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I read this article the other day, spammed a bunch of people with the link, and have been thinking about it ever since. So much that I am seriously contemplating doing it.
As those who've traveled with me especially know, I'm hardly a fashion junkie ;) But I do have a closet full of clothes and nothing to wear if you know what I mean. How much do I really *need*?
I gave up shopping this past year for lent, and that was hard enough. Not just clothes but books, music, etc. I did learn much about self control and delayed gratification, and that was just forty days. A whole year blows my mind
Motive is important. It would defeat the whole purpose to just dump the money I saved back into my savings account. Instead I should use the money I'd ordinarily spend on clothes on something else. But what?
The author makes a point about slavery and sweatshops:
I have also spent time reading about Modern Day Slavery and have come to realize that there is a good chance my clothing has been made either by slaves or by grossly underpaid, overworked hands.
This was my first reason to give up shopping - to ensure that no one was working to produce clothes for me, at least for one year.
My question about that, and I am probably being naive, is what happens to the people who work in the sweatshop if it closes because no one is buying the clothes? Are they thrown out of the frying pan into the fire, so to speak? Are there organizations out there that help them in practical ways, and if so, who are they? Maybe that would be a good place to send the clothing money.
I'm interested in any feedback y'all have for me, whether you agree or think I'm a complete nutter *g*
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http://www.riverkidsproject.org/
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I read an article this year about a group of people who gave up buying any material goods for one year. If they needed something because, for example, something broke, they bartered for a new item. That is much more discipline than I could ever show.
I'll definitely support you if you try to do it! Maybe I'll have to think about joining you...
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Cool, I may have to drag you into this ;) Will keep you posted.
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From: (Anonymous)
sweatshops
What I do know is that there are organizations out there trying to help people build their own small businesses in order to give people OPTIONS. Sweatshops don't have to be the only place to work. One organization is World Vision and they do a lot with Micro-financing, which is worth reading about.
My church is really getting behind Micro-financing and I'm excited to learn more about it.
Keep in touch, okay? Let me know what you decide to do...It's good for me to talk to other people who are interested in this topic (not buying clothes AND sweatshops)
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Re: sweatshops
nice to meet you!
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My 2 cents
When I think about sending my money places, I think about those organizations which help in extremely practical ways. You know the old proverb, "Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day; TEACH a man to fish, you feed him for life"? Well, I look for organizations which train young people to have skills to get better jobs in addition to funding healthy foods and drinking water for the present. (Won't do much good to teach them skills if they die of malnutrition before they can use them!)
[Also, we need to remember that yes, they may make only a $1 per day to work, but the costs where they live are not like where we live either. To a degree, I'm more concerned with the places which use child labor than those who have adults working for lower wages.]
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Re: My 2 cents