Unbought Delicacies: Selling out big time in the world of "green"

Wednesday 23 April 2008

Selling out big time in the world of "green"

This is a post I made today on to the It's Not Easy Being Green forum, in total dismay of the fact their charity, The Big Green Idea is happy to accept money/donations from the lieks of Tesco, Reebok, etc.
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Supporting The Big Green Idea..............

............and why I won't be. I came across this link yesterday, in a post up at the top under the Big Green idea forum. http://www.buy.at/thebiggreenidea As I understand it, when purchases are made online from various suppliers, via this website above, then a varying percentage of that sale is donated to The Big Green Idea. Dismayed to find that The Big Green Idea is happy to accept money from the likes of Asda, Tesco, Reebok, Superdrug, Next, Mothercare, Argos, Anglian Windows, mobile phone companies, Party Box and more. I have spent a good part of the last 25 years railing against companies such as these about their ethical policies, their "green" credentials, their sweatshop labour, connections with oppressive regimes and the arms trade, packaging, hype, encouragement of over - consumerism, misleading and dodgy advertising - you name it. One emmber queried the connection with this operation, with this response: "I have to disagree Sa Trinxa, people shop and if the charity can benefit even by a few pence each time then make the most of it. OK so the Companies offered may not all be ethically air-tight but I understand the aim of the charity is to strive toward greener and ethical living but not to the exclusivity of everything else. I understand that as it grows it will be offering its own green choices for shopping and lifestyle and at that point the shopping mall can surely be re-assessed and tweaked or disposed of as necessary. I notice browsing through all of the suppliers that some are to my eyes quite acceptable and Ethical Superstore for example offer an 8% return." (this is the personal response of someone on the forum, but obviously in support of the whole thing) "people shop and if the charity can benefit even by a few pence each time then make the most of it" - without consideration for where that few pence came from? For me, not good enough, if that is the stance of The Big Green Idea. That is why I will not be supporting them.

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Bitterly disappointed in this, and just cannot see on tiny amount of justification for it.

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I have found such joy

I have found such joy in simple things;
A plain, clean room, a nut-brown loaf of bread,
A cup of milk, a kettle as it sings,
The shelter of a roof above my head,
And in a leaf-laced square along the floor,
Where yellow sunlight glimmers through the door.
I have found such joy in things that fill
My quiet days: a curtain's blowing grace,
A potted plant upon my window sill,
A rose, fresh-cut and placed within a vase;
A table cleared, a lamp beside a chair,
And books I long have loved beside me there.
Oh, I have found such joys I wish I might
Tell every woman who goes seeking far
For some elusive, feverish delight,
That very close to home the great joys are:
The elemental things- old as the race,
Yet never, through the ages, commonplace.

~ Grace Noll Crowell

Ideas for handmade gifts

Small knitteds - gloves, scarves, hot water bottle covers, hats, tea cosies, phone covers, little toys,,cushion covers, bags. Some of these can be felted/fulled for extra interest.
Edibles - chutneys and jams, pickles, nice teas in a vintage/retro tin, sweeties, toffees, mustard, home made wine and liqueurs, home dried fruits, ketchups.
For the home - trimmed tea towels, handknitted dishcloths, quilted wallhangings, small samplers, restored picture frames, pot pourri, lavender bags, covered coathangers, little scented bags for hanging on handles, framed photos of family,etc you've taken yourself, pincushion,needle book, scissor keeper, book of promises (eg babysitting, 1 hour's housework, the ironing, etc)
Bathtime - homemade soap, bath oils, bath salts, knitted washcloths, herbal bags for the bath, hand sewn toilet bags, trimmed hand towels, homemade lotions and potions packed in pretty jars and bottles.
For the garden - home saved seed in handmade decorated packets; homemade handcream, exfoliating soap, wheat bag for those digger's aches and pains!

Handmade books, personalised printed notepaper and envelopes.
Hamper of bits and bobs from the above lists, packed in a pretty lined basket.

I'll add some more as and when I think of them; These can be used all year round and easily tailored to the recipient - everyone loves a homemade gift. :)

Inspiring thoughts.............

I saw a man, an old Cilician, who occupied an acre or two of land that no one wanted.
A patch not worth the ploughing, unrewarding for flocks, unfit for vineyards;
he, however, by planting here and there among the scrub cabbages or white lilies and verbena and flimsy poppies, fancied himself a king in wealth, and coming home late in the evening, loaded his board with unbought delicacies.
Virgil

I had no theories to prove. I merely wanted to try living by my own hands, independently as far as possible from a system of division of labour in which the participant loses most of the pleasure of making and growing things for himself. I wanted to bring in my own fuel and smell its sweet smell as it burned in the hearth I had made. I wanted to grow my own food, or forage after it. In short I wanted to do as much as I could for myself, because I had already realised from partial experience the inexpressible joy of doing so.

Harlan Hubbard, Shantyboat: A River Way of Life

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Wednesday 23 April 2008

Selling out big time in the world of "green"

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