~ bracelet, gift from Stacia last year ~

Friday 15 April 2005
10:12 a.m.

Running ... that's what it seems I am doing a lot of, these days. To the school in the morning and again in the afternoon. To Mom and Dad's, to the grocery store, to the Rotary Centre of the Arts where Everett will start 12 weeks of one-hour drama workshops tomorrow afternoon.

Yesterday I went shopping for flannel for the back and border of my quilt. Holy Hannah, the prices! For that kind of coin, I'll wait till I find fabric I fall in love with. That means at least another trip to a fabric store.

And I hate those fabric stores already. Oh, it's a joy to walk around and look at all the beautiful cloth ... what an astounding variety ... but do they have enough staff to help you before you've stood there 15 minutes waiting? Oh no.

Yesterday I was so hungry by the time I left Fanny's Fabrics that I zipped across the parking lot to the Dairy Queen for a burger. I stood at the counter in front of two workers who were taking an order for an ice cream cake, and then a customer came in behind me and walked over to stand in front of the till. One of the workers went over to take his order rather than asking for mine or saying "This lady was here first," so I just turned and walked out. Man, the quality of service sucks. My little bit of business can go elsewhere. I prefer to stay hungry a while longer.

Lately I'm making more effort to make my dollars count. I avoid Wal-Mart as much as possible, for instance. Why buy from an American company when I can go down the road and buy from Zellers, a Canadian company? Wal-Mart is all the rage across the country now because it sells everything and has low prices. That tempts me as much as the next person. But it means the profits are going out of the country, and supporting a company that steamrolls over its employees and plays dirty to keep them from unionizing. Why should I give them my dollars, even if it means I'll save a few in the long run? There are more than enough consumers who don't give a shit what these big companies do, as long as they themselves don't have to spend an extra cent. And I completely understand that way of thinking, and slip into it myself when I'm feeling poor and powerless.

I'm not powerless though, and neither would we be as a society if we'd get our shit together enough to spend our money to profit businesses that treat their employees right and, every bit as importantly, businesses that treat the environment right.

This would be a much different world if we all realized how our spending habits affect the way business is done. We think we are saving ourselves a few bucks while the big picture is what it is, in spite of us.

We buy honey from the store, honey that comes from Toronto, when there are local honey-producers right here in Kelowna. From the big grocery stores we buy beef imported from New Zealand, while here in Canada our own farmers are struggling and going under because they can't sell their animals. It sickens me, and it's all down to the majority of consumers not thinking much about what they are buying, beyond price.

Oh I know! Price matters! A few dollars here and there add up, over a year! I can't argue that. There are many who have no choice, who must buy the cheapest they can get in order to feed their families and pay their bills. I should be one of those — my annual income puts me under the poverty line — and yet I manage to practise ethical consumerism at least some of the time. It is a luxury I can't really afford either. But the more I do it — each little step I take towards buying locally, buying organic — makes me feel I am doing my part. It's not much, but it's my part, and I'm doing it the best I can.

email: