Journal 22: Making ethical trendy

Crossgates Mall is not my favorite place on this earth, and that's an understatement. The culture around visiting store after store, or even just the very idea of going into a store without knowing what you need from it is intriguing to me. My only real reason to go there now is because it has the only Lush store in Upstate New York. Lush is a cruelty-free company that sells 100% vegetarian/mostly vegan bath and body products produced ethically in Vancouver, BC. I choose to support Lush because their products have minimal impact on the environment, do not contribute to the cruel and unjust treatment of animals, and they are even going so far as to harvest trash from the ocean to use as recyclable plastic packaging for their products. They not only work to minimize their negative environmental impact, but try to create a positive impact as well. Lush is somewhat popular for these reasons, but mostly because their Bath Bombs are incredibly trendy. This led me to wonder- is the best way to successfully promote ethical consumerism through making it trendy?

As consumers, especially millennials, we often do things because it's trendy. When our friends can't stop raving about an app, we are much more likely to download the app. By marketing and successfully making something a trend, companies gain profit. Maybe what we need are for ethical companies to market the way that Lush has. Lush's Bath Bombs, shower jellies, and Lush itself are all huge millennial trends, and at notably higher prices than other bath and body companies. This sets standards for how other ethical companies can rise in popularity- through making their products a trend.

Questions I have now:

1. Are trend and name recognition the only reasons Lush can make their prices higher than competitors?

2. How can ethical and non-ethical companies operate under the same safety regulations? What is the penalty of falling short of these standards, and what exactly are the standards?