Today there are numerous tools for calculating the carbon dioxide emissions we generate or the environmental impact that derives from our lifestyle and actions. A website called Slavery Footprint has gone so far as to calculate, through a series of questions, the impact our purchases have on the exploitation of workers. "How many slaves work for you?" — this is the question with which the portal opens, created to show the effects of the consumerist and globalised economy in which we live.

The figures clearly cannot be entirely precise; they are rather an excellent prompt for gaining a deeper understanding of how consumption habits, perhaps considered harmless, can have a serious impact on the lives of many people. Everyday consumer products such as coffee and tea are, in many cases, obtained by exploiting workers, often children.

Read also: 2 December is World Day for the Abolition of Slavery

How our lifestyle affects slavery

What kind of home you live in, what food (spices included) you consume, what cleaning products you use, how you dress. By providing information about one's own lifestyle, it is possible to obtain an estimate of how many slaves work for you on a daily basis.

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The cosmetics sector also hides dark sides: to obtain mica, a mineral used in powdered form in the production of lipsticks and eyeshadows, thousands of children in India are exploited to mine it. Precious stones and jewellery are sadly linked to countries characterised by civil wars and corruption, such as Sierra Leone, where working conditions and environments are among the most dangerous in the world.

Read also: Slavery, yesterday and today. An ancient word, a modern silence

Nor can technology products be absent, but also sporting goods and clothing (it appears that approximately 1.4 million children are forced to work in the cotton fields of Uzbekistan, a number greater than the total number of children enrolled in the entire New York public school system).

It is important to know and recognise these products, in order to be able to use one's purchasing power to combat modern slavery, which remains so widespread across the globe.