These days we hear a lot about companies who produce goods while forcing those who work for them into penury by not paying them a decent wage or providing them with safe working conditions. If we then turn around and invest in that company we are not making an ethical investment, but rather we are agreeing with their ethics.



An ethical investment not only has to do with the way workers are treated, but with how the company treats the environment. Do they strive to reduce their carbon footprint by controlling toxic waste and pollution? Are they interested in using the kind of technology that helps to make their production process environmentally friendly?





Ethical investments can be separated into the negative and the positive. Firstly, screening out those companies that do not bother with reasonable treatment of workers and environmentally friendly practices. Then searching for those that do believe in green and sustainable technologies, and promoting them both by word of mouth and by investing in them. It may take time and effort to do this, but that is the investors’ contribution to the planet. If more investors took the time to ensure that their investments were ethical it would certainly make companies think twice about their workplace practices and the effect their company has on the environment.