Ethical Consumption

Today one of Zak's comments and my visit to Organic Roots prompted a train of thought as I was walking home from school. The other day Zak was commenting on whether or not it's worth it to get a Costco membership because since you get everything in bulk you just end up consuming more than you normally would and therefore, in the end, end up spending more than you normally would. Well this may be the case for some people and some products, not necessarily for all.


Well I went to Organic Roots today for some gluten-free granola bars and it seems to be the opposite of the whole Costco idea. They didn't even sell most of their granola bars in boxes, they were all sold individually which made me wonder how much more expensive it actually is to buy granola bars individually. My guess is that it's more expensive. I also bought some Fair Trade/Organic chocolate chips (yeah! I finally found them). I realize that anything Fair Trade and organic is more expensive than your average Hershey's Chipits.


Then you think about how in our Western culture we consume a lot! If all the worlds population consumed like we do there would be nothing left on the planet to make stuff out of. We buy things in super bulk packages, we get every single cup of coffee in a throw away cup, we get a NEW bag for almost every single item that we buy (not just groceries but in the Mall too), we are hard on our clothes and throw them out after a year or two and think it's so easy just to get new ones, we buy excess food and just throw it out if it goes bad and it goes on and on.

What if we actually had to pay more for all of these things that we routinely use? Like my Fair trade/organic chocolate chips, yes they cost more, but because of that I will use them more wisely and not over eat the special chocolate chip cookies that I make with them. What if everything was sold in smaller portions rather than in massive quantities? We would actually think about how much we actually need rather than getting so much more than we need. I think that an important element of Fair Trade and Organic products is that we actually think of what we're buying and how much we're buying.

Sure, I think that it's very ethical to pay people on the other side of the world fair prices and grow organic produce to help the environment. But buying fair trade and organic makes the consumer think of other things too. It forces a person to focus on the day to day and not get sucked into the massive consumerism of our society and to only consume what is needed. In this way we can individually contribute to minimizing the massive ecological footprint that we in the West make in the world. We need to use our resources wisely and realize that we have soooo much more than we need.

Soapstone Carvers: Tara Projects, New Delhi, India

This month at our Ten Thousand Villages store in Edmonton we will be featuring the Soapstone Carvers from India in our Valentines display. They have created some beautiful hearshaped boxes from soapstone that are inlayed with mother of pearl and other semi-precious stones. Pictured above is the rectangular shaped box that is similar to the heart shaped box.

Soapstone is a soft stone with a smooth soapy feel and the true colour isn't visible until they carvers have finished and polished it off. One small box can take up to twelve hours to complete.


Many centuries ago, when the Taj Mahal was being built, many soapstone carvers were recruited from Persia to work on the intricate carving on the building. The descendnets of these people still live in India today where they continue the tradition of working with soapstone and creating intricate inlayed designs. Despite the beauty and detail of their work, soapstone carvers have been exploited and many of them live in poverty. Many of them live in conditions around open sewers and drains.


Tara Projects began to work with stonecarvers in the early 1990s and they pay these stone carvers a fair wage. They have created pension plans for the elderly, they provide much needed medical care, and they even fixed the drains and sewers. Tara projects provides work for about 250 stonecraft artisan families.

Tara Projects began working in New Delhi in the early 1970s. The project was established by social workers and University students to help the "untouchables" in their area. Ten Thousand Villages Literature describes how "This organization has become a leading voice opposing the use of child labour, and promoting the rights and status of women". Some of the services they provide to their workers includes informal education for womena and children and training in health and environmental awareness.

Please check out the link on the left hand side of my website called the "TTV Mumbai Marathon Trip". There is a group that has gone to India to visit the various artisan projects there. They should be going to visit Tara Projects later this week - so I'm sure they'll have more pictures up from that soon. Their pics will definitely provide more insight than mine. Some of them also just did the Mumbai 1/2 marathon today to raise awareness for Ten Thousand Villages and Fair Trade!! Congratuations to all of them.

Artisan Story: Kommaly Chanthavong - Phon Tong Handicraft, Laos

If you want to know where my passion is, it's Ten Thousand Villages. There is so much behind what you see when you go into the store. There are so many stories behind each product. There are SO many people who live better lives because of the store - it especially helps women who could not otherwise provide for themselves. Much of the time these women in developing countries do not have employable skills and they are not given a chance in the working world. Ten Thousand Villages partners with MCC and other organizations, which help women and other disadvantaged people groups develop skills so that they can make a living for themselves.

One amazing example of a woman with a vision is Kommaly Chanthavong. I had the pleasure of meeting her and hearing her story in Calgary in October. She lives in Northern Laos where she fled to as a refugee. Many of the women there were in the same situation as her and were in great need of work. Most of the women including Kommaly had learned silkwork from their mothers as girls don't go to school. Kommaly decided to use these skills and began her business with ten other women who decided to create silk scarves with her to sell. Now the group has expanded to more than 450 people in 35 villages. Here is a picture of Kommaly teaching us the Silk making process.


One of the exciting aspects of her business is that it is completely self sustainable. She works with the farmers who raise cattle and uses the manure to fertilize the mulberry trees which feed the silk worms. The mulberry trees are also used to make tea, which Kommaly has also found a market for. I tried it and it was quite good. Keep your eye's peeled for Organic Mulberry tea. All material from the silk making process that would normally be considered waste is used, including the larvae which are in the cocoons which the silk comes off of. The larvae are a good source of protein. The water that the larvae are boiled in is also very good for the skin - as witnessed by Kommaly's beautiful skin:) You can see the larvae in the picture below.

The cocoons are boiled and the cocoons becomes very sticky. All of the larvae stick together and one very thin and very long thread (see me holding it in the picture at the top of this post) is spun out of the the larvae that are in the pot. Below you can see one of the guys at the workshop spinning the thread.

As mentioned above, nothing is wasted in the silk making process. The berries from the mulberry tree are also used to dye the threads. All of the dyes are from natural elements.

Kommaly and the women who work with her have been very successful with their business and sell their Scarves to Ten Thousand Villages as well as buyers in other countries. Many of their scarves have won awards in various competitions.

I hope that you've enjoyed this bit of information. I think that it makes an item so much more valuable when you know the person that is behind it and how much it has helped them. So, keep this in mind when you see a silk scarf from Laos!

Beautiful Tree

I just thought that I'd post this beautiful tree. I found it on campus this fall. I think it's appropriate to post this tree, especially in this time of bare and brown trees. The season of fall is never long enough. I usually try to go on as many runs as I can in the fall so I can fully enjoy the changing colours of the trees. I still do enjoy going for runs in the winter. Every season has it's perks:) My favourite thing about running in the winter is the silence - It is my favourite "sound". That reminds me of a discussion in one of my Religious Studies classes. The professor asked - "what is the most beautiful sound?" One student replied "Silence" and my professor said "You must be a mystic". There is something so special about silence. It seems as though in the silence there is room to breath and room to find God. The combination of nature and silence is a powerful experience that speaks to me.

Crazy for Wii

The other day I was absolutely crazy. I got up at 4:30 in the morning to wait in line at Best Buy for the hottest item of the Christmas season - the Nintendo Wii. Even though it was just -2 C it felt like -20 because I was just sitting there in the cold for 2.5 hours. Thank goodness the manager came out and gave tickets to the first 56 people in line. I got the 55th one!!! I can't believe I did this because I wasn't even sure if I would like the Wii. I was sitting there with a bunch of gaming enthusiasts. Well, I'm sure Zak would like to hear me admit, I'm starting to enjoy it. I've even started to play the game Zelda that I got for his birthday.

Here's a picture of me all bundled up in the cold. I got some good "Poisonwood Bible" reading in, although I had to stop after 1.5 hours because my fingers were getting numb:) Thank goodness for my MEC -5 sleeping bag!!!

Christmas Challenge!!

"It's not about the PRESENT, it's about the future."

Yes, I know that it's still early to think about Christmas presents, but I have to mention a great Christmas giving idea before you all snatch up gifts for people. I know my Mom is one who starts early on the present buying:)

I cannot take credit for that quote at the top of this blog. It's part of MCC's Christmas giving idea. I know one thing that drives me crazy about the Christmas season is how everyone goes into spending mode. We become so buyer oriented that we forget that we're actually trying to buy something nice for someone and we'll settle for anything on December 23.

MCC has some great ideas that involve giving gifts that are actually needed. There are many projects that MCC has devleoped and you can choose one and donate the money in someone's name. You buy a goat in your friend's name, or give 10 school kits to help kids get a good education, or even give money to help artisans in their product development so that they can support their families.

So this year I challenge you all (and myself!) to give a gift that will make a big difference. Even if you just give one gift, you are helping a group of people on the other side of the globe who are struggling with poverty. Don't wait until it's too late. You can drop by your nearest Ten Thousand Villages (starting soon) and even get a nice card and ornament with your purchase of a "Living Gift". Or you can go to the MCC website where there are even more options than what is offered at Ten Thousand Villages.

http://www.mcc.org/christmas/

Defining Fair Trade

In the last couple of days I have been thinking about what exactly defines a Fair Trade product? The thought began when someone told me that American Apparel sold Fair Trade clothing. I looked up their website and discovered that all of their clothing is made in LA. The workers are paid really well and they even have an onsite massage therapist for those sitting at sewing machines all day. Their standard is to treat their employees fairly and to make clothes in a "sweat-free" atmosphere. Some people call them a fair trade company, but they are not officially certified by TransFair as having Fair Trade products.



Today I googled "Fair Trade" and it usually lists current items in the news on your selected topic. It led me to an article from the New York Times on a new clothing store called Fair Indigo. It is based out of Wisconsin and advertises its clothing as Fair Trade. Unlike American Apparel, this company employs workers from other countries such as Peru and China to make their clothing. The owner of the company sets high standards on who he employs to make the clothes for his company. The clothing manufacturers must pay their employees above the minimum wage, as even people in Canada don't live that well off of minimum wage. This company is not certified by TransFair either, but they did say that they are working with TransFair USA to develop a certification for Clothing.



The trouble with clothing is that there is a longer supply chain before you get to the acutual clothing product. Fair Indigo doesn't use Fair trade cotton or silk or leather to manufacture their products. They believe that the most impact that they can make to help those in poverty is to pay the clothing manufacturers a fair wage. This is a good part of the reason why TransFair has not certified clothing as Fair Trade. It is a big job to define the criteria for Fair Trade clothing. Products like bannanas, rice or coffee are much easier to certify since they are primary resources. These products don't need to go through any modifications before they are sold.

Personally, I think I would rather buy clothing from Fair Indigo than American Apparel because I believe that it is important to help those in developing countries. On the other hand, you could argue that buying from American Apparel is a more sustainable practice as you are not importing clothing over such long distances and it is better for the environment? Which side of the argument would you take?

Another question is, should TransFair certify clothing? If yes, what are the standards that should be implemented to certify clothing? Should it just be paying workers fairly, or should the company be asked to use fair trade cotton as well?

Yep, it's a lot to think about!

New York Times Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/25/technology/25ecom.html?ref=business
Fair Indigo: http://www.fairindigo.com/index.php

Everyday Ave

Right now I am about to start one of my least favourite assignments of the week. An ECON 101 online assigment, which means I need to do the weekly reading before I do it and it's due at 10pm tonight. . . the exciting Production Possibilities Curve:)


I try to entice myself to sit down at my desk and actually get some work done by surrounding myself with things that are special to me. First of all there is my beautiful antique teacup. I love the rich colour of it. I love to drink loose leaf teas and even Yerba Mate out of it. I'm sure that Opa would love to see me drinking Mate out of an English teacup rather than and ox horn from Paraguay! I guess that's the way our Canadian culture has become. We're just a melting pot of many different cultures. I love my new moccasins and Native art. I love Indian food and Latin Jazz.


I cannot forget my yummy dried mangos to keep my tummy full and my mouth busy while I study. Of course it's the best dried mangos ever from Ten Thousand Villages. I think that it's so resourceful that the producers in Columbia sell the fruit from the trees that shade the organic coffee beans.

Ok, well I'm all settled in - it's time to work!!

CAUSE Rocky Mountain 1/2 Marathon - September 2006

I just got back from a great trip to Canmore where I successfully completed the CAUSE Rocky Mountain 1/2 Marathon. Thankfully it was a beautiful day - not too hot or too cold. I managed to beat my Mississauga 1/2 Marathon time by about 5 minutes, so I was quite happy with that.

I've posted a lovely video that Zak took with my new camera so you can see me right before my race! Just go over to the links bar on the right hand side of the page and go to "Pre-Race Video". The link will direct you to my Photobucket Site.