I don't think I boycott a lot of things, I just think it's important to realize that how you spend your money is a lot like voting. If everyone buys a certain product it will not only be deemed as the best, it will also be advertised as such in order to attract other customers. With this in mind I am conscious that people are interested in what I buy. Since I did a hippy degree where every third person had dreads and we lost part of the class to a Greenpeace boat that set sail at the end of the first year (well one fruitarian who had added an 'O' to the end of his name to sound Spanish) i took up a lot more boycotts at University. This has resulted in me becoming a 29 year old who totally avoids certain shops and supermarket isles only to wonder if things have changed and I should be now buying these products in large volumes in aid of letting the company know I full-heartidly agree with their reform. If I don't, how will they ever know I was boycotting them? So on my year travelling i vowed to check up on the status' of them, as lets face it, it doesnt make life any easier. Below is a list of my beloved boycotts:
McDonald's- one of my first. Not only did they use polystyrene boxes for their burgers, they also sacked people who turned 18 and qualified for the minimum wage. This was witnessed first hand one summer when I made my fortune in my silver DM's sprayed black and a classy looking baseball cap in Gatwick Airport (south airside) McDonald's.
Gap - we all knew they used sweatshops and still they charged the earth.
North sea fish/any fish - it's unsustainable and reduces fish stocks that might never recover.
Nestle- my favourite, 'the baby killers', Nestle advertised powdered milk formulas to third world mothers in such an aggressive manner that many mothers bought it believing it to be the best start for their child, only for the combination of weak powder ( to make it last longer) and terrible water sources to kill the baby before it could even write a letter of complaint. This boycott also extends to every company that is owned by Nestle (which is about a third of the world) ( Rowntree's, L'oreal, Branston Pickle, Nescafe, Perrier, Nesquick, shredded wheat, yorkie and Felix, to name a few)
Starbucks- my most flippant. The idea was to boycott multinational companies (but this was the only one to make it onto my list!) as they were making local business's miss out. I have definitely retracted this one as the value of having a weak, syrupy coffee which tastes the same no matter what country you are in is, well, invaluable.
Battery Farmed chicken/eggs- not very glamorous, and hard to work out, but trying to avoid all chicken products that do not give the bird the quality of life i believe they deserve is still standing. However, oddly enough this standard does not apply to all animal life? I agree in principle that all animals i eat need to have been happy once, however how do you ascertain this? Is there a happy cow label?
Apple- they are just too smarmy for their own good. But then my alternative MP3 player broke and my I-Pod won my heart.
Australia - As you might know, Australia had a 'White Australia' policy for years and it wasn't until the 1980's sometime when black people were allowed to move to Australia.
So this weeks task is to work out if i should continue, or reinstate any of these! Is this a bit too much like moaning for you?
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