View online July 2016
Ethical Update Everyday choices
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Cast your vote!

There are many ways to vote this July. Our Ethical Shopper action calendar theme is 'Choose Free Range'. Factory farming is the conventional means of raising pigs, chickens, turkeys and producing eggs. However you can vote for improving the welfare of the animals by choosing 'real' free range, or by avoiding animal products altogether. Find out more about labelling and best practice in this update. We hope you find it useful!

'The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated' ~ Gandhi

Major cosmetics brands in the spotlight

image Rank-a-Brand's new report looks at 30 major cosmetics brands in the areas of animal welfare, climate, environment, health, and labour conditions. Like in most sectors, the majority still perform poorly. Luckily, there are many positive alternatives for ethical consumers. At Shop Ethical! we have used the report to help inform our own cosmetics ratings.    »  Read more

Avoiding BPA in packaged foods

image The Environmental Working Group (US) have a new tool to help shoppers avoid some 16,000 products that may have Bisphenol A in their packaging. This chemical, used in some plastics, is considered safe in low doses but has been linked to endocrine disruption. To avoid BPA, choose non-plastics (glass, stainless steel), don't microwave plastic containers, and avoid canned foods. More at 2014 Choice report.   »  Read more

Plastic Free July

image Each year, people all over Australia challenge themselves to refuse all single-use plastic during the month of July. If this is you - congratulations for taking it on! See inspirational people who have moved to plastic-free living. Resources to help you take on the challenge include this guide to avoiding single use plastics, and the Plastic Free July Toolbox.    »  Read more
Special Feature↓

How to support free range farmers

image In this month's Be Inspired section we showcase local examples of farmers taking on more humane and environmental-friendly alternatives to factory farming. These include Josh Murray who started Rainbow Eggs when he was just 9 years old, and Tammi Jonas whose journey took her from vegetarian academic to ethical pig farmer.

So where can you find 'real' free range products? Local Harvest has a national map of local food producers (type "free range" into the search field), or use Flavour Crusader's directory of small scale free-range egg and pork producers in your state. See Choice's free-range eggs buying guide to find which egg brands follow the model code of 1500 hens per hectare (and not the now legal standard of 10,000 per hectare) or download their great CluckAR app.
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Women not objects

image Last month, AFL club president Eddie McGuire came under fire for a joke implying violence against women is acceptable. This really is just the tip of the iceberg with regards to how women are portrayed in the media. WomenNotObjects launched this video in January showing the disturbing nature of objectification of women. If this issue is important to you, check out Collective Shout's corporate offender list and The Checkout's Unilever Girls. (...and do this).   »  Read more
Shop Feature↓

image »  More at Shop

Quick Bites

image\ Sign this petition to tell Apple to ditch planned obsolescence, and help customers who want to extend the life of their iPhone or iPad »  Sum of Us

image\ Dairy processing giant Murray Goulburn rattles farmers, declaring another low farmgate milk price, this time for its 2016/17 season. »  Aus Food News

image\ New country of origin food labels showing proportion of Australian ingredients have been launched. They will be phased in over two years. »  Food & Drink

image\ Voice your concern that H&M is not honouring its commitments to protect Bangladesh’s garment workers. »  Sum of Us

image\ Shop Ethical! app now includes Appliances. See comedian Kitty Flanagan's insightful article 'The stupid appliances we waste money on'. »  SMH

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