Conscientious Consumer - Part 2

I've added two new lists to my sidebar to track the number of things I buy. One tracks the number of new products I buy versus the number of things I get used. The second tallies the manufacture location of the new products that I do buy. As some of you may have guessed, I'm looking forward to getting a good sample of information so I can start adding the percentages. A graph or chart won't be far behind.

Part of the reason I'm doing it is to remind myself to get things used whenever possible. Buying used has several advantages: 1) There usually isn't any packaging to throw away. 2) It's usually cheaper. 3) An item that would otherwise have ended up in a landfill gets an extension of it's useful life. Yesterday Michelle and I were out and about and I found a used pair of golf shoes for $25 at Play-it-Again Sports. Then we found a baseball glove for $5 at Goodwill. Goodwill also had two pairs of size 12 (my size) golf shoes for like 5$ each. They looked pretty ratty though, so I stuck with the more expensive ones I already had.

A little off-topic, but none-the-less interesting, Michelle and I won $5 in Sports Bucks from Play-it-Again Sports for getting a trivia question right. The question was "How many sports teams in the NHL, NFL, NBA, and MLB have names that DON'T end in 's'?". The choices are 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, or 12. We got that one wrong, but we got the bonus question right, which was "Which league has the least team names that DON'T end in 's'?" I know your first instinct is to head for Google, but you shouldn't. Try naming the teams you know. You should stop reading and make a list, because I'm about to give you the answers we got.

Michelle and I got the Utah Jazz, Colorado Avalanche, Tampa Bay Lightning, Chicago White Sox (Michelle), Boston Red Sox (Michelle), Minnesota Wild, and I just thought of one we missed, the Miami Heat. I know there's one more that I can't remember now (that we got when we were standing there). So how did you do?

The new product I purchased today was a firewire cable for transferring the video of our Bowron Lake trip from the Camcorder to the computer. Made in China, of course. I'm gonna try to find out if they know under what conditions it was made. So far no response from the email I sent to Memorex. Well, I shouldn't say that. They forwarded my questions on to the research department, and they haven't gotten back to me. We'll see.

A Conscientious Consumer

Today I was driving my mom up to the Abbotsford airport (she was visiting Michelle while the boys were canoing and camping) and we got to talking about The Story of Stuff and consumerism and where our products are made and various other things. After I dropped her off I continued thinking about it, and I had a few ideas. I'm going to try and keep track of the products I buy new and the countries where they're manufactured as well as the products I buy used. I'm also going to start sending specific questions to the companies who make the products I purchase, such as:

1) How much do you know about the working conditions under which your products are made? How do they compare to North American standards?

2) Are you certain no children are employed in the manufacturing or distribution of your products?

3) I noticed a significant amount of packaging came with your product. Have you considered ways to reduce the packaging in your products? Could more recyclable packaging be used?

4) How familiar are you with the environmental impacts of your manufacturing processes? Are you sure the raw materials you use are produced or harvested ethically?

5) What are you doing to improve the living conditions in the areas where your products are produced?

What other questions should I be asking? What do you think about my idea? Could I phrase these questions in a more effective way? It occurred to me that someone has probably done this and collected up the responses into a book. Have you heard of any books like this? It's kind of cool because it finally makes me feel like I'm able to do something about this issue. I'll post the responses I get from my inquiries, if I do get any responses.

Bowron Lake Canoe Circuit - July 14 - 21, 2008

We got back yesterday from our Bowron Lake Canoe trip. I'm pretty sure everyone who went had a blast; I know I did. My absolute favorite parts were the moments of stillness. The wind wasn't blowing, the water was flat as glass, and the only sound was the rhythmic gurgle of canoes slicing through the water. The scenery was beautiful and we saw some really cool wildlife, including numerous eagles and osprey, 2 moose, a black bear and her cub (from a distance), among other things. Day one we stayed in campsite 6, day two in campsite 16, day three in 26, day four in 37, and day five in 48. I may post in more detail a little later, especially when I get Mike's and Jeremiah's pictures in the mail.

Right now I have another post on my mind...

Bowron Lake Canoe Circuit

Today's the day! I'll be leaving any minute for Wells, BC and the start of our 5 or 6 day canoe trip. All my gear is packed, mostly in one pack thanks to Michelle's Kelty hiking backpack. My dad, my brother, and Mike are meeting us there, and Dave will be here to pick me up any minute. (If this post ends abruptly, he came a few minutes early.)

I've been meaning to post about Maus, the graphic novel by Art Spiegelman I started reading a couple weeks ago. It recounts the story of how Mr. Speigleman's father survived World War II as a Jew originally living in Poland. The author uses anthropomorphic representation, with each nationality symbolized by a different animal. Jews are mice, Nazis are cats, Americans are dogs, etc. The book won a special Pullitzer prize, I think because they don't have a comic book category. So far it's been excellent. I highly recommend it.

Maus has gotten me thinking about pacifism. In one sense I like that pacifism is a radical example of principled living. When you take everything away from an organism, nature dictates that it will do anything to survive. Humans are no exception - when you back us into a corner, threaten our loved ones, etc, we will often do whatever is necessary to survive. I like that pacifism is a distinct choice to be set aside from the natural order - no matter the circumstances or the situation, violence is not to be engaged in. It sets us apart.

On the other hand, if everyone were a pacifist, wouldn't violent men rule the world in short order? What are your thoughts on Pacifism?

Garage Sale!

Today we held a three generation, 4 couple garage sale at Michelle's parents house in Ferndale. Attendance was pretty good, we sold quite a bit of stuff, but there was definitely more than a car load left when we were done. So we decided to cart it all down to Ben's place in downtown Ferndale and do it all over again next Saturday. Michelle did a lot more work than me getting ready for today's sale, so she's not too excited about putting signs up or getting ads in the paper. I, on the other hand, didn't do any work and I got a little taste of how much fun hosting a garage sale can be. So I'm excited to make signs, promote the sale, and collect up things to sell. Everything must go by 1:00pm next Saturday! No reasonable offer refused!

We made a little over $60 today, and we cleaned out our house of stuff we don't use. I very much like both ends of garage sale-ing, and I hope it's a regular aspect of my life in the future.

I may post a few pictures if I get around to it...

Biking and Gardening

Recently I've been biking to work. I borrowed a vintage Fuji 18 speed from Michelle's Dad, and it's taken me a week or so to get used to the friction shifting, located on the frame. I took it in to Kulshan Cycle today after work because it's been slipping teeth, especially when I'm putting a lot of torque on the pedals. I thought it needed a new chain, but it turns out it just needed to be lubricated and worked in a bit. One of the bike mechanics loosened it up for me and put some penetrating oil on it. It was like night and day - now it's really smooth. I bike about 2.1 miles one way to work every day, and it's really a relaxing ride. Not much traffic, except for one intersection, and it's relatively flat. I'm getting exercise, saving money on gas, and not polluting. It's been really eye-opening actually. Biking to work is really convenient.

This spring Michelle and I planted a garden in one corner of our friend Bea's garden. Bea has chickens, a dog, and some cats, and she recently acquired some ducks. It's a blast to go over to her place. The chickens sometimes segregate themselves into a corner of the yard, and when you come in they all come marching out, like they're on patrol, to investigate the situation. We planted carrots, radish, bell peppers (which didn't come up), cucumbers, broccoli and some flowers. All from seed! I'm pretty impressed with the broccoli - it's big and we just harvested the first three heads. We've got all the radish we know what to do with. Let me know if you have any good recipes that feature radish, or if you want any fresh radish. I like gardening because it reconnects me to the basic functions of life. It's very real. I feel like a lot of peoples lives, mine included, are a little pie-in-the-sky. I counted the other day, and I think my real job, while very necessary, is about 4 degrees of separation from providing for people's basic needs.

Speaking of my real job, click here for a link to some work I did recently. Click on the "Salary Matrix" link. That's all me!

Blogs of Note

So I've been planning on highlighting a couple blogs for the last week or so. I really need to start building "blogging time" into my daily routine.

Patrick and I meet for breakfast every Thursday. He spent 2 or 3 years living in Central Mexico after university, and he met his wife there. While he was there he collected 43 stories based on his experiences and I find them fascinating to read. He has cleaned up and posted 23 of them so far at patvoy.blogspot.com. They are worth checking out.

Eric and I met in Calgary when I was going to U of C. His blog is a collection of quotes and passages from books he's reading. I try to check in regularly, but he's a pretty prolific reader (and blogger). Recently I asked him how he reads so much, and if it ever feels like a chore to him (sometimes it does to me). He said:

First of all, I read a lot of fiction which I really enjoy and it doesn't seem like work to me. I try and balance that with some non-fiction that really interests me (usually history, politics and economics). I am about to read Common Wealth by Sachs (I'm pumped). Mostly I only make myself read something when I really want to read it. I leave books until I think, "I should read that, I bet its good". The Devils by Dostoevsky has been sitting on my shelf for 2 years. Reading should be fun, if it isn't right now, take a break. And don't worry about "I need to read everything" because you won't, and that is OK.

He's right - I won't read everything. And it is OK. I needed to hear that - reading is again a peaceful, fulfilling activity for me. Anyway, check out his blog at raskolnikov-thethingsiread.blogspot.com.