Posts under ‘consumerism’

It’s the 24th of December and I’ve been up since 6am with back pain that just won’t quit. The throbbing in my muscles eventually forced me from bed and down to the chilly living room. Drat! A paid day off and I can’t sleep late.

Today is Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year. Many of us choose to actually boycott shopping on this day as a statement to corporate America that we will not acquiesce to an arbitrary designation compelling us to shop ’til we drop on the day after (American) Thanksgiving, just because they said so. Also known as Buy Nothing Day, activists often choose this day to gather in shopping malls for events such as cutting up credit cards, or forming long conga lines of empty shopping carts at Walmart, clogging the aisles, getting in the way of eager shoppers, and of course, buying nothing.

This year, Adbusters is targeting MTV, who refused to air a Buy Nothing Day ad. From the Adbusters‘ Buy Nothing Day website:

Action update: MTV, the channel that markets itself to hip youth, has decreed that our Buy Nothing Day public service spot “goes further than we are willing to accept on our channels”. Gangsta rap and sexualized, semi-naked school girls are okay, but apparently not a burping pig talking about consumption. If you object to this sort of corporate censorship, why not send them a message now?

We never shop on Black Friday, choosing instead to eschew that activity for staying at home and spending nothing. Does our private boycott really have an effect? Possibly on some less tangible level, but it sure feels good to buck the popular trend. As stated on Wikepedia: while critics of the day charge that Buy Nothing Day simply causes participants to buy the next day, Adbusters states that it “isn’t just about changing your habits for one day” but “about starting a lasting lifestyle commitment to consuming less and producing less waste.”

In terms of holiday shopping, I am making my annual appeal to the readers of Digital Doorway to consider some options other than the usual American corporate suspects. Some selected websites for “alternative” holiday shopping:

Giveline: forget Amazon.com. Giveline offers millions of products, with each purchase generating charitable contributions to your favorite charity. Gift cards and on-line gift cards are available, the recipient having the ability to choose which charity receives a percentage of their gift.

The Hunger Site: offers special gifts from around the world which benefit those in need with each purchase

as well as….

The Breast Cancer Site, The Child Health Site, The Literacy Site, The Rainforest Site, The Animal Rescue Site

And not forgetting…

Madre

Best Friends

Mercy Corps

For kids, you can adopt an endangered animal from the World Wildlife Fund or Defenders of Wildlife, and they will send the child a certificate of adoption and a plush stuffed animal representing the adopted creature.

Remember, for those friends and families who have everything, you can also give money to a favorite charity in their name. Many charities and non-profits will send a card to the recipient to let them know that you have donated in their name, or you can simply make a homemade gift certificate telling your loved one about the organization to which you donated.

So, remember—-you don’t have to line the pockets of corporate America just because it’s holiday time. Spend judiciously, shop locally if you can, and consider avoiding toys and items manufactured by cheap labor in places like China and Mexico, where workers are mistreated, environmental standards are lax, and the pay is reprehensibly low. Choose toys and gifts made with durable and natural materials, if possible. Look for items that are not sealed in redundant and wasteful plastic packaging. Spending a few dollars more at a local business can have far-reaching effects, decreasing the ability of malls and Big Box stores to destroy local businesses struggling to remain open on a Main Street near you. At this (and any) time of year, you wield a great deal of economic power in terms of when, how, where (and whether!) you open your purse or wallet. Use your power wisely!

So, you’ve heard about Fair-Trade Coffee, wherein indigenous coffee-growers and harvesters earn living wages via trade practices which honor workers’ rights, human rights, and the inevitable environmental impact of coffee growing, including widespread pesticide and herbicide use. Dean’s Beans, Global Exchange, Equal Exchange, and other progressive companies have catapulted this practice into the mainstream, and Middle America is beginning to understand how its thirst for coffee can fuel worker exploitation and environmental degradation.

That said, places like Starbucks (no link needed—they don’t need free advertising) pay some lip service to fair trade, inconsistently offering one or two fair-trade flavors, but could do a great deal more to support the cause. With their profits through the roof—and a potential move into small restaurants under the Starbucks banner in the near future—the “Evil Coffee Empire” (as it is known in some quarters) could adopt 100% fair-trade practices vis-a-vis its coffee and chocolate, jettisoning recognition of fair trade further into the mainstream. Even though many of their practices are laudable—like employee benefits, socially responsible investing with Calvert,
and attention towards the environmental impact of coffee growing, Starbucks could use its cultural ubiquitousness and name recognition to take Fair Trade to the next level. Perhaps some day they will. That said, I still buy the odd coffee at Starbucks myself, though I always choose a local cafe if one can be found.

Next comes Fair-Trade Chocolate. Like coffee growers and harvesters, indigenous cocoa farmers are often exploited by middlemen and global corporations which ignore human rights, environmental impact, and the need for a living wage. Fueling the worldwide demand for a luxury item—chocolate—is a billion dollar industry, and many families suffer as they try to feed, clothe and educate children on the subsistence wages earned growing cocoa, often the only viable choice in a globalized market that has shut out small independent (and mostly indigenous) farmers. Lutheran World Relief, A Greater Gift, Global Exchange, and many other companies have stoked the flames of consumer activism in the interests of cocoa farmers, and many chocoholics are realizing that their predilection for chocolate does not need to be borne on the backs of indigenous farmers.

On Valentine’s Day of this year, I posted a missive which included a paragraph dedicated to the human costs related to the flower industry. As detailed on DemocracyNow!:

“Approximately 60 percent of all flowers sold in the United States come from Colombia. A third of Ecuador’s yearly production is exported to the U.S. for Valentine’s Day. Flower workers in these countries earn poverty-level wages, work long hours, and suffer significant health problems due to pesticides. The report also finds that over half of women workers in the flower industry in Colombia and Ecuador have been subjected to sexual harassment“.

According to Jobs with Justice, Dole is the sole U.S. wholesaler that owns flower plantations abroad, including 20 in Colombia alone. Dole has reneged on contract agreements, and has periodically fired workers for no apparent legal reason other than workers’ efforts to gain access to living wages and humane working conditions. You can sign a petition at Jobs with Justice’s website to petition Dole to negotiate in good faith.

Failing tackling Dole and other multinationals singlehandedly, what is the earnest consumer to do? Just like with chocolate and coffee, one can make the informed decision to go to reliable sources which offer fair-trade certified organic flowers which are often reviewed by third parties for compliance with agreed-upon standards. The cost is often comparable, and we have never paid more than a few dollars extra by choosing fair-trade. Organic Bouquet is one of many sites where you can buy with a clear conscience, and as usual in these types of endeavors, Google is still your best friend.

So, without wanting to be a nay-sayer or kill-joy, one of my self-appointed missions on this Earth is to be an activist for causes which I feel are in need of attention, are relatively easy to address as an individual consumer, and whose impact can have far-reaching reverberations. If you’ve already ordered your Mothers Day flowers (and I hope by now you have, for your sake!), please take this message to heart and consider buying fair trade the next time you have occasion to order flowers or plants for someone you love.

In this culture where purchases are often only a click away from the comfort of our homes with credit-card in hand, we can easily choose to use the savings on gas from not driving to the store to buy with our heart and our conscience. Of course, we choose our battles carefully in this life, and there are daily decisions that we must make which have far-reaching impacts of which we are blissfully unaware (with a nod to George Orwell).

That said, every choice is an opportunity, and with every opportunity we take to do good in the world, we are contributing to a growing movement towards humanitarianism, environmental awareness, human rights, and a world where all are equally able to pursue liberty and happiness for themselves and their families. Does that chocolate bar effect the life of a Colombian cocoa grower living in the bush? Ask her, and one look in her eyes will answer your question. Consider eschewing Nestles, Hersheys, Maxwell House, FTD, and flowers.com, and spend your money through the filter of your conscience. We’ll all feel better, and some of us will actually live better. What could be a better Mothers Day gift than that?

Commuting more than forty miles round-trip every day, and doing outreach within my city of employ, I come into close contact with thousands of drivers and vehicles each day. Now that I have a hybrid, I am even more conscious of my “carbon footprint”, feeling good about my forty miles per gallon but wishing I could do even more to lessen my impact. A job close to home would be the answer, but it just isn’t in the cards for me these days. Some day, I promise myself, I’ll have a job I can bicycle to.

Living in a car-centered society, one cannot help but notice trends. Despite the upward trend of gasoline prices, there seems to be no downward trend in the purchasing of SUVs. Enormous vehicles—most of which must get atrocious gas mileage—ply the roads in most any city or town. Few, if any, are actually used for either “sport” or utility”. Most seem like oversized and expensive status symbols which, by design, have a deplorable carbon footprint. I have heard that even in Britain, where small cars and environmental awareness are becoming almost de rigeur, SUVs are almost as popular as they are here in the US. A sad commentary on the state of the world, in my humble opinion.

Just the other day, I was in traffic behind a gargantuan SUV which had a nameplate identifying it as an “Armada”. Last I checked, an armada was a group of warships. If automobile companies see the necessity to name a vehicle after something so militaristic and threatening, what could possibly be next? The Toyota Destroyer? As it stands, Hummers—those vehicles truly designed for combat—still tear their way across the American landscape, threatening to crush into scrap metal any Volkswagen or Peugeot that gets in their way. Apropos of SUVs and accidents, my wife and I have been witness—and first on the scene—for two accidents involving SUVs. In both instances, the SUVs were moving at high speeds, struck (and demolished) much smaller cars, and then proceeded to roll over multiple times. Luckily, no one died in either accident, but each SUV was filled with children.

Speaking of Armadas and Hummers, what is it, pray tell, against which we are so fearfully arming ourselves? What is this distance which we feel we must put between us and our breathren? Of what are we afraid? Conversely, are we only looking to create fear in others? Is our national soul so weak, our spirits so diminished by life in the 21st century, that these hunks of metal and plastic must serve as our talismen and protectors?

I remember when I was a teenager and my mother would remark how it seemed so sad and strange how young men needed to race around the neighborhood with loud cars and motorcycles, trying to prove something to an audience which most likely existed only in their imaginatons. My pat response to her was that those cars and motorcycles were penis extensions, allowing young men who were feeling basically impotent within the society to make a statement about something. While “penis extension” may be too simplistic—or crass—”ego extension” may be a more fitting moniker for those contemporarily ubiquitous SUVs. Even as the times seem to be a-changin’, they really never do.

As for the public health aspect of the car and SUV consumer culture (since I always seem to have to slip health in somewhere), we are all aware that safety has been legislated in some states, and seatbelts do indeed save lives every day. Most recently, the governor of New Jersey suffered major injuries when the SUV in which he was a passenger crashed along the Garden State Parkway. Was he wearing a seatbelt? Of course not. And who was the driver of said SUV careening at a languid 90 mph? A New Jersey state trooper, of course. Go figure. If that governor doesn’t become an outspoken proponent of seatbelts and automobile safety, he doesn’t deserve the office he was elected to.

Earlier, I mentioned a “carbon footprint”. Of course, we all burn fossil fuels each day through our daily activities. When our bananas are shipped from Costa Rica to Miami and then trucked to New York for distribution to our local supermarket, the “carbon trail” of those bananas is considerable. If we drive an SUV to that supermarket, the carbon trail is even greater. When most of us flick a light-switch or turn on the washing machine, coal is most likely the fossil fuel from which that electricity is more or less created.

As for the effects of carbon emissions and climate change on respiratory health, we all know that asthma rates are climbing. Smog, fine particulates, industry, vehicle emissions, the scorching of the rainforests, methane from animals for meat production—the causes are myriad. In the inner cities, communities of color are especially hard hit, with rates of respiratory illness skyrocketing. Where do we turn?

As for solutions, there are many places to turn for information and education. So many aspects of daily life are permutated with choices which directly or indirectly impact individual, cultural, regional, and even global health and safety. From one’s choice of vehicle to one’s shopping practices, every day offers opportunities for thoughtful decision-making. How many trips to the store can be consolidated into one, or eliminated altogether? How will that SUV’s gas mileage effect the health of some child in a distant urban center? How many lights do I really need to leave on in my house today?

As a consumer and as a spectator of consumer culture (with a predilection for public and community health), I make my own choices, hoping that they are thoughtful and responsible. I urge others to do the same, to be guided by conscience, and to remember that, in the larger picture, we are all irrevocably interconnected. As far as arming ourselves in vehicles equipped for battle, how about we let our guard down as a society and connect more on the human level? We can’t just live in fear, and we also can’t live like there’s no tomorrow, because at this rate, there just may not be one.

Under my email signature on all outgoing missives, the following quote by Mother Teresa is always attached:

“I have found the paradox that if I love until it hurts, then there is no hurt, only more love.”

On this day of all days, love is the notion we are urged to consider. Of course, being Valentine’s Day, romantic love is assumed to be at the epicenter of such considering, and well it is for many of us. But there are many more forms of love, and they are all worthy of our attention. As well, we also remember those who are bereft, lonely, impoverished, ill, and otherwise lacking love in their lives. Yes, the media deluge us with images of heart and flowers, chocolates and cards, forming the basis of what we think we know love is. However, it is in our minds and hearts where we truly decide the meaning of love, and it is in our relationships with the human and non-human worlds where we externalize our vision of love, manifesting our vision through action.

Many of us wonder how to celebrate love, embody love and partake in cultural norms which bring us and our loved ones pleasure, while still bearing in mind the wider effects of our way of life and the decisions we make as consumers. Flowers, chocolate, diamonds—the things we have been taught to freely associate with love—cannot escape the gravest blemishes when under scrutiny, especially as we use the power of the purse to support the industries that provide them on the shelves of our stores. This is not meant to be a wet blanket on this day. Rather, it is yet another way to love, wherein we remind one another that our choices as consumers have consequences beyond our immediate perceptions. It is in both the small and the large that our actions ripple out into the world.

Today on AlterNet, Courtney E. Martin offers a view of love as activism, asserting that freedom is gained through our choices vis-a-vis relationship, love, and our actions close to home. Also on AlterNet, Julie Enszer describes the subtle ways in which gays and lesbians do (or don’t) reveal their partners’ gender in social situations. She then challenges us on this Valentine’s Day to go the whole day without revealing the gender of our lover in social exchanges, feeling that sense of ambiguity—and occasional discomfort—which is then communicated and felt by the parties on both ends of those conversations.

Meanwhile, on Democracy Now!, Amy Goodman presented an expose on the low wages, child labor, and other human rights violations which support the commercial sale of cut flowers in the United States, propagated to a large extent by the Dole Corporation. A sobering dose of reality which, like Blood Diamond, has begun to popularize the notion that consumer goods can fuel conflict, slavery, and indecent treatment of human beings in the name of profit. Furthering our perceived indictment of all things Valentine, even chocolate is not safe from political strife, economic hardship, and humanitarian controversy when considered through the lens of fair trade practices.

Moreover, the V-Day movement strives to end violence against women, with Valentine’s Day designated as V-Day. Describing the movement on their web-site as “a fierce, wild, unstoppable movement and community”, their goal is no less than the complete defeat of violence against women and the victory of human rights and peace.

What, then, you may ask, is a loving yet earnestly concerned Valentine to do?

I would submit that there is no end to what one can do to propagate love while making wise and informed choices. Choosing Fair Trade chocolate and coffee is itself an act of love—towards others, self, and economic equality. Do I always practice such advice, you ask? No, I do not, but continually reminding one’s self of the power of choice is often the first step towards freedom. Further, by treating the women in one’s life with respect, by standing up against their unfair treatment and subjugation, by communicating through actions and words one’s dedication to such a notion—that is a most powerful personal statement.

And the flowers? Sometimes we can’t help ourselves when we buy those lovely bouquets, and none of us can deny the joy and delight on the receiver’s face when presented with the thoughtful sweetness embodied therein. These are all simply choices, and in this consumer society, we all are prey to the whims and winds of the marketplace. If I buy flowers, I will certainly enjoy them, bless the person who picked and processed them, and give them with the love with which they are intended. One cannot live life afraid to act, yet one must also understand that each and every choice we make in life carries consequences often beyond our ken.

On this snowy Valentine’s Day, I am home with my love, workplaces closed, the world moving at a crawl, the icy precipitation confining us happily to our home. Yoga together in the morning, a DVD, a nap, a simple exchange of cards, and a mutual conscious decision to eschew the drive to consume, rather giving each other the gift of time, of space, of presence, of shared love. Although I did donate money to the V-Day campaign in Mary’s honor today, it is not the money changing hands which holds meaning. Intention, of course, is the central force, and through our intentions our actions must naturally follow.

Even amidst a consumer frenzy, be it Christmas, Valentine’s Day, or Mother’s Day, intention and the consciousness behind that intention holds the key. Coupled with right action, there is no end to the love that can be shared, and no end to the satisfaction which we can glean from a life well lived.

Happy Valentine’s Day, from my heart to yours.

It is incredibly ironic how the day after Thanskgiving in the United States is known as “Black Friday”, the kick-off of the holiday shopping season and the biggest shopping day of the year. And why is it called “Black Friday”? I would venture a guess it’s because the big corporations (and their shareholders) project being “in the black” financially as Americans throw away their money on whatever it is Wall Street tells them they should buy. The irony lies in the fact that the meaning of Thanksgiving—gratitude, sharing and family—is immediately superceded by a mad rush of unabashed consumerism of astronomical proportions.

On this annual day of rampant consumerism, Mary and I generally just stay home, refusing to buy anything, use a car, or take part in the mad rush to consume. I had forgotten that I was scheduled for a haircut some four miles from our house on Friday, and was disappointed to learn that our local buses would not be running, thus, thanks to a balmy 50-degree afternoon, I biked to my appointment, a cold wind making the trip only slightly arduous. Paying for a service (rendered by a local merchant) rather than goods, I still felt that I was honoring my commitment to not participate in the universal shopping spree, and I felt especially good as I raced along powered by my own physical exertion, cold wind be damned.

This week, stories abound of people sleeping on sidewalks for two days in cold rain to be first in line to a buy a PlayStation 3. Fistfights broke out as consumers waited in impatient lines to be the first through a store’s open doors, some stores even opening at midnight to assuage the greedy claws of hungry consumers ready to pay their hard-earned cash for unnecessary frivolities. Is it really worth such extravagant effort?

Now, how many of these Black Friday sidewalk campers would spend two nights in the rain if it raised money to feed the homeless? Who would line up at midnight to serve the hungry in a soup kitchen, throwing punches in order to be the first to hold the ladle? Why isn’t service to the needy as enticing? Why isn’t fighting homelessness as sexy as shopping? Wouldn’t it be radical if Wall Street announced that, next year, Black Friday would be called “Service Friday”, and all consumers would be urged to get out and volunteer their time to those most in need? What if WalMart announced that it would sell nothing on that day, and instead, local relief organizations would have tables set up for citizens to connect with a volunteer effort of their choice?

While we love to give gifts, and send our share of humble packages to family and friends for the holidays, we attempt to do so in a way in which the impact of our purchases is as low as possible. Cheap gifts made in Chinese sweat-shops are eschewed, replaced by the most meaningful, affordable, and simple gifts we can manage. Our beloved nieces and nephews and godchildren love to receive gifts at holiday time—and we love to oblige them—but none of them have illusions that our gifts will reflect the latest trends in American consumer culture.

I always have mixed feelings about the perceived need to spend and give at this time of year. While I love the sentiment and the spirit of giving, I loathe the obligatory consumption that is part and parcel of the whole package. I still look for ways to express love and caring without the conspicuous expenditure of money for items built with planned obsolescence in mind, but it is a fine line we walk when we live and participate in this misguided society.

So, as this holiday season opens its doors, may we all remember the true meaning of it all, and refrain from being lost in the artificial pressures that transform this season of warmth and love into a season of frantic need to part with our earnings and create unnecessary debt. May the true spirit infuse our hearts and calm our harried minds, realigning our priorities in this time of increasing hunger and need. Our cultural priorities are skewed, and only we can make the choice to realign them once more.

++++++++++++++++++++++++

Some selected sites for “alternative” holiday shopping:

Giveline: generates charitable contributions to your favorite non-profit with each purchase

The Hunger Site: special gifts which benefit those in need with each purchase

as well as….

The Breast Cancer Site, The Child Health Site, The Literacy Site, The Rainforest Site, The Animal Rescue Site

And not forgetting…

Madre

Best Friends

The Wildlife Adoption Center