I’ve had some rather embarrassing experiences recently, largely arising out my insistence on talking about ethical consumption/being a preachy little pain. Firstly, I’ve been in Munich for pleasure. I flew - I left my travel arranging late, and convinced myself that I’m such a Busy and Important Person that I couldn’t deal with the coach, (the coach is more expensive, and takes an eternity, and the train is prohibitively costly for me). This would not be so bad had I not been reminded by a friend that I told him off for flying from Italy in the very same year. I then flew back for similar reasons (EasyJet, my airline for these trips, used to offer the option of carbon-offsetting the trip in a handy button on one of the pages en route to purchase - where did it go?).

So, wrist-slapping central for me there. Here’s another gem: after years of reminding Apple users of their appalling human-rights record, I’ve finally got round to checking Ethical Consumer’s guide to mobile handsets. My (admittedly really annoying) Samsung scores a pathetic 5.5/20, compared to Apple’s 6.5. Not that 6.5 is especially impressive, but I’m clearly in no position to get holier-than-thou on the topic of phones. Thankfully, Acer Notebooks still trumped Apple Macbooks, and also got a Best Buy award for new laptops. If you’re wondering why no technology company scores higher than 11/20 with Ethical Consumer, check out WWF’s Jason Clay on resources and laptops for a starting point. I have also found Ethical Consumer’s summaries and introductions on the ethics of technology to be balanced (i.e. in line with my own point of view) and thought-provoking (i.e. with ideas new to my point of view).

Clearly, I am far from achieving my goal of making the most ethical use of the power and resources I am privileged to have access to. But if there is something to be said for harping on about ethics, it is that once you are public about your beliefs, there is an extra motivation to stick to them - that of saving face. It is partly with this in mind that I am embarking on a new project to be even more public about my consumption and my ethics. I will be attempting to keep track of the impact of my own consumption by giving myself points for buying things with a positive impact, and deducting points for buying things with a negative impact. I will then summarise the results once a month over on my personal blog at Tumblr.

Part of the inspiration for this came from Quantified Self, a website bringing together all sorts of people measuring data about themselves. Their tagline is “self knowledge through numbers”, and in spite of my unease about an obsession with numerical data as an end in itself, it seemed like at the very least it would generate some interesting food for thought: can we quantify ethics in a way which is useful or meaningful? Should we? What role will recording and communicating my results play on my own decisions and life, and will having a points system or other gamification-ey elements have any impact? Let the games begin.

Jack Dentith is the Social Impact Director at Ethicodes. A fellow at the Emerge Venture Lab, Jack has worked in research and development at several London based charities including the Facial Surgery Research Foundation. He holds a master’s degree from the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies. He lives in London.

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• Would you pay more for ethical consumer electronics? (zdnet.com)
• The ethical noodle (thescroobiouspip.com)
• Online petition asks Apple for ‘ethical’ iPhone (technolog.msnbc.msn.com)