Oral Presentation – 1º Period

Common buyers and ethical ones have different perspectives about shopping
Introduction
Humans are so easily manipulated and deceived by big companies. We consume products
that we don't even know what they contain, how they were made and where they came from,
because we are ignorant, lazy and deluded by the beautiful advertisements we are bombarded
with every day.
Today I am here to talk about common buyers and ethical ones, and their different
perspectives about shopping. The topics I will focus on during my presentation are:
1. Beauty products, more specifically the most purchased, the cruelty-free ones and the
vegan ones.
2. Food products, focusing particularly on how they are produced and the conditions under
which they reach our tables.
3. Clothes and footwear and the ways in which they are produced.
4. Preventive measures and institutions working towards this end.
5. Conclusion – What is ethical consumerism? What are the differences between common
buyers and ethical ones? And are we ethical buyers or common ones?
6. In the end I will show you some things that I brought related to my theme and we are going
to play a little game.

Development
Topic 1
To start, I am going to show you a little video that you may have already seen. Then I will talk
about it.
Video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G393z8s8nFY
The video we have just seen pictures exactly what happens in laboratories that produce and
test cosmetics. Annually, millions of animals such as rats, rabbits, monkeys, dogs, cats and
others are used as guinea pigs and all this for what? To favour science? To make profit with
the sale of beautiful and smelly beauty products? We, ordinary consumers, don't think about
that when we enter the cosmetics section. Unfortunately, the brands, the colours, the aroma
and the cheap price are factors that attract us to products that, behind their apparent beauty,
were the target of massacres of innocent animals.
In the case of ethical consumers, they always look for products that are cruelty free or vegan.
But what are cruelty-free products and vegan ones? And what are their differences?
Cruelty-free and vegan are very different things! A cruelty-free product is a product that is not
tested in animals, and a vegan one is a product that doesn’t contain animal products or
ingredients.
Being cruelty-free is not the same as animal-free. Being vegan is also not the same as animal-
free. But is better that being full of animals like all the products we have in our bathrooms.
Topic 2
Now, I am going to talk about food products.
(Show images)

By looking at this image I am sure you all get an appetite and get hungry, right?

What about this image? How does it make you feel? It probably caused you some
discomfort. Unfortunately, this is the reality…

Animals are treated like objects: they are locked in cages that are even smaller than the
animals themselves, they are fed with feed full of chemicals that is not healthy either for them
or for their future consumers, they spend their time in contact with rubbish and poo, they are
beaten, killed in a cruel way and treated as disposable objects. In addition to this, there are
cases where meat and fish are sent to market unfit for consumption because they are spoiled
or full of chemicals.
I am not trying to make you vegan, that is not my intention. I am here exclusively to warn you
that we are all irresponsible buyers because we buy meat and fish that come from these
factories. You don’t need to be vegan to be able to save these animals… you just need to be
more ethical when you go to the market, otherwise you are financing this practice, because
ordinary buyers never pay attention to the origin of the product, they evaluate the quality of
the product by its colour and price.

Topic 3
Other topic that I am going to refer is clothes and footwear. I won't go too much depth into it
because I know there are oral presentations on it, but it is important to mention that in mostly
developing countries there is still slave labour and child exploitation and that most of the
clothes and shoes we wear come from this labour that is carried out in miserable conditions...

Topic 4
Nowadays, there are institutions that fight against illegal production practices that endanger
animals, humans and the nature, such as:

• PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals)

• UNESCO
• UNICEF
• UN
• And others
Conclusion
After presenting the 3 examples it is time to answer the questions I posed at the beginning.
After all, what is ethical consumerism? Ethical consumerism is not just the act of consuming
a certain product, it is a political practice, since the ethical consumer not only intends to buy a
product, but above all to finance the process of its manufacture, which from his point of view
is appropriate and based on respect for animal and human rights and the preservation of
nature.
What are the differences between common buyers and ethical ones? As I explained, ethical
consumers care more about the process of production and transportation and the ingredients
of a product than the actual product they are buying, while ordinary buyers only care about
the product, the price, its beauty and smell.
And are we ethical buyers or common ones? Are you ethical buyers? (People’s answer)
I am half ordinary and half ethical, but I am trying to be more ethical.

Ending
To finish my oral presentation, I brought some beauty products that I will show you and let you
touch and smell. With them I want to play a little game named: Cruelty-free, Vegan or Full of
Animal.
I'll give you some products I found at home and some I bought on purpose and the aim is for
you to see the product and find out if it's cruelty-free, vegan or full of animal.
As you can see, products that do not involve animals are rare, it was very difficult for me to
find a product that was both vegan and cruelty-free, but I do not regret wasting that time, and
I hope that with my presentation you develop your spirit of ethical consumers, worry more
about the production and origin of the product than its smell or beauty, because the truth is
that all these products I brought are also beautiful and smelling.
Before buying, think, research and select what is ethical to buy, otherwise, when you take a
bath, feel on your skin the thousands of animals killed to make that shampoo you are using,
when you eat remember the torture to which the animal on your plate was subjected, and
when you choose your clothes in the morning, think about who made them.
Think first, then buy!
I hope you liked my oral presentation.