Change the World Wednesday – 8th Nov

Whoops, it’s Thursday!

All explained on Life is a Labyrinth.

Well, our American friends have got another four years. Really the elections weren’t about who is best for the country, rather who was the lesser evil, the lesser evil won.

This weeks CTWW is a long one; it takes a bit of reading.

This week shop local by making at least one purchase from a local independent business. In other words, pass right by the big chain stores and search out a local merchant. Need some ideas? Have your hair cut by an independent salon … buy food from a farmer’s market or a local grocer … get your car maintenanced by the neighborhood mechanic … buy lunch from a “mom & pop” restaurant … get your cup of coffee from the neighborhood barista. Want to shop online? No problem … shop at a local Etsy shop (find one HERE), via a site such as GROUPON, using CRAIGSLIST or do an Internet search for local businesses in your area to find their website (if available). As always, we’d like to know all about it … where you shopped, any problems with shopping local, etc.

 

Or …

Not planning to make any purchases this week? Then your challenge is to do a little “homework” and come up with a plan for shopping local when you do need to shop. We’d like to know what kinds of purchases you can make locally and any problems you’ll need to overcome (along with solutions if you come up with them).

The best use for credit cards

I am planning on making a purchase this week, bigger than my usual. I badly need a new digital camera and my only option is a big retail outlet with specials, because it is the only way I can afford one. I am paying cash, not using a credit card; in fact, I don’t have a credit card any more. I did some calculations which proved what I had already known for years but wasn’t prepared to face. Credit cards are the biggest consumer of cash that exist. I paid mine off, and cancelled it.

Having admitted that I am making a big purchase, and they are few and far between, I do try to shop local where possible. I would much rather go to a brecho (secondhand shop) than buy something new. I prefer the sacolão (fruit & vege shop) to buying my fruit and veges at the supermarket. I would buy my meat at the açougeiro (local butcher), but he is more than an hour there and back on my walking stick, so the supermarket wins. I want to buy my milk at the local dairy farm, fresh from the cow, but it means two bus fares, making 2 litres (3+ pints) a whopping R$10.75, whereas the supermarket the same white liquid trash is R$3.80.

Up the Ante!

Not only is this CTWW a message to shop and buy local, I want to take it a step further. Don’t buy anything at a franchise. By that I mean don’t even buy a coffee at Starbucks. McDonald’s, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut, nothing of that kind. Make your coffee at home, or go to a little coffee shop. These franchise places are stealing from your community and stopping the little people making a living.