Ignorance is Bliss, and Change is Hard

I've always kept myself abreast of all the green, sustainable and fair trade knowledge as it applies to food. Now I am becoming more aware of how it applies to all products. Today while waiting during my jury duty, I continued my education on these topics. Just when I think I know everything, I get hit with a slew of new information. Today I read that a good amount of the top candy companies in America still buy their products from farmers who practice child labor conditions on the Ivory Coast. These farmers are pretty much forced to do whatever it takes to get the business, even if it means having to work for close to or for actually nothing, and passing this unfair life onto the children. I find it appalling that we think this country has come so far since the abolition of slavery, when in fact we are still doing it. I think our cheek is turned when we think about unfair work conditions in other countries because we think we have no control over it. The fact is though our American companies are using these products of slave-like conditions. It also unforunately happens in our own country. One example is the illegal immigrants that big meat companies use for meat packing. The execs hold deportation above the workers' heads in order to get away with hardly paying these people. All that time spent on working to get slaves their freedom, now here we are in 2010, living like high-tech plantation owners.
It's difficult to be a consumer though. It's possible to be a fair consumer, but it's difficult. Here's an example. I love to 'mall walk' before the stores open in the winter. It's too cold to be outside and there's something enchanting to me about the quiet before the stores open. It's, of course, part of my routine to look at all the mannequins' styles and wonder. Well, today is the first time I've mall walked since the birth of the idea of this challenge. I realized that I'm either going to have to find a used duplicate of the style, learn how to make it, or give it up. Where can you find an outfit in the mall that wasn't made in China or a third world country? The thing of it is though a year, a month or even a little over a week ago, I would have made a mental note to buy one of these outfits. I really didn't want to think about the moral consequence of it and therefore it didn't exist. Now that I won't be able to buy these things in a couple of weeks, I know to look but that I can't buy. With all the advertising showing me that this is right: to work to buy to giveaway to keep up with trend, it's hard to think otherwise. We're all pretty much raised this way because of our culture, so right now this feels like part of my childhood getting ripped away. I'm hoping that at the end of this challenge there is a new norm in my life: to help.

On this topic of our need for bigger, better, faster stuff, there is a great video to watch. If the link doesn't appear somewhere on this post, go to youtube and type in story of stuff full version. It's worth it! If you decide to join in on this challenge in some capacity, I wish you the best of luck, and know that you are not alone!