It's the Little Things

The small objects like bobby pins are hard to order online, they're available as fair trade, but after I would just stop at the drugstore and drop a few dollars for bobby pins, this is not as convenient. That was a run-on sentence, sorry. The ones that I plan on buying (which is my featured product) look way more sturdy and they are made from recycled materials. It's like the coat analogy from a little while ago, you pay more, but the right people get the money and the stuff lasts longer. Buying them also sends 25 cups of food to the hungry. I probably won't be able to post this weekend - lots going on: Happy Birthday Robin and Happy Anniversary Nathaniel! Have a great weekend!

The pins : http://shop.thehungersite.com/store/item.do?itemId=34869&siteId=220

I'm an Island in Corporate America

Apologies for not updating timely, I don't have a computer anymore :( I was going to try and not buy any books from chains or big websites, but I couldn't find Alicia Silverstone's The Kind Diet or Food Inc. at a local store. They are both about sustainable eating though and I don't think there is too much mistreatment in the book industry. Still, I'm going to try and buy as much from local bookstores as possible.
I was doing really well with my sustainable eating. I would love to eat 100% organic all the time, but it's hard when you're at someone's house or you're out to eat. It's frustrating to realize the limitations that I'll often face with eating and consuming fair. Technically the principles of the challenge include me not purchasing items not fairly traded, but it's hard not to eat leftover chocolate that's just sitting there. All of the stuff that I am trying to avoid is so mass produced that it works its way into most places of my life. I think my purchase "vote" is the main point of concern. It's like my second hand clothing concession, only it would be second hand food, well you know what I mean.

Pick of the day: A lovely little LBD
http://www.aventuraclothing.com/product/dresses+%26amp-+skirts/dresses/weston+sweaterknit+dress.do

A Mug Above the Rest

So I have this coffee mug collection that I love adding to when I see a great new mug. There's something about a cup of tea or coffee (both fair trade of course!) in a mug that has meaning to me. I realize that most the mugs I find are from China...which means one thing of course. I will have to put my mug collecting on hold I guess. I also collect shot glasses just to document where I've been and some look really cool. I'll have to put that on hold too I guess :( Unless a travel mate wants to buy one for me...is that too sneaky? Well to suffice my mug craving there is a really cool fair trade travel cup, which is my pick of the day:

http://shop.thehungersite.com/store/item.do?itemId=38245&siteId=220&sourceId=220&sourceClass=MatchingItem&index=1

Attack on Ads

Earlier I talked about how ad campaigns can really make us feel bad for not buying. We don't necessarily try to look hard at slogans and decode, but if we do, it's amazing how much of a slap in the face they can be. Remember the old slogan of Folger's Coffee (which is not fair trade by the way)? "The best part of waking up, is Folgers in your cup!" Really? That's the best part of waking up? If that's the case then after my coffee I should go right back to bed. So what if our subconcious decoded that and told us "Hey, you didn't buy Folgers so you are worthless. Why even wake up?" I buy an off brand fair trade coffee. I'd say that a cup of coffee for me is pretty much needed to wake up but it's not why I wake up. I wake up for my family, friends, special causes, happiness from outdoors, adventure and learning.
What about "Got Milk?" and how that's turned into Got Everything? Everyone has tried to use that to sell their product thinking they are so clever and funny, but that's really what it translates into: Got Everything? Don't stop buying and going into debt until you do.
Hershey's has a new commercial out about smiling and candy bars. "There's a smile in every Hershey's bar." Really? I doubt the unfair working conditions of the unfairly traded chocolate doesn't put a smile behind it. Do you mean there's a smile of an executive of Hershey's in every bar?

The sad thing is we're conditioned to believe them and it's not entirely our fault. We do need to be educated though. We need to look at commercials with eyes of steel and not let it penetrate through us. If more people held this ground, there would be a lot less advertising. Stick to your guns!

Pick of the day: http://www.lovethatstuff.co.uk/graphics/neck03.jpg

Really neat necklace! I notice a lot of these products are from the UK. I guess because good ol' America isn't as concerned with fair trade? Though how can they be when they're busy coming up with new ad campaigns :)

Eco = Fair?

I tagged along for a quick shopping experience at Target yesterday. I'm wondering if eco-friendly qualifies as fair trade. I would hope those sustainable promoting companies wouldn't be that two-faced to treat their workers unfairly. I guess I'll do as much investigating as possible. I think I'm starting to go through the grievance period of not being able to buy things that the lay world can. It's not that I necessarily want or need anything, but feeling like an outcast isn't that fun, turns out that never gets better after the pubescent years. It's hard being a good person all the time haha, joke. It hasn't even been a month yet though so I'm hoping I'll be able to get over the grieving part.

Pick of the day: http://www.bynature.co.uk/ciel-organic-cotton-boy-shorts-42520-0.html

To answer my question before, they DO make ethical undergarments. Cheaper than Victoria's!

Is it Fair Under There?

Hey there - sorry it's been a few days. School has started and I'm trying to get my act together. You know how New Year's Resolutions are supposed to start January 1st? They should really start like Jan. 20th. It takes a while to get all the kinks worked out. The budget for my organic/sustainable groceries has just been refreshed finally after being wiped out from the holidays. I tried my best but sometimes I had to just eat.
I'm realizing that there is going to have to be more exceptions to my resolution. For example, I'm grocery shopping for my grandma and I didn't buy everything sustainably, most, but not all. She's technically paying for it though, so it's not so bad. Her budget is limited because she is single and doesn't have a job obviously.
I haven't faced any material objects obstacles yet, meaning something that I NEED but can't find fairly traded. I'm thinking about undergarments though, they are going to be needed soon and I haven't found those anywhere yet. Conundrum.

Product of the day: A really cute cardigan regularly 90 dollars now only 30! This website is having a huge sale right now FYI!

http://www.fairindigo.com/cproduct_info.php/fair_trade/Women_Sale-Tops/product_name/Chunky_Blend_Zip_Cardigan/products_id/29

The Old School Should School Us

I watched this short video from the Just One campaign ( and I suggest you watch it too, two mins long: http://tradeasone.com/justone) and I see the continued theme of how stuff is ruining the world. It's a great campaign and its tag line is "If every church goer in America made one fair trade purchase, a million families would rise above the poverty line for a year". I myself don't go to church, but I would hope that the amount of people they are talking about needed to make this difference will in fact do so, church goers or not.
There's a billboard in the background of this video that says "Buy More". I think that's so sad, it's funny. That's literally what every commercial, ad, billboard, pop up, side of a bus, poster, mannequin and media is telling us, but we have a hard time decoding it because we see ourselves in the ads. We are subconsciously cued with every advertisement to tell ourselves "With that product, I shall finally be ahead." Problem is, theres many more products than this one that will 'get us ahead'. I feel bad for myself; I was not wise to this until recently, and still fall prey to the temptation to buy so that I can "improve myself". This past holiday season, when I was really starting to wake up to all of this, I worked in a mall. The holidays mean that every store makes millions of new bags with this year's holiday slogan that they've chosen. I really don't want to think of the leftover bags sitting in a landfill somewhere. Anyways, so one bag in particular said "The Limited is Happiness." Are you kidding me? If a clothing store is my happiness, I am screwed. That bag though really sums up the advertising world and props to the Limited for being so honest about how they're trying to sell you happiness so that you come back and buy some more when your sweater, I mean happiness, shrinks or goes out of style.
That's our world though. I'd like to say we big tough Americans know better than that but we don't. I include myself in that, obviously. If we knew better there would be a huge pendulum swing back to making products here in our own country. They would actually last a long time because someone had the skills it took to make it instead of plopping down a set of instructions in front of a little Asian girl to make a sweatshirt. My boyfriend has this great coat that belonged to his grandfather. It is a pea coat that looks brand new. My pea coat is from a chain and is about ten years old, and it looks like it. The coats are a symbol of how our industrial revolution has failed us. The coat companies would have gone out of business I guess if we all only needed one coat per lifetime, or so they say. I think the coat makers would have found plenty of business in growing kids if you ask me. So now we have crap coats that hardly last so that we'll need to buy a new one. The rich get richer.
I was watching a show today that was interviewing a celebrity. She was talking about how in the seventies you had one maybe two barbies. Now she is trying to teach her kids that that life is still okay even though the advertisers want her kids to believe that they need teacher barbie, swimmer barbie, stripper barbie, kidding. It's crazy how in one generation we have successfully switched to a more is better philosophy for this country. We let stores open on Sundays so they could make more money and be home less with their families so they can buy them more stuff to make up for them being home less because they are making more money.
Well I'll put this topic on pause for now because given this challenge, it will come up again. Not being a part of corporate America is another reward I'm glad to rack up this year.

My product of the day comes from the Just One campaign's website. It's a cute soccer ball. http://tradeasone.com/shop/sports-toys/sports/soccer-ball-size-3-dots.html

Gotta Have It....No More

Today I came across this great half price calendar at a chain bookstore. It was perfect for my workout log. Temptation was really biting at me. "Well it's not clothing, or coffee, or tea, or chocolate...the things that are really centered around poor trading practices." Still. I didn't know who made it or how and if they were treated fairly. It wasn't something I needed. No deal. I really wanted it. The fact is though I'm still alive. I can probably make my own calendar and I'm not out eight bucks. I'm kind of glad I finally faced something I really wanted. I was beginning to think this would be too easy.

http://www.second-world.com/sw/item.php?id=27

Today's pick is a stylish silver bracelet that is only $10!

Day Four and Not So Bad

So I've officially delved into the challenge! I've been to the mall, and I've got to say, it's a load off my mind knowing that I can't buy anything there. The challenge has been a scapegoat so now I can enjoy other things in life. I can say, "Oh sorry, I won't be trying to keep up with the trends because of this challenge I'm doing." It's kind of nice. That sentiment might change later in the year, or next week, but I'm rolling with it for now.
I checked out this cool local store called Plowsharing. It's nothing but Fair Trade stuff and it was nice to be able to hold things that I can buy rather than just see them online. I've decided that since there won't neccesarily be something to comment about each day, I will at least post a favorite Fair Trade product.

http://www.amazon.com/Lidded-Camellia-Tea-Coffee-Mug/dp/B001GQE2BA

This is a great coffee mug with a lid to keep the brew warm! Only $15!