What we buy and consume has consequences. Thousands of businesses and millions of people are unwittingly involved in today’s slave trade and other inhumane practices. Additionally, our purchases – as businesses or as consumers – can have devastating effects on natural resources and habitats.

ResponsAble is our blog to help businesses and individuals who want to be socially responsible. Social responsibility is gaining momentum through grass-roots campaigns that are changing purchasing patterns and in the form of leading businesses that are creating and implementing Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policies.

Being socially responsible has big benefits for business. Apart from saving the catastrophic damage to public reputation that comes from irresponsible actions on the part of a business or its suppliers, it often makes business sense in its own right by attracting and retaining the best of the new generation of employees in your industry. For individuals, cheap goods often come at a high price. A high price, not just for workers in the supply chain, but also for the customer who falls foul of poor quality or dangerous goods. Cheap is for a reason, be it an unpaid worker or inferior goods.

Your input and insight is valuable to us, so do write and comment. Wherever you are, you can make a difference – it doesn’t take much to change a lot.