Focus On: Responsible Shopping

All views and opinions expressed in this publication are the views of the individual authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of SERVE or our partner organisations.

Remember you can email siobhan@serve.ie if you're interested in contributing to future issues.

Contents
Living Consciously
Our Slavery Footprint
Solidarity Gifts
Further Reading and Watching

Seasons Greetings! It's that time of the year again when the shops are flooded with people buying gifts for Christmas. Naturally, getting caught up in the buzz and electric atmosphere at this time of the year we fail to recognise where our goods have been produced. It's easy to put thoughts aside and buy, unaware of the consequences.

One dominant perception of global poverty is that the problems are situated 'out there', far away from the part of world we live in. However, many of the underlying causes of poverty are situated in the global north. Have you ever questioned where the products you buy come from? Something that I think by - passes most of us at this time of the year, is our responsibly as consumers to shop consciously, and to be aware of where our items are coming from.

To start off with I'd like to invite you to check the labels on your clothing. What do you notice about where your clothes come from? What do you think might be some of the conditions in which our clothes are made? What are some of the decisions that we as consumers can make to challenge the unfair nature of trade? We often buy in ignorance, unaware of the source of what we have bought, and the working conditions of the people who made the goods.

We've all heard there are still questionable working conditions, including sweatshops. But something that goes further and deeper than working conditions is buying, selling and trafficking human beings. But how does that relate to what we buy? Smart phones, clothes, computers, coffee (where does YOUR coffee come from?)...almost everything we buy can be traced back to questionable working conditions as well as situations of trafficking and modern day slavery.

In this issue of 'Focus On' we will look at the effects of the choices that we make as consumers on the world around us. Michelle Griffin, who spent the past two summers volunteering overseas in Uganda has recently set herself a challenge to 'Live Consciously'. She is currently documenting her experience on her blog, and also very generously sent an account of the 'Living Consciously' experience.

Living Consciously
Michelle Griffin

I began making a conscious effort to question, examine and research my choices and actions, after a Comhlámh course in early October. I partook in this course on the back of two summers spent volunteering in Uganda, with a Non Government Organisation. The work of this NGO, like many others, is laudable, and I felt it was beneficial to more than just myself that I went (strongly enough to go a second year). However, I returned from this year’s project with a sense of uncertainty.

The truth is, for all the “progress” and “development” achieved by the human species, the inequalities that are allowed to exist between the peoples of this world are appalling. It is truly horrifying and a source of shame to us all that our quality of life should depend in such large part to our country of birth. Equality of opportunity does not exist and this is a terrible failure.
However, despair is debilitating. We can change nothing if we feel powerless. We are NOT powerless, however. In fact, the power is ALL ours.

I have begun a blog, called 'Lets Live Consciously', and in it, I'm documenting my experience of trying to live more consciously, making more ethical choices as a consumer and making daily decisions based on MY values, not what is pushed on us by the marketing industry. On my blog, I share information also, so that anyone interested can join me if they are so inclined!

I know that the message of this blog might be interpreted as idealistic, preachy and essentially unrealistic. I know that it would be far more challenging for me to take on this project within my own life if I had, say, children or a mortgage. I know no one likes being pushed or ‘guilt-tripped’ into doing anything. So I’m not going to harp on about our responsibility to each other and our environment in every single post, nor am I going to bombard you with links to sites and videos that will melt your head…that ‘head-melt’ factor was an outstanding element of my experience of living more consciously from the start.
I will however, ask you to take a step back within your own day-today life, and question. Ask yourself what you can do. Think about where this one item you never thought about came from. Consider who put in the hours that brought you this other item at the affordable price for which you nabbed it. Is there some particular area of your life you’ve never even thought about questioning? Maybe now is the time to do that.

Please see letsliveconsciously.wordpress.com for more, and do not hesitate to leave a comment or two. Any and all feedback, especially at this early stage, is more than welcome.

Our Slavery Footprint

Clothing, food and everyday items (phones, computers etc.) that we use are directly connected with individuals who are working in dangerous and / or hostile environments to provide for their families. When buying your clothes, food etc. consider this:
Your Clothes: Jeans and tshirts are some of the most bought clothing items throughout the world. Each of these materials may be produced with slave labour in some part of the world. For years, cotton has been the centre of conflicts and abuse, earning it the nickname "white gold".
Your Phone: Your phone has capacitors that are made with Coltan. 64% of Coltan reserves are located in the Congo where child labourers work from sunrise to sunset.The Fair Phone is made using conflict free resources, fair wages and overall better practices.
Your Food: There are an estimated 600,000 - 800,000 child labourers in the Ivory Coast working to produce 40% of the world's cocoa beans. Research indicates that children as young as 5 years old work 7 days a week in Madagascan vanilla plantations. Madagascar produces 33% of the world's vanilla.

No need to feel guilty - YOU have the power to change this!

Take this online survey to see what your 'Slavery Footprint' is:

Solidarity Gifts

Are you struggling to find an ethical, fair, free trade gift? We have the perfect thing for you! This year, SERVE's Solidarity Gifts have been modified to respond to the communities who have been affected by Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. The gifts provide essential life saving supplies for families and individuals who are struggling to rebuild their lives in the aftermath of the strongest ever recorded storm in the Philippines.

The SERVE Solidarity Gifts are the perfect answer to ethical, fair and conscious presents for your loved ones this Christmas! See SERVE's Solidarity Gift website to view the individual gifts and the Solidarity Gift video for more information.

Further Reading and Watching :)

Blogs / Websites

Let's Live Consciously: http://letsliveconsciously.wordpress.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/letsliveconsciously

Slavery Footprint: http://slaveryfootprint.org/

Made in a Free World: http://blog.madeinafreeworld.com

FairPhone: http://www.fairphone.com/

Clean Clothes Campaign: http://www.cleanclothes.org/

War on Want: http://www.waronwant.org/

Story of Stuff: http://storyofstuff.org/movies/story-of-stuff/

Shopping

Asos 'The Green Room': http://www.asos.com/Women/Green-Room-Eco-Edit/Cat/pgecategory.aspx?cid=10062&r=2

People Tree: http://www.peopletree.co.uk/

Ethical Threads: http://www.ethicalthreads.co.uk/

Ascension Eco Fashion: http://www.ascensiononline.com/

FairTrade Ireland: http://www.fairtrade.ie/get_involved/cotton-on-to-fairtrade/where-to-buy.html

Movies / Documentaries

Blood Diamond (2006)

Blood Diamond is a 2006 American political war thriller film. The title refers to blood diamonds, which are diamonds mined in African war zones and sold to finance conflicts, and thereby profit warlords and diamond companies across the world.

Set during the Sierra Leone Civil War in 1996–2001, the film depicts a country torn apart by the struggle between government loyalists and insurgent forces

There is no Place for You Here (2011)

There is No Place For You Here is a short documentary about illegal child labor in the gold mines of Ghana. Daniel Sekyere, a 15-year-old Ghanaian boy, tries to escape the life-threatening gold mining industry so that he may continue school and become a pastor. As Daniel considers his options for survival, he seeks refuge from a local radio host and NGO, “The Social Support Foundation.”

Trade of Innocents (2012)

Trade of Innocents tells the story of human trafficking. In the back streets of a tourist town in present-day Southeast Asia, we find a filthy cinder block room; a bed with soiled sheets; a little girl waits for the next man. Alex (Dermot Mulroney), a human trafficking investigator, plays the role of her next customer as he negotiates with the pimp for the use of the child. Claire (Mira Sorvino), Alex's wife, is caught up in the flow of her new life in Southeast Asia and her role as a volunteer in an aftercare shelter for rescued girls where lives of local neighborhood girl's freedoms and dignity are threatened. Parallel story lines intertwine and unfold twists against the backdrop of the dangerous human trafficking world, in a story of struggle, life, hope and redemption in the "TRADE of INNOCENTS."

Black Gold (2006)

Black Gold tells the story of the coffee industry. Multinational coffee companies now rule our shopping malls and supermarkets and dominate the industry worth over $80 billion, making coffee the most valuable trading commodity in the world after oil. But while we continue to pay for our lattes and cappuccinos, the price paid to coffee farmers remains so low that many have been forced to abandon their coffee fields.Nowhere is this paradox more evident than in Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee. Tadesse Meskela is one man on a mission to save his 74,000 struggling coffee farmers from bankruptcy. As his farmers strive to harvest some of the highest quality coffee beans on the international market, Tadesse travels the world in an attempt to find buyers willing to pay a fair price.

Happy Shopping!