Brands I Absolutely Refuse to Give my Money To. Let’s Vote with our Dollar!
A few weeks ago, we covered my god-tier brands. But what are the brands I absolutely refuse to give my money, attention, and time to? I have a ton, but I’ll narrow it down to my ten WORST brands for the planet and for people because human justice is connected to environmental justice. Learn more about intersectionality here.
Why does it matter who we give our money to and who we don’t give our money to? Our money has power. When we buy something from a company, we are giving them our money to invest in whatever they want to. Giving money to a wasteful brand is giving them money to invest in polluting the planet, exploiting workers, and causing all sorts of harm around the planet. Learn more about why voting with your dollar actually works.
Let’s spill the tea…
Amazon
I feel like Amazon is a no-brainer for an environmentalist to be boycotting. But maybe it’s news to you that this company sucks. Here are a few key reasons I personally ditched Amazon, and they’re my prime (pun not intended) target:
They normalized 2-day shipping. This form of shipping is extremely unsustainable. It requires more planes over trains and boats, and also puts more cars and semis on the road. This made them steep competition, so now just about every mail carrier does shipping around this speed, which has caused the entire online shopping market to become very wasteful
They’re putting small businesses out of business, especially bookstores, but this is happening in other fields as well. I learned about this in full in How to Resist Amazon and Why. In short, they price books below market rate, break the rules about book releases, and own platforms like Audible and Goodreads to further strain the market. Learn more about why shopping small is so much better for the planet here.
Packaging waste. They often pack small items in large boxes and overstuff them with plastic packing materials. This has gotten better, so I hear, but it’s still far from perfect
They union bust. This is more ethical than environmental, but again, it’s all connected.
Learn more about why I personally hate Amazon in this video, and if you want to join me on this quest to divest from them, check out my free guide to breaking up with Amazon.
Instead of Amazon, I shop small. I had a conversation with someone in my life recently who is borderline addicted to Amazon. They asked what I do instead. This was wild to me as they are in their 50s. They lived a life without Amazon before, and they could not conceptualize a life without it again. I said I simply shop small: my local hardware store, my local craft store, my local bookstore, etc. The smaller the better! More on megacorporations later.
Big Banks
Did you know most big banks invest your money into fossil fuels and other wasteful practices? Why would they do this?
Banks have to make money. That’s how you earn interest on your savings and how they keep the lights on. They make money by investing your money into what will make them the richest the quickest. This may be fossil fuels, or it may be other unethical industries like real estate, mining, war, and things of that nature.
Here is a list of the top 6 guiltiest banks.
So what do we do about this? Again, we divest. We quit giving them our money to use to destroy the planet. Credit Unions are usually pretty eco-friendly. But there are also dedicated banking options such as GreenFi, which I covered in my God-Tier brands video. Learn more here!
If you want a full video on why banks are unsustainable, let me know! In the meantime, check out this excellent video by Gittemary Johansen.
Image from Squarespace
Starbucks
A company that’s been on my naughty list for a longggg time for environmental and ethical reasons. Not to mention, it’s not good coffee, it’s expensive, and I would much rather shop small than support the billionaire class.
For me, it’s primarily their union busting. According to Berkley, Starbucks has more than 400 wrongful labor practices and violations against them. A number of these are anti-union legislation. Again, human justice is connected to environmental justice, which is why I care about this and you should, too.
Another reason that comes back to unions is that the Starbucks union posted about solidarity with Palestine at the start of this genocide. Starbucks sued the union. So they quickly got lumped into the Palestine BDS movement.
Also recently, Starbucks got a new CEO. Starbucks is headed out of Seattle and the CEO lives in Newport Beach, CA. This guy takes a private jet to work. His commute is more emissions than most average people create in an entire year.
From their promotion of overconsumption to their stores not having access to recycling, the list is long for me not to support Starbucks. But really, it comes down to this is a massive company that does not care about people or the planet, and I simply would rather shop small. I want my money to do good.
Fast items
This is my sneaky way of getting more than 10 brands in here ;)
From Temu to Shein and all things trendy (like Labubus, for example), I truly would not shop here even if it were the only way to keep me alive. Fast Fashion, and fast “items” in general, do nothing but wreak havoc everywhere. From human rights violations to worker exploitation to being one of the worst polluters to their clothes being found to have heavy metals in them and excrete microplastics, fast fashion and fast items are an environmental disaster. Not to mention, they’re not even designed to last. You can wear these items a few times before they literally fall apart.
Temu has also run rampant in selling AI art and items. The photo looks like one thing, you order it for $5, and you receive something that looks nothing like the photo. People don’t feel bad about spending $5 on garbage; it’s just $5. But think about how much money you could save if you didn’t buy that item every single time you’re scrolling at midnight. $5 a day is $1825 per year. If you need more reasons to break up with overconsumption, check out this video.
The list is long with this one, too. You can learn more in this article from earth.org.
Image from Squarespace
Hobby Lobby
I’m repeating myself, but right off the bat, shopping small is inherently better for the planet, and Hobby Lobby is a craft giant. I would simply rather shop at my local craft store, but if you need some convincing, here are a few reasons to ditch Hobby Lobby:
To be clear, I’m not saying it’s bad to support religious organizations, but we need these details first. Hobby Lobby is owned by the Green Family, who are Evangelical Christians, and this family also funds the Museum of the Bible. Weird, but it gets weirder. And it was worse than I remembered. Hobby Lobby stole 15,300 cuneiform tablets and bullae from Iraq and Egypt. There was no history of these items, indicating to US Customs that they were likely on the black market, and a full investigation of the company went into effect. This was from 2017-2020.
Obamacare mandated that employers’ medical plans cover contraceptives. Hobby Lobby didn’t like this. So they denied contraceptives to their employees and filed a lawsuit against the federal government for this. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Hobby Lobby in 2014. This led to a massive spiral of many faith-based organizations urging the federal government to let them discriminate against queer people. Yikes.
Evangelizing in public schools in Oklahoma. I’m all for freedom of and from religion, but it’s not okay for the CEO of a major company to force his religion.
They never shut down during COVID, despite it being a public health crisis. They couldn’t bear to lose money, so they chose to lose lives instead.
And this is just ethical reasons I don’t give them my money! Of course, they sell only mass-produced art supplies and decorations, most of which are made of plastic. Over the years, much of it has been flagged as AI-made as well.
Coca Cola
Known as being the largest plastic polluter in the world for several years in a row, it should be clear why environmentalists don’t condone what Coca-Cola does. And, no, I don’t just mean Coke bottles make up the most plastic waste. Coca-Cola is another megacorporation. They own more than 200 brands around the world.
Here is the full list of other major polluters if you want more to avoid: Nestlé, Unilever, PepsiCo, Mondelēz International, Mars, Inc., Procter & Gamble, Danone, Altria, and British American Tobacco.
These are all mega corporations. Check out this image. These major brands own other major brands that own slightly smaller brands. These brands pollute physically, invisibly, and buy up the entire market so that we have no choice but to buy them. When you’re walking the aisles of a traditional store like Walmart or Target (which I also boycott), you’ll end up only supporting these brands. Another reason to shop small!
REI
This one truly makes me sad. And I would go back to REI, but for now, they have some work to do.
As they’ve gotten bigger and changed ownership, they, too, have been partaking in good old union busting. They have been accused of unfair labor practices and have not formally recognized the union, though there is one. This has gotten worse over the last year or so.
Not only that, but if you didn’t know, Trump appointed Doug Burgum to be in charge of the Department of the Interior, aka our public lands. Burgum is a climate denier and a big fan of fossil fuels. He has waged a war on public lands, from illegally firing employees to opening mines and bringing back deforestation. REI leadership made a post early on in the Trump 2.0 administration supporting Burgum. This caused huge backlash and was honestly my last straw for supporting them.
Thankfully, I don’t even have an REI near me. I don’t love online shopping due to emissions and the fact that I can’t try stuff on, so it’s been easy for me to head to my local gear shop or buy directly from the brands, like Darn Tough, instead.
Meta
I know…this one is wild coming from a content creator. Don’t get me wrong, I still use Meta platforms to create my own content and consume content. But I am trying to be meaningful with my scrolling across all platforms. I try to read, walk, and make art instead of doomscrolling. Here is more of my eco self care!
But I refuse to give Meta my money since they’re already taking my time. As a tech giant that wants to gobble up every platform it can to become a tech monopoly, I don’t want to support that. Not to mention, Mark Zuckerberg is not a great guy. Learn more about him in The End of Reality.
I had two last-straw moments:
Meta used to pay its creators and pay us pretty darn well. Even before my page got big, I was making $200-400 a month from my content. They quickly took that away, and at the same time, initiated a payment plan in order to be verified on the app. Zuck took after Elon Musk after he did this with Twitter. So not only was Meta asking me for $15 a month simply to have a blue checkmark, they also took away a good chunk of my paycheck
Soon after Trump took office, Zuck announced that his platforms would no longer offer fact-checking. This is WILD. Social media is already a breeding ground for misinformation, and this will help it spread like wildfire. This, paired with his desire to buy TikTok, just put an even worse taste in my mouth
Plus, as they work to normalize AI, which is killing the planet, it’s a hot mess. Unfortunately, I do have to admit that IG is my fave app to post on, but what I won’t give them is my money. Let me know how you feel about this.
Streaming Platforms
I was so tempted just last night to start streaming. But then I remembered that I have a free library card with endless movies and shows to simply borrow. Yes, I may have to wait, but I will be okay. We’ve gotten so used to getting what we want in an instant (thanks, Amazon). It’s good to practice patience!
Instead of paying 10 different companies $15 a month since none of them will host the same shows or movies, I borrow for free. If I do stream, I share passwords. I simply do not care about these companies, and I will abuse them just a tiny bit compared to the abuses they perform.
Not to mention, streaming is more wasteful than watching a DVD that has already been created. It takes energy to store the data that makes up TV shows and movies. Streaming alone is estimated to contribute to 3% of greenhouse gas emissions. That’s a lot of emissions for an invisible service. Yes, you need energy to run your DVD player, but far less energy than what a data center uses.
If you’re going to stream, stream mindfully. Watch the show instead of just turning it on for background noise due to this data usage.
While we’re on the subject, I also use my library card for books, audiobooks, eBooks, arts and crafts, and so much more! Check out the benefits of libraries here.
Any mega corporation
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it just one last time in this post: shopping small is inherently better for the planet. I know I’ve covered a few specific mega corporations in this list, but broadly speaking, I don’t buy from mega corporations anymore. Truly, there are so few exceptions. Here’s a recent example:
Unilever just purchased Wild deodorant this year. This was my favorite eco deodorant of all time. Was. It was no question that I would give up this zero-waste swap. I want to give my money to a small business, not a wasteful giant that pollutes the planet. Unilever is also known for unethical practices. I did not hesitate to take them off my suggested brand list and start shopping from brands like Meow Meow Tweet and Sustain Yourself instead.
Other eco brands owned by mega corporations are:
Burt’s Bees
Stasher Bag
Love Beauty and Planet
Seventh Generation
Thinx, Knix, and Modibodi
Tom’s of Maine
And more
This is why doing your research into who actually owns a brand is so important. Put your money where your mouth is. Vote with your dollar. It truly is so easy to give up a brand that you learn to be wasteful and unethical, and find something else.
Bonus: AI
No, I don’t purchase anything from AI, but I boycott the use of AI. In the same way that I monitor my social media scrolling, our time and personal data are valuable to these tech companies. I don’t want to give that to them.
Not to mention, AI is quickly becoming one of the biggest polluters and users of water in the world. It is estimated to be the biggest user of energy and water in just a few years. I don’t want to support that.
Nor do I want to support generative AI, which is known to steal art. From writing to drawings to crochet and everything in between, AI combs the internet, steals ideas, and spits out slop. AI art is not art.
I can and will rant about AI on the internet some more if I need to, but you can check out this researched video in the meantime.
Thanks so much for reading along. This is just the surface. I could go on and on with my list. Let us know below which brands you refuse to give your money to.
As always, remember that your small actions make a big difference in the long run :)
Emma
