Make Trade Fair

and now a little clip that makes the point of why fairly traded coffee is so important.

Thank you from Oxfam and Ethiopian coffee farmers

A deal between Starbucks and Ethiopian coffee growers has been reached. This is a positive move forward for fairly traded coffees in the world.

Good news for Ethiopian coffee growers

I found this story via The Church of Stop Shopping website (see the sidebar surfing links). This coincides with my recent viewing of Black Gold: Wake up and Smell the Coffee, a documentary about Ethiopian coffee growers. The film is fabulous and the impression I got from the film was that there is a significant impact directly on the farmer due to my own personal purchasing coffee choice. Starbucks is so completely huge and powerful it's frightening. The Ethiopian coffee growers are so poor it seems absurd that something in such high demand and coveted by people globally does not benefit those who grow it.

Consuming with more awareness

Okay I know I just recently put up a post about consuming less and now I'm about to write about what I consumed recently. You can read what you want into that and surf elsewhere or you can just read on.

I've been a label reader ever since I became vegetarian at the rebellious age of 15. So I've always been interested in what ingredients are what and this evolved to household cleaners, and my shampoos and make up. It seems so second nature to me to pick up a product and look at the back label to find out what is in it. After talking to people at work I realized that many people don't read labels and have very little information on what's in their food and some don't want to know. They buy the same products they've always bought, standing behind a brand without really knowing why. I suspect advertising has much to do with this. I've always thought that if it's being advertised on t.v. then I most likely shouldn't buy it.

So if I've been trying to keep up to date on what's in my food and household products including how it is produced then shouldn't I be doing the same for my clothing? I slowly went through the elimination process of removing animal products from my apparel with wool being the last thing to go a couple of years ago. This has been liberating and in the process I have discovered all the wonderful and creative products out there that are cruelty free and/or made sustainably and/or of recycled materials. It has also led me to try and shop from smaller businesses thus avoiding the chains and big box stores. However, my home economics and being a product of a consumer culture has led me to those stores that in my gut I know I shouldn't be supporting with my hard earned cash.

I've been an avid second hand clothing shopper as long as I can remember, but I've been ignoring my guilty conscience whenever I've walked into a Gap, Smart Set or Wal-Mart. My relationship with Wal-Mart has definitely been over for some time now because I simply couldn't ignore their destructive business practices that is unfair to its employees. I can't ignore Wal-Marts union busting tactics, its environtmentally destructive practices and the fact that it's chock full of products that originate from some of the worst factory sweatshops in China. Reading Wal*Mart: the Bully of Bentonville has certainly solidified my distrust of this company. So why should I trust anyone else? The bottom line is that I no longer do. And I've made a decision to consume with more awareness of where the product is made and of what materials it is made of.

In a recent trip into Van city I met up with red jane and we walked and walked on a beautiful sunny day. We walked to MEC since I was in need of some new running supplies. I walked out of there with everything made in Canada. I've promised myself that I'm never buying Adidas, Nike or any of those big sportswear companies that make everything overseas and have all been questioned about their relationships with sweatshops. With D. buying my running shoes on ebay they're almost second hand, but I'll need to reconcile this with myself before I think about getting more. People often refer me to New Balance because they're supposed to be better, but research has proven that this is not so. At least for apparel MEC seems to be making a strong effort to work with factories to improve the conditions for workers.

Ultimately, this may make me consume less since I can't walk into any store and buy whatever. I have to really think about what I need (as opposed to shopping on impulse) and if it is produced in a manner that I can feel okay with.

Sitting in my office I look around and see all the stuff that I have accumulated without thought to where it came from. I don't even think of D. and I as people who have a lot, but nonetheless all the little stuff adds up. Taking another look I'm also glad to see a lot of found items and handmade things and this is just in my office. For example, D. made my desk, the dresser I keep linen in we found on the street, the bookcase belonged to my sister, P. and my mum gave me the guitar that was made in Quebec, my sewing machine was also a street find, the rocking chair we found in the alley behind our house, the pottery and paper sculptures are handmade by P.
So it's not all bad. Is it?

I guess I'm pledging in this post to do better and to be more kind to not only animals but to humans and the planet as well. It feels like a small step in a bigger process for me.

If you're interested Co-op America is a good site for info on North American companies. I've included them as a link in my compassion side bar.

Just a thought

What if we consume less? What if we shop less because we realize we need less? What if we bought locally because we were thinking of our impact globally?

Everyone seems to be talking about topics I’m interested in, and I hear words such as, windpower, organics, sustainability, greenhouse gasses and global warming as part of our everyday lexicon now. I must admit that initially when the media, federal, provincial and municipal governments all started talking about “going green” it made me a little queasy. I was feeling a little green so-to-speak. It seemed like there was nothing else going on in the world and the environment was the latest disaster. My fear was that this too was a wave of discussion and eventually it would become a memory for next years news broadcast that would begin “Remember when everyone was talking about going green?” Actually the recent swell of environmental interest made me angry because I felt like everyone was finally paying attention to what environmentalists have been talking about for years and it was “too little too late.” However, I am an optimist and I believe in the potential of humanity to create and act in a positive way in order to change.

While I don’t think that “green” is the optimal term to use, I am using it because it does suggest an outcome or environmental benefit that we can all relate to at the moment. Past experience has taught me that the over-use of a term can lead to it losing all meaning. Hopefully the prevalent use of this word won’t lead to it being co-opted by large companies where the term becomes watered down so that the company can twist the word to suggest that their mass production and rapid consumption is good for everybody.

I don’t expect a global greening all at once. Change takes time and effort. My own greening began with my grandmother taking her own shopping bags when plastic grocery bags took over from paper. At first I was just an embarrassed kid because she was doing what others weren’t and I didn’t want to stand out as unusual. Of course that changed quickly when I became vegetarian in high school and chose to stand out in carnivore culture. As far as I know I was the only veg in my school of about 1500. I’m supposing this because I know veggies have a way of finding each other. In university I became friends with an environmental studies student and I learned much from her. I read the Safe Shoppers Bible and moved away from grocery store cleaners, drugstore make-up and shampoos. Yes, this cost me more and I have always paid more for my food and household products, but I’ve always told myself that I have to pay to make my impact on the environment less. Seems odd I suppose.

I’m not very “green” in many ways, but I always strive to be. To a certain extent my income has dictated how I live. I’ve never owned a car because I can’t afford it. If I could afford it would I own one? I don’t think so because I’ve seen people in my income bracket scrimp and save and go into debt so they could get a car. That drive has never been in me. I’ve always biked as a means of transportation or, in bad weather, taken public transit. When I need to I rent a vehicle and I must say I loathe having the responsibility of it.

Backing up a bit, what does this green talk achieve? Everyone talks about what they can do to make their impact less damaging. I am glad to hear people just talking about such issues since dialogue brings awareness and can generate ideas for (hopefully) an improvement in how we live with the planet. We are inextricably linked to the planet. Our survival depends on the planet’s survival. Talk is wonderful, but I’m hoping to see some more concrete action. We need to act now.

We are a consumption culture and we can live with so very little. I believe that part of trying to be greener and live with a less damaging impact to the environment goes beyond buying the right light bulb or a fuel efficient car, I’d like to see more radical thinking like buying less in general. If people made a conscious effort to buy less wouldn’t the benefits to the earth be significant? Do we really need so much? I’d like to see everybody really be aware when they shop. Ask yourself do I really need this? Part of the reason we are in the mess we are in is because we want everything at our fingertips and we want it now. We’ve become obsessed with material wealth and when that goes out of style we get something else, something newer.

I know that practicality is an issue and we don’t all have the choice to shop around for organics or green products, but maybe it’s just a matter of buying locally. Here at home we’ve been long time shoppers of organic produce delivery service and our new service indicates what items are local. Each time we get a delivery we get the amount of kilometers our food traveled to reach us. Part of what I’ve learned is that perhaps we can eat more locally grown foods and thus more seasonally. Do I need oranges in January? No. Apples are abundant here locally so I’ve chosen to eat more apples. It’s never been at the top of my list as far as fruit goes, but now that I’ve been eating them more I’ve discovered many varieties and the subtleties of their flavours and textures. Root vegetables through the winter are also abundant and it causes me to learn new ways to cook with them. Soups and stews are great with root veggies and are the perfect food in the winter. Maybe there’s a farmers market near where you live that you could check out.

Perhaps I’m a little all over the place here, but these things have been on my mind for so long and rather than yammering on to D. about all of this yet again, I thought I should put it out there to those that read the blog. I hope it inspires and hopefully you can give me suggestions. For example, while my food may not have traveled so far, what about my clothes? Recently, I went to Winners to try and find some pants for work and my intention was to not buy anything made in China. It didn’t take me long to get out of there because everything was made in China, Bangladesh, Taiwan or Mexico. Hmm. I did find a pair of pants on sale at MEC that were made in the USA and now I wish I had gotten two pairs because they’re great and they’re organic cotton. They’ll just have to last a little longer. I’ll save money in the end I suppose.

I started out by talking about consuming less and ended up talking about what I consume. Yes, we need to consume to live our lives as we do, but I guess it’s about being an aware consumer and not just buying because it’s in the bin for 2.99 or maybe we just need to simply make the choice to not walk into Wal-Mart, but rather going to a smaller local shop.

I guess it’s not really radical thinking in the end, but rather just being aware of our quality of life for us and for every living creature in the world. What we choose affects everyone else does it not?

Remember in Whoville how all the Whos didn’t care that all their belongings were gone when Christmas arrived? Their gifts and roast beasts had been stolen and not one Who cried “boo-hoo-hoo.” This puzzled the Grinch, but like the Grinch I think we need to be more like the Whos down in Whoville (except for the eating roast beast of course) and remember that each day is about something much more. It’s how we live our lives and the quality of that life that matters. As a result won’t we be greener?

They're on their way!

The shoes are in the mail! D. has been watching ebay for my running shoe. He missed out on a couple because the bids were getting beyond pricey, but then...last night he went to the cornerstone cafe while I was at work and bid on a pair of shoes and won. So we're getting them for less than half price (D. said he has to count the price of the soy latte he ordered so that makes it exactly half price). They're coming from another province so we won't have to pay duty on them either. They're also the colour of my Kayanos that I wore for my first half marathon so it's fitting that I should have them for my first marathon.
Can't wait to start breaking them in.