If you're anything like me you have heard countless speeches about the evils of our consumer culture and the toll it takes on the rest of the world, but short of "don't buy things" the practical application is pretty sparse.  Obviously, "don't buy things" is pretty unrealistic as most of us do not have the desire or the resources to head out to Pike County and live off the land.

However, one of the most useful pieces of advice I have received recently is to follow some of the products I use back to their roots---who harvests the sugar in my Coke? Who picks the tomatoes on my Burger King sandwich? Who dyes the fabric in my Target clothes (ouch)?  Where does the produce in my grocery store come from? What are the conditions in which these people work? I have discovered the answers generally make my heart hurt. 

I checked in on the ReadyMade blog today and saw an interesting post on "Shop-dropping" (essentially shoplifting transposed).  A couple of artists designed fake labels to place on products in the grocery store to educate consumers about the real people behind their products.  To be clear, I'm not advocating that you do this (I don't think I can. Is it legal?). I don't know that I'm ready to recruit for anything called an "urban guerrilla movement" (yet...that may change. stay tuned), but I think the sentiment is worth thinking about.  How many things would I refuse to buy if I knew the price being paid to bring them to me?  Here is the "What can I do?"  resource on the peopleproducst123 website that has some helpful ideas to at least get started in the process of becoming a more informed consumer.  I thought I would share it with you all.

Happy Clicking!

"It is poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish."  -Mother Teresa