When it comes to my purchases, I like to make sure that I am not only getting great products, but that these items are helping the world go in the right direction in terms of fair trade, charitable partnerships, and a lack of artificial ingredients and animal testing. Sometimes, it's difficult to find these kinds of products, so here's a list with some of my favorites!

Clothing/Accessories

Serengetee

Serengetee was one of my introductions to ethical clothing, so I decided to put them first! Serengetee is a company founded by two friends during their Semester at Sea, and they make pocket tees, hats, laptop cases, and all sorts of other items that are fair trade and use fabrics from around the world. These fabrics are matched to different charities around the world, and 5 percent of your purchase goes towards the charity! I personally own several Serengetees, and between the super comfortable shirts and my two favorite throw pillows, I would recommend this brand on all counts. The products are fun, unique, and very ethically made!

Serengetee also has an excellent campus rep program that you can apply to, and being a part of it gives you a discount and several other cool perks - as an alumni, I would recommend it!

The Elephant Pants

The Elephant Pants is a company that started out making harem pants with elephants all over them, but has since expanded to tapestries, shirts, leggings, and jewelry- basically all the essentials for a college student! Each item purchased will donate 1-4 dollars to the African Wildlife Fund (AWF) in order to end elephant poaching, and so far they have donated over $100,000. The Elephant Pants products are made by seamstresses in Thailand who are paid a fair wage, and the focus on elephants makes these products both super cute and effective in helping the cause!

Love Your Melon

Love Your Melon is a company that founded by two friends in a class at the University of St. Paul that specializes in beanies, and their primary cause is to give every child that is fighting cancer a hat so that they can "love their melon" especially if they are struggling with hair loss through chemo. So far, they have donated over 45,000 hats and plan to donate many more with the buy one, give one model! Love Your Melon has partnered with over 225 schools nationally to get student ambassadors who sell and donate hats as well. So to keep your melon warm during the cold winter months, I would recommend a Love Your Melon beanie!

Krochet Kids

Krochet Kids sells all sorts of clothing items that are made by women in Uganda and Peru where conditions and pay are fair and empower their families and communities. Each item has a tag on it that is signed by the person who made the item, making it unique and creating a connection between the purchase and its manufacturing.

Sakroots

Sakroots is a company that specializes in bags, and their patterns come from artists around the country. Each pattern is fun and unique, and many come along with a keychain of the animal the bag is themed around. I have a purse from Sakroots, and it is one of my favorite bags that I own. Sakroots's charitability is unique- at checkout, they allow you to choose what charity to give to when buying online.

Pura Vida Bracelets

Pura Vida specializes in bracelets that are made by women in Costa Rica ("pura vida" means "pure life" in Spanish) in a variety of colors and designs! These bracelets are really popular among college women and empower women in the global south.

Thrift Shops/Consignment Stores

Last but certainly not least, I always recommend checking out your local secondhand stores! Since these products were all either sold or donated, you're reusing gently used clothing that can be in trend and from some of the most popular brands! Some of my favorite items have been picked up for ten dollars or less at places like Goodwill or Plato's Closet -- jeans, shoes, tops, pretty much anything you're looking for! It can take a bit of time to go through all of the items, but otherwise it can be a lot of fun going to these kinds of places that allow you to reuse clothing and give back to your community! There are also a lot of online consignment-like shops, such as Poshmark, Tradesy, and Vinted, which are excellent for selling your lesser-used clothing as well.

There are many, many more companies that use fair trade and have charitable connections, but these are just some of my favorites. To find more, just search "ethical brands" or "fair trade clothing", and to learn more about the impacts of brands like Forever 21 and Zara, look up "fast fashion".

Makeup/Hygiene

LUSH

LUSH is an increasingly popular brand that makes soaps, shampoos, makeup, and all sorts of other products that are made of natural ingredients and are not tested on animals. The store smells amazing and every item is beautifully displayed- you never knew you needed a bath bomb until you stepped into LUSH! They have products and scents so diverse that almost everyone can find something that they love, and it advocates for a great cause!

Makeup brands that also fight against animal testing include:

ELF

Urban Decay

Wet n Wild

Manic Panic

Burt's Bees

Bare Essentials

Hard Candy

Este Lauder

And many more! Ethical fashion finds are easy to find with a quick Google search or a few, and this list will help you jumpstart on learning about consumer ethics and how your consumer dollars can change the landscape of fashion.