To Buy or Not to Buy
Once again, I find myself trying to explain why I haven't been able to share my thoughts and opinions and stories, why I've had so much difficulty putting ‘pen to paper’ or, in this case, fingers to keys.
I pondered over and over, do I owe an explanation? Do people care about an answer? Would it be an excuse? Do I even have a "following" to explain my online absence from questioning world affairs and current events? Does it even matter?
So I thought to myself, let me write about why I stopped.
Moreso than before, I've been a part of conversations about losing interest in hobbies, being unable to commit to activities, or even being just so drained all the time that there's just no motivation. I've been guilty of all of the above, and I'm still figuring it all out.
Its the COVID fatigue. It's the loss of faith in humanity on a daily, if not hourly, basis. Its work. Its school. Its relationships. It's just... life.
You're probably thinking to yourself- why is this girl depressing me and wasting my time?
That's fair, and I thought that myself—every single day.
I ended my subscription with the WIX site and took down my first blog last year. The reason is that the site is owned and founded by Israelis. The Headquarters of Wix, which sits on a beautiful port overlooking the Mediterranean, is in Tel-Aviv. Now you're also thinking - ok, that sucks, but so what?
Well, from April 2021, I was committed to no longer (under the best of my knowledge and ability) purchasing products or to subscribing to services that were in support of the Israeli Apartheid, the Ughyur genocide, or any active human rights violations as well as to try to reduce my carbon footprint.
I'm expecting some of you to be thinking something along the lines of the following:
1. surely that can't be that many products
2. Will you even make a difference?
3. What are you buying instead?
4. How does that matter?
5. You're so extra/what's the point?
6. Does this make life more complicated?
I've heard the following phrases a lot as a result:
"Well, what do you buy?"
"What happens if you buy things from there accidentally?"
"That's so good of you."
Boycotting products is an active commitment in my everyday life, and it shouldn't be as hard as it is. Corporations make it nearly impossible to understand where your products are coming from and even harder to figure out if they're treating their workers well.
Ethical consumption is made to be the responsibility of the everyday consumer- where we are encouraged to be mindful of our water usage at home, to recycle, to lower our personal carbon footprints, to eat less meat, and make these changes in our lives for the good of the future of the Earth.
None of this matters when corporations in China are still burning tonnes of coal a day to run their factories and when Western oil conglomerates cause mass oil spills that devastate ecosystems. The reality is corporations pay the bills for mass media. Mass media tells us that we are the reason the world is going to end. Who are we to deny the science?
Now don't jump to conclusions here; I believe in real science. Not Facebook posts shared by pseudo-doctors from online colleges with degrees in art history telling me that Global Warming is a liberal agenda to fearmonger or that microchips are somehow in my arm because I have the COVID vaccines.
Science tells us the world will soon reach a temperature that we will not be able to come back from. Elon Musk tells us the answer is Mars. Corporations tell us it's exaggerated. Politicians tell us we must protect future generations and change our everyday lives.
I'm not going to drone on with the statistics about governments and multi-national corporations spending billions of maintaining practices that damage humanity and the environment. Instead, I'm going to tell you how this all made me change my own life.
I no longer blame myself for not double-checking if Nestle owned Carnation Hot Chocolate and subsequently supports the occupation of Palestine and poor labour practices in developing nations. The immense guilt I would feel for simply forgetting to use my Buycott app would be laughable to the CEO of Nestle.
Infuriating. That's the only word to describe the feeling I had when I found out that essentially everything I was purchasing- from food to clothes to electronics- was not only furthering poor consuming practices and worsening the environment but also, I was inadvertently and unknowingly paying for people (my people even at times) to suffer and experience, what would only be considered, torture over here.
When I found out the website I was sharing my thoughts and opinions on, stories about my family history, and advocating for human rights, was owned and profited off what is neglected to be called the Palestinian Genocide, I was defeated.
So I shut it down. Thanks to the one-year annual renewal system, I ended my subscription (which only just officially terminated).
Instead, this past year, I have been thinking about approaching now - essentially the world again. How was I going to live my life as ethically as I could? How could I remind myself to avoid the most accessible options? Does it even matter if we're all doomed? Yes, it does.
Why it matters is as simple as explaining why the location of the Wix HQ is. The picture below is the view from the Wix Office in Tel-Aviv, overlooking the Mediterranean Sea and all the lively tourism. The site of the developing complex for CanadaIsrael for the Wix platform.
The website homepage for the WIX developing complex in Tel Aviv.
Google Maps Location of the Wix Headquarters
The video below is the reality of life for Palestinian children. Not able to consider entering the International Coding Competition like their Israeli neighbours, because they don't have internet, or food, or water, or safety to sleep.
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Wix is a website company. Palestinians are not only fighting for their homes and their lives on a minute-by-minute basis, but they don't have access to the internet. The same Internet that Wix succeeded because of and was created for.
Ok- I know the point may be lost on some here.
Another way to look at the same issue is fast fashion. Most of the cotton used by the major companies such as Nike, Adidas, Zara, Fashion Nova, H&M, and so on, are sourced and processed in China, more specifically at the concentration camps by Ughyur prisoners.
Disney's Mulan was filmed in the Xinjiang region. The Bejing Olympics- happening in the same nation as millions are fighting for their lives.
I'm not sure if the issue has become that humanity doesn't exist anymore or that apathy is more widespread because we've become desensitized to the pain and human suffering. These problems, these PEOPLE- are not removed from our reality. Still, the world is choosing to ignore them.
Whatever the reason, I don't care. All I care about is myself. What I mean by that is not - I don't care what happens to other people, and I'm going to live my life the same way.
No. I was done living my life based on what faceless gremlins pinching pennies want me to buy or look like or eat.
More than a couple of conservative-leaning people might be saying right now - boycotting doesn't even work, why waste your time, blah blah blah.
Here is a link for the times Boycotting has worked so you can leave me alone before you try to argue without foundation in fact, as you probably were going to History of Successful Boycotts | Ethical Consumer
I decided that there were more than enough resources for me to stop the guilt and stop being complicit in human rights violations that I am studying to end. So I downloaded the app Buycott and looked up which companies were the significant violators, and one by one, I have cut them out of my life.
It's been well over a year since I have had Mcdonald's. It would have been over a year since I purchased a Coca-Cola product if not for my mother's unquenchable Diet Coke/Coke Zero addiction. (I cannot deny my mother, I'm sorry) Its also been over a year since I purchased any of the following as well:
Zara
H&M
Nike
Adidas
Puma
Ben and Jerry's
L'Oreal
Sabra
Crest
And this is not to say that I haven't had accidents and purchased some things I didn't mean to or had no alternative option at the time. Companies make it hard to be sustainable and ethical.
It is about doing what you can when you can.
I wanted to share my experience to prove that it is not impossible. It can be challenging, and I know life gets in the way and gets complicated. The only affordable option sometimes is the one with the worst labour practice. If that's all you can afford- that's not your fault.
Intention matters.
Accountability starts with you and me. No one is going to tell you what to buy or how to live your life unless you allow them to (unless you're a child, in which case it's ok).
So I decided to take action into my own hands, and I wanted to give you all that chance as well.
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For those just getting into ethical consumption and what that looks like, TikTok has been my most valuable source. Honestly, some creators research and reach out to companies to verify their practices, so you don't have to!
TIKTOK'S SUSTAINABLE FASHION QUEENS - Dryclean Only Magazine
For further reading and if you're interested in starting this journey towards more ethical consumption:
Buycott- the App that lets you look up barcodes to identify if a product conflicts with your personal purchasing views: Buycott | Vote with Your Wallet - UPC Lookup Database, Find Barcode Scanner, Boycott
Boycotts List | Ethical Consumer
Boycott WIX - Respect the boycott of Israel & use a better website builder.
5 Reasons Not To Use Wix For Your Website - A Brief Wix Review (fullychargedmedia.com) (not even for political reasons, its just a subpar option!
The Debate Over Boycotting the 2022 Beijing Olympics | Council on Foreign Relations (cfr.org)
Ethical consumption can't be the burden of shoppers alone — Quartz (qz.com)
“No Ethical Consumption Under Capitalism” | by Ashley Te | Perceive More! | Medium