Ethical living is the philosophy of making decisions for daily life which take into account ethics and moral values, particularly with regard to sustainability and environmentalism. At present it is largely a personal choice, and not an organized social movement.

Ethical living is an offshoot of sustainable living, in which the individual initially takes a series of small lifestyle changes in order to limit their effect on the environment. Taking the decision to start to live ethically, can be as easy as beginning to recycle, switching off electric lights when leaving a room, buying local organic or fairtrade produce. Though many people often go further by re-using/re-cycling waste water, using renewable resources in their homes (solar panels or atmospheric water generators), giving up the use of the family car in preference of greener modes of transport (bicycle).

Though ethical living is growing in popularity[1], many in the environmental movement believe that the responsibility of ethical practice should be enforced on "Big Business". They argue that the onus is being unfairly laid on the individual to change the way they live in order to affect change, as these everyday changes are often insignificant in comparison to the level of changes that large organizations or multinational corporations could make.

Reading List

• Clark, Duncan. The Rough Guide to Ethical Living. Rough Guides. ISBN 1843537923. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |Year= ignored (|year= suggested) (help)
• Khaneker, Pushpinder. Do the Right Things! A Practical Guide to Ethical Living. New Internationalist Publications Ltd. ISBN 1904456170. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |Year= ignored (|year= suggested) (help)
• Khaneker, Pushpinder. The Good Shopping Guide: Your Guide to Shopping with a Clear Conscience. Ethical Marketing Group. ISBN 0955290708. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |Year= ignored (|year= suggested) (help)

See also

• Ethical consumerism
• Fairtrade labelling
• Sustainable living
• Intentional living

External links

• Ethical Living Magazine, The ethical lifestyle magazine
• Living Ethically, a website for the philosophy
• Ethical Journey BBC journalist reporting on the highs and lows of living ethically