My Bookshelf.
7. Earth Hero®
A one-stop shop for all things sustainable!
I adore Earth Hero®.
Most of My Favorite Products link to them.
I even have an Earth Hero® Review dedicated to their awesomeness.
They have practical everyday products in a price range I can afford. They’e also a B-Corp, 1% For the Planet member, Climate Neutral certified, and more!
8. DoneGood
A shop offering ethically sourced clothing, home goods, and jewelry at a higher price point.
Four things that aren’t my thing.
But, if that’s your thing, DoneGood is a certified B-Corp, 1% For The Planet member, and an excellent place for find ‘sustainable stuff’.
9. Made Trade
A marketplace of handcrafted & Fair-Trade artisan wares. Similar to DoneGood, Made Trade predominately features home goods, clothing, & accessories with a higher price point.
Australia & New Zealand
10. Ethically So
A New Zealand online store that’s making sustainable shopping easier and more local. They also carry an organic made in New Zealand lube!
11. Flora and Fauna
Based in New South Wales, this shop is a B-corp & 1% For The Planet member! Featuring over 10,000+ products and 360+ ethical & sustainable brands, there’s many Australian-made options too!
12. Green Elephant
This New Zealand marketplace allows sustainable & ethical NZ-based small businesses to sell their wares through a single platform. There’s an excellent “Shop Your Way” product search engine you can customize to make shopping even more time efficient.
Canada
13. Afrobiz Marketplace
Canada’s largest Black-owned marketplace!
14. All Things Being Eco
A British Columbia zero-waste shop with online and in-person shopping options.
15. Shop EcoFreax
A shop full of ethical & sustainable Canadian-made products.
Europe
16. Afrobiz Marketplace
You’ve seen Afrobiz a few times on this list, they are awesome! And constantly expanding their directory of Black-owned businesses around the world.
17. Boutique Hakuna Taka
Based in France, this Zero-waste store covers all the sustainable essentials, many made in France too!
18. El Green Mall
A one-stop Berlin-based marketplace full of ethical and sustainable brands from across Europe.
19. Bookshop®
Love books? Love local bookshops? Bookshop® is The UK’s online shop for you!
20. Plastic Freedom
For many UK-made plastic-free basics!
Want More?
Shopping for sex toys?
How i Healthy is all about healthy body, healthy planet, & healthy sex.
Check out this directory of Ethical Sex Toy Shop & Manufacturers.
It’s also organized by country, so you can keep your purchase as local as possible!
That’s How i Healthy!
-Artemis
- Hebert, Bridgett. “Support Your Local Community by Shopping Small.” S. Chamber of Commerce, 27 Nov. 2018, https://www.uschamber.com/
- American Booksellers Association &Civic Economics, 2019, Prime Numbers, nebula.wsimg.com/4f6bb2c546c33ca88b1084a9a04d4541?AccessKeyId=8E410A17553441C49302&disposition=0&alloworigin=1
- Independent We Stand, The North American Retail Hardware Association, The Paint and Decorating Retailers Association, Civic Economics, 2018, Home Sweet Home. Locals Vs Amazon®, independentwestand.org/wp-content/uploads/Home-Sweet-Home-Amazon®_.pdf
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