On Cyber Monday, Make The Ethical Purchase

As consumers flock to the web today to take advantage of deep discounts and online-only deals, it is important to know what is in the products they are buying. Some of the most sought after products this gift giving season are also partly financing one of the world’s most deadly wars. Armed militias have taken over many of the mineral mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and many U.S. based publicly traded companies have sourced their products back to these mines.  The conflict minerals are used in the manufacturing in a range of industries, most notably electronics for the creation of laptops, tablets and mobile phones.

Due to the implementation of section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform, these companies must perform due-diligence of their supply chain to source if any of the 3TG (tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold) come from the conflict mines in the DRC. As of today, there is no penalty on companies that produce products that contain conflict minerals, only if they have not performed their due diligence. So the responsibility lies on the shoulders of consumers who ultimately hold the power to force companies to produce conflict free products. By doing their own research in to the companies that are making a sincere effort to source their supply chain and eliminate conflict minerals, they can ethically make informed buys.

No electronics company is conflict free, but many have taken a step in the right direction to becoming transparent and spark a change in the industry. Raise Hope For Congo has released it Conflict Minerals Company Rankings to provide information about companies that are taking action and the ones that are not.  They hope to rase awareness in consumers to make more responsible buying decisions. 

One company that is an embodiment of electronics change is smartphone manufacturer, Fairphone.  They have opened up their supply chain for all to see, and even thought they are not conflict-free they are looking at the bigger picture of changing the electronics culture. 

To source their products many companies look to outside sources for help. Companies like Source Intelligence, who is the only one with the total solution to conflict minerals compliance. Their analytics platform along with their Supplier Engagement Team, engages suppliers, collects, verifies and assesses conflict minerals related data and generates the required forms and reports needed to comply with the SEC's final rule.

To see a personalized demonstration of what Source Intelligence's platform can do for your company, click HERE