# Aside from diamonds and chocolate, what other products are ethically questionable? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 5, 2016, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aside-from-diamonds-and-chocolate-what-other-products-are-ethically-questionable/751300 "2016-04-05T22:29:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blue_blistering_barnacle/32/3386_2.png) [@Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blue_Blistering_Barnacle)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aside-from-diamonds-and-chocolate-what-other-products-are-ethically-questionable/751300/81 "2016-04-13T15:35:44Z")
> [@MLS](#): > > We can’t be perfect, and can only do our best. For example, I never buy seafood that is from a far-away place, preferring U.S., accepting Canadian. I buy S.A.S. shoes – San Antonio Shoe company. Shoes are manufactured in Texas and are excellent quality. > > I try not to buy products from China and if I can get made in U.S.A., will do so. > > I will give up coffee and chocolate when they pry it from my cold, dead hands. Sorry, I know we are not supposed to promote, but I just have to say: SAS make the. best. shoes. period. Mine are more comfy than sneakers. Glad to hear that they are still in business. I bought a bunch from them a few years ago, but my cache is running low. I’ll have to look them up again. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aside-from-diamonds-and-chocolate-what-other-products-are-ethically-questionable/751300/82 "2016-04-15T23:05:43Z")
> [@Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](#): > > Sorry, I know we are not supposed to promote, but I just have to say: SAS make the. best. shoes. period. Mine are more comfy than sneakers. Glad to hear that they are still in business. I bought a bunch from them a few years ago, but my cache is running low. I’ll have to look them up again. They are still around - I was just shopping last weekend to get spare for mine (all 5+ years old and worn constantly). They’ve even started carrying some that aren’t completely hideous (not, of course, in my size; 12W gets fugly or nothing). I was the youngest person in the store who was neither an employee nor escorting an elderly parent, however. Questionable ethics: children. Consider how many natural resources that child will use for his/her life, and the impact on the environment. In all seriousness, I’ve actually read that the best thing you can do for the environment long term is NOT HAVE KIDS (advice we did not take, naturally). ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aside-from-diamonds-and-chocolate-what-other-products-are-ethically-questionable/751300/83 "2016-04-15T23:10:10Z")
> [@Anny\_Middon](#): > > A speculation – Coffee, if it’s not fair trade. > > I buy certified fair trade coffee at Costco, although it just now occurred to me that the decaf I buy is likely not fair-trade certified. I’ll have to be more careful. Too late; you’re already going to hell for buying decaf, fair trade or not. Might as well top it off with a laser constructed from blood diamonds and capacitors. What’s the deal with including chocolate in the thread title? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aside-from-diamonds-and-chocolate-what-other-products-are-ethically-questionable/751300/84 "2016-04-15T23:18:27Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > I tried to buy my wife a ring with rubies in it - Tiffany’s (and presumably almost every other reputable jeweler) boycott rubies because the farmed ones are so easy to produce they are not really valuable; and the free range ones come from countries with questionable politics and ethics, much like “blood diamonds”. What do Tiffany’s have against gems that are easy to produce? ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2016, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aside-from-diamonds-and-chocolate-what-other-products-are-ethically-questionable/751300/85 "2016-04-16T17:43:59Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > That’s called “work adjustment,” and Goodwill doesn’t get to decide how much they will pay someone. The adjustment is done at voc. rehab. A person’s rate of production as a percentage of a typical rate is calculated, and then it is legal to pay that person the same percentage of whatever the pay rate is for their job… > > A person is also eligible for SSI (supplemental security income) from Social Security, which makes up some of the difference. > > It’s not “slave labor.” It’s the only chance a lot of people with serious cognitive disabilities have to work outside a sheltered workshop. Goodwill is not the only employer who takes employees on work adjustment. Lots of places do. > > I have personally known people who started out earning just a couple of dollars an hour on work adjustment, but as they worked the job, and got good at it, their speed increased, and they worked their way up to normal wages, and then sometimes even merit raises. Right. While the “sheltered workshop” model can certainly be abused, it does have a valuable purpose. In a strict minimum-wage-always-applies system, workers who can’t work fast enough to produce that value to an employer would simply have no chance of ever finding work, since hiring them would cause an immediate and ongoing net loss to the business. The special exemptions to the minimum wage system allow some of these people to make at least _some_ money. Also, since these positions tend to be specifically reserved for people with disabilities, there is less of an incentive for management to fire “odd” people and replace them with their poker buddies like you see in many “regular” work environments. ---
**Author:** ![Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blue_blistering_barnacle/32/3386_2.png) [@Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blue_Blistering_Barnacle)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2016, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aside-from-diamonds-and-chocolate-what-other-products-are-ethically-questionable/751300/86 "2016-04-16T21:27:47Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > …snip… > > Questionable ethics: children. Consider how many natural resources that child will use for his/her life, and the impact on the environment. In all seriousness, I’ve actually read that the best thing you can do for the environment long term is NOT HAVE KIDS (advice we did not take, naturally). When I bought my kids, I made sure to ask the manager of the shop, and he assured me (on his mother’s grave) that they were ethically sourced. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2016, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aside-from-diamonds-and-chocolate-what-other-products-are-ethically-questionable/751300/87 "2016-04-16T21:31:34Z")
> [@Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](#): > > When I bought my kids, I made sure to ask the manager of the shop, and he assured me (on his mother’s grave) that they were ethically sourced. 🙂 Never _buy_, get them from a shelter!😛 ---
**Author:** ![Anny\_Middon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc79bd/32.png) [@Anny\_Middon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anny_Middon)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aside-from-diamonds-and-chocolate-what-other-products-are-ethically-questionable/751300/88 "2016-04-20T15:52:29Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Too late; you’re already going to hell for buying decaf, fair trade or not. Might as well top it off with a laser constructed from blood diamonds and capacitors. Seriously, is there a problem with decaf? I (perhaps naively) assumed that they use some chemicals to get the caffeine out of the coffee, which they then sell to companies making cola or NoDoz or whatever. If the caffeine-extraction process is so bad for the environment or workers or whatever, wouldn’t buying a Coca Cola be ethically questionable? (Well, okay, maybe Coca Cola is ethically questionable for other reasons, too.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aside-from-diamonds-and-chocolate-what-other-products-are-ethically-questionable/751300.md?page=4)