Consumer Responsibility

A few days ago, we wrote a blog about Fair Trade growth and expansion across the nation, including the introduction of great new products. Read that post here. This is definitely good news, but the real take away from this should be the influence of everyday consumers like us.

The only reason Fair Trade has seen the huge growth explained in our last blog is that individuals have committed to purchasing Fair Trade products. Consumer responsibility means making the choice to support social and moral values with your dollar, even if there is little big governmental or industrial support. If you want to see more fairly traded products available, you must buy the ones out there now. This is the only way the movement is going to continue to grow.

For some inspiration, check out local writer Kym Croft Miller’s story about how her family went a year without shopping. In an effort to refocus their family, the Millers stopped buying all but essentials for an entire year.

Experiments like this are cropping up all over the country from churches vowing to not spend money at Christmas to families agreeing to buy nothing that comes from outside a certain mileage radius. More and more people are taking a very personal look at their shopping habits and their relationship to ‘stuff’ and finding it to be an empowering experience more often than not. If we can quell the impulse and desire associated with shopping, we will slow down and have the clarity to think about what we want and why we want it. Then we can exercise consumer responsibility and make purchases in line with our values.

We highly recommend watching the 'Story of Stuff' video to further examine our consumerism and what the impact is of all the 'stuff' we purchase. The Story of Stuff Project is an incredible resource!

Whether it is AWAZ products or not, we hope you will be thoughtful with your purchases and consider how everything from food to clothes to cosmetics that you use everyday can either support the creation of a more just world or further destroy equity and dignity. Please think about small changes you can make this week - even one product makes a big difference for the producer.

On Monday, the Grameen Foundation tweeted this quote from Mahatma Ghandi "Think of the poorest person you have ever seen and ask if your next action will be of any use to him." Making your next purchase a Fair Trade one can do just that, even if it is only a cup of coffee.

For more on how you can Fair Trade your lifestyle, keep an eye out for the Northwest Fair Trade Coalition’s upcoming blog series on incorporating Fair Trade habits into various aspects of your life.