Glancing through the Wall Street Journal yesterday morning, I
was reminded on why this year I decided to focus on buying from local or small
businesses.
A fire in a Bangladeshi clothing factory has killed at least
117 employees. You can read the article here.
I mourn for those fellow seamstresses that lost their life,
friends and employment. I mourn more for
the way that they were treated in their workplace.
I love to travel. I
enjoy learning about different cultures and experiencing those cultures first
hand. I have been fortunate enough to
travel to several countries in Asia and Europe.
Through my travels I have learned that life in Asia is cheaper compared
to life in the United States. But for
those living in those countries, life is hard and there is little money to go
around. The November 25th,
2012 Wall Street Journal reported that in Bangladesh “the government recently
raised the minimum wage 80% to $38 a month.”
I cannot even imagine living with that as my income in addition to
having a poor working environment.
Being a small business owner I understand the importance of
reducing my cost of goods so that I can make a decent profit. But in reducing my cost of goods, is it
reducing some ones ability to live a decent life? I hope not.
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| Apples and Tea Reversible Apron by Austin Wayne Designs |
This year I focused
on buying local food through shopping at various neighborhood farmers' markets. It has not been the most convenient form of
purchasing food, but every week I know that what I spent there goes directly to
the farms. It stays near. I have not been able to purchase all of my
food at the farmers markets, I am not sure if that will ever be possible. At least 75% of my food budget goes local.
For this holiday season, I have decided to focus on purchasing gifts for friends and family from local artisans or small
businesses.
Shopping local and small takes more energy, time, money,
discipline and planning than shopping at large corporation stores. I know that my decision to shop local and
small will probably not make a difference in creating safer and better work
environments for people in foreign countries.
What I do know is that shopping local and small makes a difference in
those people near to me.
I am making a difference in my neighbor’s life. Giving them the opportunity to do what they
love and live the life they want.
If more people shop local and small, then demand for cheaper
labor would decrease. Thus allowing poor
work environments for those people would diminish.
Posted by Austin Wayne Designs austinwaynedesigns.etsy.com
