For the past few months, I have been thinking about how I can better myself and make this world a better place. I started paying attention to where I buy clothes, food, and other products, or what companies I am buying from. I've done a lot of research and there are just so many big companies out there that are doing so much harm to people in other countries, or to the environment, or to animals. After learning everything I have, I don't know how I feel about giving these companies my money. I am no longer ignorant of what is going on behind closed doors, and people need to know.

When it comes to shopping for clothes, there are certain stores that you should think twice about. There's a reason that the clothing is so cheap, and it's because of cheap labor. However, it's also important to understand that you do not need to go shopping all the time, even if it as at a good store. You should reduce the amount of shopping you do. Shopping all the time only reinstates fast fashion, which is responsible for cheap labor, the death of factory workers, and child labor.

According to the Baptist World Aid, some of the worst well-known fashion brands include Forever 21, Abercrombie & Fitch, Hollister Co., Vicotria's Secret/ PINK, and even Ralph Lauren. If you would like to see where some of your favorite brands rank, this website can give you an idea.

This website is a great tool to see where each brand isn't doing so great, but it also tells you some great brands that don't really have problems. It's a cool website that you should check out and investigate further. Even though it's great to be aware of these good companies, consider buying clothes from the thrift store or at a consignment shop. This way you're giving money to a local place within your community, and you still find a lot of cute things!

Now, when it comes to buying other products like lotions or cosmetics, or anything really, it can be hard to know what is best. I recently found this free app called "Buycott" that you can easily download on your phone, where it asks you what campaigns are important to you, like no animal testing, good for the environment, human rights, etc., and then you scan a barcode of any item, and the app will tell you if it supports a campaign or goes against a campaign that is important to you. It's pretty cool and I highly recommend getting it if you would like to buy items that do not do animal testing.

Finally, it is important to know if the food you are buying (if it's not fresh ingredients) is from a good company. There are some big companies that don't do ethical things and it's good to know who they are. Nestle is probably one of the worst companies out there. They have not treated the people in developing countries well, and continue to steal from them. But Nestle is not just a candy company, they own Gerber which make baby formula and food, they sell water through companies like Perrier, Poland Springs, and Pellegrino. They own Stouffer's, Hot Pockets, DiGiorno, and Lean Cuisine. Did you know that Purina and all of its subtypes are all owned by Nestle? If you want to know what other companies Nestle owns, you can visit their website here.

It's not going to be easy to stop buying from these brands, because they are so large and own so much. But it's important to know what that company is doing. I challenge all of you to do your research on these companies or the brands you like and see if they are doing anything unethical or something that maybe you wouldn't like.