Freedom Sunday

"On March 13, 2011 people of faith will unite to set the captives free.
Visit the newly launched Freedom Sunday website to register your faith community, download Freedom Sunday resources, join with a community on the church locator map, and connect with other people of faith in the movement to end modern-day slavery."

Change.org news round up...

Join the fight for Fair Trade S'mores!--and more confessions..

Now that it is summer, one thing I miss most about home is sitting outside by a bonfire and eating s'mores. Nothing beats sitting out by a fire after a beautiful summer day and watching the flicker of orange, red, and blue against the black logs. I've always thought the ooey, gooey, sticky, deliciousness of the warm chocolate, crunchy and creamy marshmallow, and sweetness of the graham cracker wrapped up in a s'more is one of life's best simple pleasures. Knowing what I now know about the cocoa industry; however, s'mores no longer have the same comforting appeal as they once did. So, it made me very excited to see that there are people out there fighting for fair trade s'mores!

This site reminded me of a story I forgot to share. A couple months ago I was looking for an Easter present for my nieces. I was strolling along Michigan Ave, popped in the Hershey's store and naively asked the woman at the front counter if they had any fair trade chocolate. She looked shocked that I would ask such a question and nearly burst into a bout of laughter. I quickly ducked my tail between my legs and showed myself out. I never really thought more about this incident until I saw this website asking for support to petition Hershey to offer fair trade products.

Even though I didn't make a purchase that day, I have to confess: despite the fact that I have changed many habits to decrease my support of poor labor practices in terms of the clothes I wear, the food I eat remains tainted. Ugh, I suppose this is the next battle. I could sit here comfortably and pretend that now that I am a frequent second hand store shopper and all educated on what really happens I am doing "good enough," but we all know that is the most dangerous place to be. I know that I should continue avoiding chocolate and Coca-cola, but have remained stubborn and let these things slip back into my life here and there without much thought. I've even avoided posting some really terrible things about Coca-cola because that means I really have to give it up. So--here's to the next six months-- that they may be a continued challenge and learning process. That my heart and mind and stomach and skin may be at peace with what I eat and wear.

Hot off the Huffington...

Thanks to Jayme for sharing this story with me. 10 pictures with brief captions of real reasons why China is being forced to improve working conditions/pay for employees (raising minimum wage by 20%-- to a whopping $140 a month!). Sadly, it takes something like high rates of employee suicide to make a lasting impression. With names like Honda, Apple, Hyundai, this hits closer to home than you may initially think.

A new post!

...and worth it. It is unreal to think of the amount of products we consume and to think of all of the hands and feet involved. Even products like MP3 players may involve harsh working conditions as the minerals used in these products are mined like the ever familiar blood diamonds. It is easy to become overwhelmed by these problems and feel that there will never be any way to solve these labor and human rights issues. We may not win every battle yet, but students at Stanford just won a small victory (read about it here) relating to this issue. The amazing thing is not only will this university start using conflict-free minerals, they also have raised awareness and other universities are starting to inquire about how they too can go conflict-free. What a great example of what little steps to increase ethical consumerism can do to spread awareness and encourage activism.

Belated Mother's Day edition

You don't have to be a mom to take some of these simple steps...

Second-hand shopping..check!

So sorry to neglect the blog for the last few weeks, it has been quite busy around here. I had to post today because I just got back from my first ever second-hand shopping spree. Now, I have been to second-hand shops before and usually feel lucky to find one thing that ends up working out. Today, however, was different.

Let's back track a moment. With a new full time clinic placement, I am now required to wear dress casual attire everyday. This presented a problem as I have been a student for 6 years and have a closet that demonstrates that quite well. About a month ago I picked up a few things from Zara, thinking that would suffice. Well, that lasted about 2 weeks and suddenly I realized when you wear dress casual everyday, it is much more difficult to stretch the wardrobe.

Today I had a couple of extra hours on my hands and decided that meant I had time to try a second-hand shop. I chose Plato's Closet in Lincoln Park because I figured they would have a decent selection of current clothes, and did they! Now if any of you are considering trying your hand at second-hand (hehe), ample time is definitely needed. I probably tried on 30 different items of clothing. I ended up with 3 cute tops and 5, count them 5, "new" pairs of pants. They even had designer jeans (which I never can rationalize to pay full price for)! So now my closet is stocked and my heart is happy knowing the money I spent on the clothes didn't support a an unethical company.

So in sum, today was a second-hand success. Thanks to everyone for the encouragement to stay committed to this process. We can't win 'em all, but we might as celebrate the minor victories along the way :).