so i've been into this whole conscious-consuming thing for a while now...trying to be responsible about how you spend your money and where your food and clothing comes from. to try to be a 100% conscious consumer is like beating your head against a wall, though. if you buy something that's good for the environment, you might be buying it from a store that doesn't treat its employees well. if you are buying something from a store with good labor practices, you might be supporting advertising that looks creepily like underage porn (see: American Apparel). if you are buying something from a store that has great labor practices, great advertising, great environmental policies, you are either paying through the nose (as with food -- don't get me started on fair trade hot chocolate), or settling for the boring (as with clothes -- plain t-shirts for everyone! all the time!)
anyway, i'm doing my best, but christmas has thrown another wrench in the works.
i kept under my budget of $20 (each) for friends and family, and was even under for most of them, and for many was able to get something i really think they'll appreciate, but there's also an awful lot of buying just to buy, just to have something to wrap. and all my conscious consuming went out the window.
my goal for next year: periodically add to a list of responsible and personal gift ideas, within a budget. anyone want to help me start?
4 comments:
I hear you. Which is why it takes me forever to buy groceries or clothes. Then there are the ones that have weird Asian fetishes (Urban Outfitters) or that donate to horrible political campaigns (Urban Outfitters). Yet this Christmas, UO being a block away from me, I grabbed stuff in a frenzy to wrap for relatives. And had to buy organic lettuce afterwards to atone.
Also, American Apparel, in line with its creepy ads, has a CEO that's equally as sleazy:
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_26/b3939108_mz017.htm
I stopped shopping there when I read that. Except for when I order T-shirts from other places (like threadless, or a lot of nonprofits) that use their blank ones to put designs on. I figure that doesn't count.
I totally agree. I don't even have enough of a budget to shop organic or for clothes from places like that. I wish there was a non-profit that kept up on all that and provided a website clearing house of all the information.
Xtina, I think you should start that nonprofit. The world is waiting. Ahem.
perhaps if i knew anything about websites, at all...besides, i'm still writing the feel good christmas movies about the unselfish basketball player, remember? =)
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