The Better World Shopping Guide Give-Away!

There we were, a big fat mess, confessing our greed to God and asking Him to help us get rid of what we don't need, live simpler lives, freeing up our finances so that we could give...invest...in ministries around the world who are caring for and loving the destitute...the outcasts...the helpless.  We were trying to stay informed about issues surrounding the plight of the poor.  We needed to reduce our spending.  We needed to purge our lives of a bunch of unnecessary things.  We stuck a for sale sign in our front yard, (I cried, and removed it three times before leaving it up permanently). 

Looking back, it wasn't nearly as traumatic as it felt while we were in the middle of it all.  Scaling back.  Spending less.  Giving more.  Wanting to pour our lives out for the poor...make the changes we felt were necessary to live out these new, foreign convictions.   Asking God to help us remember what really matters.  These were all good things.  They are and were freeing things.  Each step brought a lot of unexpected joy.  Trying to follow Jesus' example requires faith we do not naturally have.  Maybe we're supposed to be in these positions more often...maybe even every day...where we realize how faithless we are and how much we need God to help us.  Maybe that's the very best place to be?

But a girl's got to eat, right?  There are times when you need some new underwear or an outfit to wear to your roommate's wedding.  So how do you know where to shop?  How do we make informed decisions about the products we're buying and the companies we're supporting?  Unless we were going to be Amish or travel back in time a couple hundred years, we had to find some answers to those questions.  

As much as I would love to be Amish, I didn't think Aaron would go for that.  He won't even wear natural deodorant, even though I tell him every day that he's going to get underpit cancer.  Doesn't being Amish seem dreamy in the movies?   Isn't an "Amish" movie one of the most ironic concepts of all time?  I hear Alanis Moressette again.  Do you think she got married, had a baby, and sings her crazy songs as good-night lullabies?

Oh.  Sorry.  Forgot.  I'm writing about responsible consumerism.  Okay..

I heard about The Better World Shopping Guide from the Trade as One blog.  Trade as One is doing beautiful work, compiling a really great list of companies that truly care for their employees.

 

from The Better World Shopping Guide...

THE PROBLEM

"Money is power." Perhaps more than any generation that has come before us, we understand the deeply-rooted reality of this short phrase and its universal meaning for every human being living on this planet.

It follows that wherever large amounts of money collect, so also new centers of power form. The latest historical manifestation of this is the modern corporation. As trillions of dollars accumulate in the corporate sphere, we witness the growing power of corporations to shape the world as they see fit.

This power is not limited to controlling the face of our own government through consistent, record-breaking, campaign contributions, but also the faces of millions of people and the planet itself through jobs, resource exploitation, pollution, working conditions, energy consumption, forest destruction and so on.

Make no mistake, these new power centers are not democracies. We don't vote for the CEO's or their policies (unless we are rich enough to be significant shareholders, who are informed enough to know what's going on, and compassionate enough to care about more than just personal profit), yet our destinies are increasingly in their hands.

THE SOLUTION

As these power centers shift, we must shift our own voices if we wish to be heard. As citizens, on average, we might vote once every four years, if at all. As consumers, we vote every single day with the purest form of power...money. The average American family spends around $18,000 every year on goods and services. Think of it as casting 18,000 votes every year for the kind of world you want to live in."

This book is a great tool. It goes in your purse. If I want to buy granola bars at the store, I can pull out my handy dandy book and look up energy bars....

Each company is rated on an A-F scale, based on factors such as social responsibility and environmental factors. Environmental factors quickly turn into social responsibility issues when you consider companies like Coca Cola have been criticized for depleting and polluting the water sources of the poorest of the poor in India.  See how they are connected?

Standing in front of the granola bars I can quickly read that Luna bars get the grade A, Nature Valley and Quaker get B's and Kashi (surprisingly) gets a "C minus".

Want to buy crackers?

Annies, Barbara's and Nature's Path get A's. Nabisco and Kraft crackers...they get "F's."

Clothing?

Did you know that Dillards has NO code of conduct for sweatshops, earning it an "F" along with Wal-Mart?

There are many, many, complex elements involved as we consider the poor and specifically the laborers around the world who make the products we buy.  I will never claim to be able to understand all the ins and outs of global economics, but it just seems to make sense to me that we support companies that are trying to do what is right and value the people who make the products they sell.  I would love to see these companies do really well and hopefully other companies get the message loud and clear that consumers do care about the people who make the products in their shopping carts.

I can't recommend this little guide enough.

As a matter of fact, I love this book so much that I asked the author if we could give one away on the blog.  He graciously agreed!

{{GIVE-AWAY!}}

If you'd like to be entered into the drawing to win this book, it's easy.  You can enter up to three times per person.  You get one entry for simply commenting.  You get one entry for telling people about The Better World Shopping Guide on facebook.  You get one entry for tweeting about The Better World Shopping Guide.  Please include all your entries in one comment.  You do not have to link to my blog or this give-away.  You can simply tell people about The Better World Shopping Guide and give them the link (below) to check it out if they want.


If you just can't wait another second to own this little book, you can buy it here from the Trade as One website for under $10. 

Aren't you dying to know how Target ranks?  And what about Nabisco?  Hershey?  What about Old Navy?  Gap?

Caring for the Poor While Living in the Good ol' U-S of A?

Who Are the Poor?

Looking for the Poor 

Hi, My Name is Heather and I'm a Modern Day Slave Owner

Helpful Links

Barn Burning 

First, The Purging