revisited: who did i support?

Two of my early posts in 2014 when I started BITNF were focused on being a mindful consumer—thinking about which companies I want (and don’t want) to support and about where (and how) products are made.  It’s time to revisit this six (6!) years later—how am I doing without a Whole Foods to do the curating for me and the corporate salary necessary to shop there? 

I’m still voting with my $—looking on the label for where things are made and researching companies online has become routine.  Then, since I’m on a budget, I make an informed choice.  Sometimes the choice is not buying anything.  My goal is to make my $ go far in positive impact—on my health, other people (and other than the 1%), other sentient beings, and the earth. More than ever, I know how lucky I am to be in a location and position to have choices. 

One thing I learned on recent road trips across Canada and in the USA is the strip malls and shopping areas outside the downtowns all look the same and you can easily forget which side of the border you’re on.  The Donut Empire and grocery and pharmacy chains here may give it away, but we have the usual suspects of American big box store and food chains (I occasionally lift a middle finger off the steering wheel when driving by a particular fast-food franchise.  Habit.).

Food is the easiest category for me because it most impacts my health.  For groceries, my Canadian chain of choice has a good natural food section and organic line so I do the bulk of my food shopping there.  The small town where I’m living now has roadside farm markets and a weekly farmers market for local produce (no, I’m not going to buy garlic bulbs grown on a far-away continent).  For treats out, I only support local coffee shops/roasters and independent restaurants (easy for me since there are absolutely no franchises here that I like).

Eco-friendly household cleaners, dishwashing, and laundry products are widely available here at reasonable prices so that’s an easy vote.  For most body care products, I order online from made-in-Canada companies.  All those items get used up and I don’t have a drawer full of cheaper, unliked STUFF.

There’s not much choice where to buy new books anymore since the independent book store became extinct.  Since I don’t buy many, I focus on which living authors I want to support with my vote.

We have many used clothing stores here and most of my everyday clothing is previously owned (and guilt-free).  For new items, along with trying to avoid supporting sweat shop and child laboUr, my clothing purchases are limited by having a small yearly clothing budget and buying vegan.  Recently I bought a new pair of sneakers and, after a looong deliberation about the shoes vs my budget, made the decision to support a small independent outdoor gear store.  It was a vote for local.

I certainly don’t always buy that first preference—on a budget, lines get drawn.  But I am much more aware of the impact of globalization (bad and good) and I make connections.  I believe in the science of cause and effect.  As much as I can, given my budget, I try to vote for a world in my best interest but where it’s not all about me.

Notes and related links:

• There will be a Part 2 for household items.  When I was furnishing my new apartment in December and January, I was suddenly thrown back into buying a large amount of STUFF and it was overwhelming.
• Since there is a big illusion of consumer choice, the Wikipedia site is a great resource for showing parent companies.
• the “who did I support?” budget (post #2)
• not made in the usa (post #5)
• superpower (post #98)