Having lived in California prior to my fellowship here, I was lucky to be surrounded by eco and socially conscious consumers. My friends and I love to shop at the Farmers Market in Santa Monica (the first zero-waste farmer’s market in the U.S.), order fair trade coffee, buy organic, and sweat-shop free. We pay a little more, but at least we know that children weren’t exploited to make our pair of shoes.

In return, businesses have picked up on how these conscious consumers made decisions and reward our efforts with production processes and partnerships that support fair and sustainable practices.

We can afford to make these “right” decisions because we have the economic power to turn our consumption habits into advocacy for a better world. Just as it was decades ago for Americans and Europeans, for Asian consumers today, the cheapest products win.

Although I have begun to see steps among Malaysian consumers to become more environmentally conscious, it’s quite difficult to sell products based on a “fair trade” label, or a marketing message that states “buying this product, will help make a better world”.

This is the challenge that eHomemakers faces as it strives to protect the rights and economically empower poor urban women in South-east Asia. While the “eco-baskets” are an innovative idea (made out of 100% recycled material, enabling disadvantaged women to economically empower themselves from their homes, and really cute too), local consumers prefer to buy the cheaper rattan baskets imported from Vietnam and China.

Although these cheaper baskets are most often produced in sweatshops where workers receive little rights or compensation and made out of unsustainably harvested materials, most local consumers do not feel that extra “good” value you gain from buying a sustainable product is worth the higher price.

Let’s hope as the economy continues to progress, Asian consumers will realize that saving money isn’t the only thing that matters when making financial decisions.