Solutions to big issues start with small choices

I started this blog as a direct result of a class I'm taking called "Advertising and Propaganda" taught by John Brumfield at Art Center College of Design. Many of the documentaries he's shown, including "The Corporation" and a documentary on Third World garment workers, have made me realize that one of the most powerful means of activism at my disposal is my role as a consumer.

When I spend money, I am essentially casting a vote in favor of the companies who make and sell the product. I am also casting a vote in favor of that company's policies, and how they distribute their profits. I also realized that in most instances, I am completely uninformed as to that information.

This blog is a response to the helplessness I felt when I learned that, through consumerism, I'd participated unwittingly in substandard business practices. I started this blog to track the new set of questions I'll ask and the choices I'll make that will ultimately alter the way I participate in the marketplace. I live on a small, student budget, so I also look forward to dismantling my personal perception that making responsible consumer choices involves spending extra money.

I want to make decisions as a consumer that support what I believe in, and that includes environmental preservation and sustainability, fair wages and work practices, and social accountability in service of humanitarianism.

Those are big issues, but the solutions start with small choices.

I'll be posting a new choice for change frequently, as well as resources I find and information I uncover. I believe that when substandard social and environmental practices cease to be profitable, corporations will change their practices. As consumers, we have the power to affect this change.