There's no such thing as a free lunch.

There's also no such thing as a cheap t-shirt. Last summer, I read a book called Everyday Justice, about the things that normal people can do or change in their everyday lives in order to pursue justice in the world. The author calls them 'tweaks' to the way we already do things. Most people can't or won't completely overhaul their lifestyle of habits, but by changing some things in how we live, we can pursue God's justice in the world.

One of the main things that sticks with me is the idea of thinking of 'hidden costs.' I was raised to look for bargains and good deals in everything, to buy cheap. My parents are both very...frugal, which isn't a negaitve thing at all. But a lot of things that we buy for cheap come at great cost to others. Thinking about the fact that the Biola t-shirt I'm wearing right now could have likely been made by a junior high girl, working 80 hours a week, and also possibly expected to have sex with her employer makes me a little disgusted with myself. But it's not always enough disgusted to keep me from buying a cheap shirt at Kohl's or Old Navy, two stores that I love. It's far enough removed that I can go without thinking about it for a long time. And buying clothes ethically does seen way too overwhelming, since I haven't found any actual stores and I'm not a huge fan of buying online.

After I read the book, I decided to go this school year without buying clothes, primarily to seek out places to ethically buy my clothing. I haven't quite made it, but I also haven't bought as much as I would have otherwise. I'm not totally sure what I'm going to do when the school year is over. Fairtrade clothes are a lot more expensive, because the workers that made it are paid legally (Labor cost is generally .04% of what we pay for an article of clothing). I don't have the money to spend, so hopefully it'll make me think more carefully about what I buy and I can buy more intentionally and whatnot. That's the goal at least and I've got a month and a half (!) until the end of the school year to figure it all out.

Vaya con Dios.


http://www.newdream.org/marketplace/clothing.php

 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/documentary_archive/6564445.stm

A young girl was walking along a beach upon which thousands of starfish had been washed up during a terrible storm. When she came to each starfish, she would pick it up, and throw it back into the ocean. People watched her with amusement.

She had been doing this for some time when a man approached her and said, “Little girl, why are you doing this? Look at this beach! You can’t save all these starfish. You can’t begin to make a difference!”

The girl seemed crushed, suddenly deflated. But after a few moments, she bent down, picked up another starfish, and hurled it as far as she could into the ocean. Then she looked up at the man and replied,

“Well, I made a difference to that one!”

There are more important things in life than my no-longer-a-teenager angst, my love for The Office and Harry Potter, and my eagerness to graduate. That might be all for this month.