Either research the background of your products or purchase directly from known fair-trade/fair-conditions producers. Some good tips here: http://www.wisegeek.c

Either research the background of your products or purchase directly from known fair-trade/fair-conditions producers. Some good tips here: http://www.wisegeek.com/how-do-i-know-if-i-am-buying-sweatshop-free-clothing.htm http://www.wisegeek.com/how-do-i-know-if-i-am-buying-sweatsh... I do agree with the premise that what we consider a 'sweatshop' may actually just be low wages in comparison to OECD wages. What is critical as a consumer is to do what you can to support genuine means of production where slavery/worker abuse is not tolerated. For example start with chocolate: I'll only purchase fair-trade chocolate due to the known conditions where Nestle/other cocoa purchasers support child slavery in West Africa. There are plenty of options for chocolate purchase in grocery stores and boutiques. I'm not much of a mainstream consumer anyway (haven't been to McDonalds since I was a student for example) though I'm sure I support undeserving conditions with my spending - as such I'd love to see a mobile app that gives me an overview of what I'm buying. And yes, a quick google shows this Free2Work app: http://itunes.apple.com/app/id406044086?mt=8 http://itunes.apple.com/app/id406044086?mt=8 which I'll be checking out though it only seems to cover major brands.