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 An Introduction to Downbound
From Adam Wilson, Chief Executive Activist
I founded Downbound in October 2003. I had been a vegan for six years, was almost two years out of university, and had been running the
Toronto Animal Rights Society in a volunteer capacity for those two years.
Downbound was my answer to how I could earn a living, while still promoting the
activism initiatives that I am passionate about.
The name "Downbound" represents an ideological shift:
- Down the corporate ladder
Every worker at every stage of producing a product must be known and cared for, without the use of sweatshops or other unfair labor methods.
- Down the food chain
Products must be produced without exploiting animals, and must be vegan.
- Down to earth
Products must be environmentally sustainable, and organic where possible.
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Downbound: The
Person
From its inception, the identity of Downbound has always been that of a "corporate activist". I was deeply inspired by the documentary "The Corporation", which points out that corporations operate in much the same ways that people do in our society, except that corporations are structured as "psychopaths". My inspiration was that Downbound would be a person, but instead of being a psychopath, it would be an activist. To this day, I consider Downbound to be more
my business partner than my business. It has its own personality, aesthetic style, topical interests, acquaintances, friends, ethics, etc. In terms of uncompromising ethics and loyalty to friends (customers), I have constructed Downbound in the image of what I feel a good person should be.
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Activism
I have always wanted Downbound to be a central hub for everything related to human
rights, environmentalism, and animal
rights. Before even beginning to add products, I developed Downbound's online library, containing hundreds of articles relating to the ethics that Downbound promotes. In its capacity as an activist, Downbound aims to attract
human rights activists, environmentalists, and animal rights activists, and to educate each distinct group about the issues of the others. One cannot visit our website without being bombarded with activism related information in each of these three causes, whether browsing our library or looking at individual product pages.
And we will continue to create supplementary activism websites, such as 1MonthChallenge.com.
Is Downbound where I want it to be in terms of activism? No, not even close. However, Downbound is still a baby, and there are many years of exciting development to come.
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Product Selection
Downbound aims to be a general store, carrying every conceivable type of useful product, from clothing to cosmetics, food to furniture, stationary to supplements, and much, much more! In breadth of product offerings, Downbound strives to one day
become the ethical version of Wal-Mart. We have a long way to go, but we will continue to add new products and new product categories as we have the resources to do so. Private investors have gotten us to where we are today, and we will continue to seek out private investments to help grow Downbound over the coming years.
Customer Satisfaction
Of course, nothing about Downbound means anything without our valued customers. As
cliché as it may sound, I strongly believe that the customer is always right. Downbound has been built on the foundation that we will bend over backwards to serve our customers' needs. Whether it is planning the attire for a wedding, beds for a new hotel resort, clothing for a Hollywood movie, or simply packaging each order we ship with love and care, we give our utmost attention to each and every customer's unique needs.
Contact Us!
 If Downbound can every do anything to assist you with ethics or product related
questions, please either call us at 1-866-933-DOWN (3696) or email us at
And if you should ever receive anything less than 100% perfect customer
service from a Downbound employee, I want you to tell me about it! If you don't get the answers you need
through our normal customer service channels, you can reach me directly on my cell phone
at 416-890-4844 or via email at
Thank you for letting Downbound serve your needs!
Sincerely,
Adam Wilson
Chief Executive Activist |
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