biffvernon wrote:Don't go shopping from shops owned by rich people. Buy from small independents, co-ops and worker-owned enterprises. Avoid the big corporates and branded goods. The rich guys are only rich because we give them money. Stop doing it.
biffvernon wrote:emordnilap wrote:it needs examples.
I went shopping today. I bought a second hand cd and a new cd of a fairly unknown artist on an indie label from a one-man independent record shop.
If I go to a supermarket it is the Co-op. We don't have a Waitrose nearby.
The last big ticket consumer durable I bought came from John Lewis.
The most expensive item I have bought recently was a woodstove made by a two person blacksmithy.
I buy my electricity from Ecotricity.
If I watch TV at all it is usually BBC and almost never ITV. I can't get Sky.
When I buy a newspaper it is the Guardian or Observer.
I'll be going to the pub tonight - the micro-brewery is in the same building - and then to the jazz club to be entertained with live music by people who do it for love not money.
Now whose got more examples?
Ah, I used to love going to the jazz club: trad, big band, swing, modern, anything so long as it's live. Magic.
Anyway, I'm putting together a bulk order (from Suma, a co-op in Halifax) for organic Palestinian olive oil, organic pasta, organic fair trade Ethiopian coffee beans, glycerin soap, ooh, loads of other organic and fair goodies today.
The food we do buy, we get from an independent shop specialising in organic produce or from local farmers, several of whom we know personally.
We go to the local multiplex maybe once every five years; we go to every locally-put-on play we can fit in. We have no tv, never had one, never will have one. We play music, so our entertainment is free.
We're keen supporters of charity shops. Visit regularly and you'll have no need to buy any 'new' clothes.
Stuff you can't buy in charity shops (knickers for instance) will always be from organically-grown materials, mostly through small independent traders.
The trainers I bought last year were made in Workington; several pairs of shoes before that were from vegan suppliers.
Our first washing machine was second hand and lasted the bigger part of twenty years; the replacement, guided by
Ethical Consumer magazine's advice at the time, was one I hope will last twenty-five years or more. Likewise the fridge-freezer.
We're with Eirtricity, roughly 80% wind-generated.
We never buy newspapers.
Herself works at the local county paper; she brings home some of their surplus newspapers to light the fire, so it's the only newspaper I read.
When buying wine, we get vegan organic. We also buy from a local winemaker who uses local ingredients.
We cycle wherever we can. I'm not keen on handing over money to the already-rich.
Our firewood is grown within the county and cut and delivered by a local man.
All our paint and varnish needs are met by a small local supplier of natural paints.
I have an account at a very small credit union and a building society account. I try to get people to see the possibility of not having a bank account.
I am a avid user and promotor of FreeCycle.
90% of our furniture is second-hand.
All our dogs and cats have been second-paw.
I have no bin collection. A trip to the recycling centre twice a year deals with everything we can't re-use.
We don't use anything you can find in the household cleaning or personal hygiene sections of your typical supermarket. Our hygiene needs are met by bar soap, vinegar, baking power, lemon juice, washing soda, washing-up liquid.
We make our own toothpaste.
We grow much of our own food.
To sum up, if it's not second hand or grown ourselves, the rule is this:
The more it's advertised, the less you should be inclined to buy it.
See? It's easy.
Edited to add:
We use flour from wheat grown and milled a few miles away on an independent farm.
I give a fair size charitable donation to a tiny vegan charity
in lieu of xmas presents.
I experience pleasure and pains, and pursue goals in service of them, so I cannot reasonably deny the right of other sentient agents to do the same - Steven Pinker
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