Posted by Joe on: 07.31.2007 /
Shopping is a drag, and that is not just because of my gender. For example, take our regular food shopping. We believe in co-ops, so we foresake the local equivilent of Walmart and head for a local food shop owned by our regional food co-operative. There is no parking. There isn’t much choice on the shelves.
One of the reasons we buy from a co-operative is that it has a policy of aggressive labelling. They tell me things other supermarkets keep silent about.
We have several things to check. First we engage in active boycotts of some brands, most importantly (and perhaps most ineffectually) the longstanding Nestle boycott. Next we girlcott products we really like - most notably fairtrade labelled products. We then look at other products and weigh up whether the distance travelled justifies their purchase so the breakfast cereal containing chinese strawberries is left behind. Wherever possible, UK or at least local European products are bought.
Clothes shopping is somewhat simpler: as we are disgusted by the behaviour of most clothing brands and on a limited budget, 90% of our clothing comes from charity/thrift stores. We figure that although we can’t be any more sure of the origins of the stuff from thrift stores, at least someone benefits from our purchasing.
Our approach is that although we cannot totally change ourselves overnight, we can make continual improvements. Each year we conduct a family audit where we identify more things we can focus on and change.
In truth, we have a long way to go to reach the goal of personal sustainability. The more you think about it, there more there is to change.
Here are some useful resources:
Food shopping: The LOAF principle
Ethical living: Do-able hints
Clothing: All you never wanted to know about cheap clothing.
Leave a Reply
Comment by: Benjamin
1 07/31/07 7:39 PM | Comment Link |Joe,
I really like the idea of an annual family audit to identify things upon which you can focus and change. I shall have to bring this up with my wife.
We also tend to mostly buy inexpensive used clothing. Plus our children mostly wear hand me downs from other children we know.
Never tried the shop at a co-op thing though. That sounds like a good idea. I often feel vaguely guilty suppurting the supermarket, which is pretty freaking … unsustainable, in a sense. Thanks for the tips!
Comment by: Rachel
2 07/31/07 9:18 PM | Comment Link |Clothing has got to be one of the toughest areas for ethical shopping. We’ve ordered some items from No Sweat Apparel and we’ve been happy with their products. (Joe, I just ordered one of the t-shirts made in Bethlehem.)
Julie Clawson, who occasionally comments on this site, had a great two-part piece posted on the God’s Politics blog recently:
My Search for the Justice Bra, Part 1
My Search for the Justice Bra, Part 2
Comment by: Benjamin
3 07/31/07 9:37 PM | Comment Link |Oh–by the way–Love your “I *atombomb* shopping”. Thing I’ll switch it up to “I *nucularweapon* shopping”, though. =)
(sorry)
(not really)
Comment by: Benjamin
4 07/31/07 9:39 PM | Comment Link |actually, try opening about 5 iterations of that page I linked. Hilarious, but also incredibly offputting (the sound, I mean)
Comment by: joe
5 08/1/07 2:43 AM | Comment Link |Rachel - well, I can tell you all about where that comes from :)
I think the strain is that everytime you make a step towards sustainability, you uncover another 5 or 10 things you hadn’t thought of. So it is really difficult to keep going.
Comment by: Enacting Irresistible Revolution Mimimalist Resources « Compassion in Politics
6 08/1/07 6:50 PM | Comment Link |[...] Update: I just ran across an article about this very subject at Justice & Compassion about cooperatives, personal boycotts, and other tactics for combatting was… [...]