March Resolutions

A year or two ago, Pete and I went to see a screening of a documentary (or "rockumentary") called Call and Response. It was, in a word, devastating. I knew a lot about the issue of human trafficking and slavery--I had to write a paper about it my senior year in college (which was before so many people were talking about it). But it's always different to see pictures and videos. On a side note, if you ever get a chance to see this movie, please do. It's beautifully done.

Seeing the video and hearing Justin Dillon (musician and producer of the movie) challenge us in the audience to take action was the first time I really thought about changing my buying habits. But I simply didn't know how we could do it. First of all, finding information about where different companies source their materials and how their factories are run is very difficult. Second of all, if I really wanted to ensure that my money wasn't supporting the horror of the modern-day slave trade, I would need to spend a lot more time and money to hunt out and pay for the "clean" clothes, electronics, coffee, etc. Let's face it: "fair-trade" certified items are simply expensive. We aren't rolling in money, and we do give a lot away to charities. So, I figured, the less I can spend on clothes, the more we have to give away. Right?

I subscribe to a magazine called Relevant. Their most recent issue included an article called "Everyday Justice: 10 Lifestyle Choices that Can Tangibly Help Others." Reading it, I was convicted and reminded of my past guilt over these issues. I mean, how can I claim to be firmly against slavery and other kinds of injustice when I'm not willing to even change my buying habits to keep my money from supporting evil in the world? Ouch.

Another thing this article helped me to crystallize in my mind is the relationship between slavery and the environment. Both are justice issues. Forcing 10-year-old girls into prostitution is a brutal injustice. Raising cows in inhumane environments and consuming too many natural resources are also injustices.

I would strongly contend that the two are not on the same level. Humans are far more important than animals. I know many would disagree with me, but that's where I stand. What's interesting, though, is that I have thus far been far more ready to change my buying habits when it comes to food than when it comes to clothing (and chocolate and coffee, two of the most notoriously slavery-based products). Over the past couple of years, I have gradually started to buy more organic fruits and vegetables and even splurge for grass-fed beef or free-range chicken (when they're on sale or something). And I've traded plastic grocery bags for reusable bags and have even recently worked on cutting back on the number of produce bags I use. In fact, just last week, I signed up for a CSA, so that in a couple of weeks we will start to get weekly produce deliveries from a local farm (which I'm super excited about, but that's another issue).

After reading the article, I started wondering why it has been easier for me to make changes that will benefit the environment rather than those that will benefit other humans, even though I claim that humans are more important. My conclusion? Plain selfish laziness. I think a big part of me reasoning for wanting to buy more organically is health-related. I don't want to be consuming those pesticides and other weird chemicals. Also, buying more organic doesn't take any more time or energy. I simply choose the organic options on my normal shopping trip. Just a little more expensive, but really not that bad in small increments. Also, I live in the Bay Area where being green is all the rage, so I have to admit that peer pressure probably plays a bit of a role, as well. Plastic grocery bags are simply uncouth out here. And I actually had a woman scold me for not buying organic at the grocery store once.

Again, ouch. That realization is pretty convicting. Shouldn't I be willing to make a few sacrifices on the stopping-human-trafficking front, as well? No, we can't really afford to simply start shopping at fair-trade clothing stores rather than the usual stores (ie Ross, Kohl's, Target--all of which are within two blocks of our apartment and are dirt cheap). But I can afford to buy fewer clothes. And make the clothing purchases that I do make count. Or at least not count towards slavery!

Of course, it is true that few stores out there are willing or able to be completely open about all the sources of their materials. The final product is just so far removed from the factories that many of them simply don't know. But here's a start. I went to the site ChainStoreReaction and found all the stores that I might shop at that have responded to the many letters in a somewhat adequate fashion. In other words, they already have some good policies in place to do their best to make sure their materials are not being made in sweatshops or other inhumane conditions. I've written them all down on a list that I now plan to carry with me when I go shopping. I was quite relieved to find H&M, Banana Republic, and Gap all on that list. So I have a few decent options. If you want my complete list, you can find it here.

I also found a cool website that is a database of sorts of various fair trade clothing and food shops. I'm sure there are many more out there like it.

Finally, I plan to do my best to purchase only fair-trade coffee and chocolate. The coffee shouldn't be a problem. I'm off it for health reasons right now anyway, and even when I do drink it, I don't drink that much. Chocolate is a different story. I'm a bit of an addict, which means I like to have chocolate in the house at all times. Which means I like to buy it cheap. So I might need to make the*huge* sacrifice of cutting back on my chocolate consumption, as well, so I can afford to buy the fair-trade stuff.

Do any of you have any cool resources for incorporating justice more into everyday lifestyle choices?