What price is freedom?

In the past couple of days I have seen two adverts for what appears to be freedom. ‘Hmmm…’ I hear you say ‘Surely you can’t buy freedom?’ My thoughts exactly. These adverts were actually for a TV and a perfume. How is a TV or perfume freedom? Surely TV and perfume are the total opposites of freedom? The adverts showed people outdoors, laughing, smiley, running around in the sunshine – all things that you can’t do whilst watching TV! It actually makes me think of the rant from Trainspotting, which nicely sums up all my objections to living in the rat race and consumerism in general. I summarise with this quote…

“Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing, spirit-crushing game shows, stuffing fucking junk food into your mouth.”

And that’s why I don’t own a TV and why I object to freedom being used as a lifestyle to sell with. (By the way, I saw these adverts on 4od which isn’t technically TV.)

Incidentally, it appears that freedom can be bought on ebay.

Possum living: an inspirational push towards self sufficiency

To some extent, you could say that life has rather got in the way of my dreams recently. Yes, self sufficiency has been on my mind; I’ve recently been researching alternative food sources such a dogfish (which is usually caught as bycatch and discarded) but I’ve kind of neglected the bigger picture. So when I read about Dolly Freed on Off-Grid.net it was the wake up call I’ve needed for a long time.



I bought my first book about self sufficiency back in 2003 when I found myself stuck in a rut, doing a job I hated. It prompted me to set myself a target, focus on my goals and make some progress towards what I really wanted and not get sidetracked by the trappings of the rat-race. So today, Dolly and her laid back lifestyle gave me a kick up the arse. Why had I forgotten what I’ve been striving for? I’m already a step closer to my goal – I’m no longer renting so I’m not bound by the constraints of what a landlord says I can or cannot do to the garden. But I’ve not made any progress from there. I suppose the 9-5 distracted me again so now’s the time to get back to business. Don’t get my wrong, I’m not about to downshift and attempt The Good Life in my 2 bed terrace; the garden is far too small and shady for that. But I have spent this evening planning how to restructure the garden to grow food and which trees I should growing from seed now, so they are ready to fruit in a few years time when I have a bit a land to plant them in. Yes, it’s a very long term goal but its baby steps and first I need to learn how to grow food before I become dependant on my growing skills! So here goes… where did I put my trowel?

In search of happiness; are we looking too hard?

I received an email today, telling me of the happy smiling faces of the people of Madagascar. It got my thinking, would anyone ever say the people of Britain are happy smiley people? Well, no, they wouldn’t. Why? Because we’re not. We’re a nation of apathetic, cynical grouches. Only yesterday I saw a London commuter snap at a hapless traveller who didn’t move his foot fast enough. And I thought the English were supposed to be polite. We’re not, we’re selfish, self-involved and so thoroughly wrapped up in the rat-race and profit chasing that we’ll tread on anyone who gets in our way. I speak generally of course. Not all of us are like that, just the majority it seems.

So the Malagasy are happy despite being subsidence farmers, living on the poverty line and the English are miserable despite being filthy rich in comparison. Hmm… what’s wrong with this picture? The obvious answer is money doesn’t buy you happiness. We thought it might, pursuing the ‘American dream’ of a house, car, white goods and all mod cons but instead we’ve found that consumerism has no limits. What ever we have is never enough, we just want more and more.

In the pursuit of happiness we’ve forgotten what happiness is all about. Deep down we all know that money doesn’t buy us happiness. What makes us happy is sitting in the sun on a summer’s day or spending time with friends and family, but instead we’re in front of a desk, damaging our eyes to make money for some faceless company. Again I’m speaking generally about those London commuters but most of us are selling off huge chunks of our lives in exchange for money to buy stuff to compensate for the lack of time we have to spend with friends or sit in the sun. I’ve been warned off the ‘poor but happy’ ideal but in this demoralised modern world is does seem like a very tempting alternative.

Corporate Social Responsibility hits the high street? Well, not yet…

It’s been over two years now since that dreadful day in Harrods when I decided that consumerism really wasn’t for me. Since then, I’ve been living my life quite happily without frequenting the usual high street chain stores on a biweekly basis as so many people do. So what have I learned? Well, if you can find happiness by enjoying the simple things in life, then you don’t need to buy so much stuff. I feel the need to quote Sam Duckworth of Get Cape, Wear Cape, Fly here ‘Open your eyes, as you don't need to buy it’. So, Sam Duckworth and I know that there’s more to life than shopping; Sam’s written a lovely little song about it but it seems that we’re in the minority.

Apparently fashionistas of the world are still even new to the idea of organic! Jigsaw, one of the high street heavy weights has just launched its ‘first ever’ organic range. Shame it’s a little late in the game. Both ASDA and Next were doing organic t-shirts at least a year ago. Meanwhile, the free newspaper I found on the train applauds Jigsaw for making green cool ‘and there’s not a Hessian sack in sight’. It seems that despite the hard work done by organisations such as Oxfam and War on Want, the fashion industry is still 20 years behind the food industry. So we’re still calling anyone with an environmental conscience a ‘greenie’ are we? Still perpetuating the stereotype of sandal wearing beardy hippy types? Tsk tsk.

Meanwhile, back in the business world, things are looking up. Despite the current recession the ‘ethical climate’ still continues, being led by the food industry. Fairtrade, organic and local have all been foody buzz words for a while but now the mainstream businesses have caught on. Big multinationals have noticed that Corporate Social Responsibility is not something to be sniffed at. Previous ideas of ‘we can’t mention the good things we do because it leaves us open to criticism on what we don’t do’ has been replaced by ‘this is what we do, we know we’re not perfect, but we’re working on it’ attitudes. Even Starbucks, mass consumerism in a cup, has a Global Responsibility report that details how much waste their disposable cups generate. It’s all about clearly stating business intentions, aiming to improve social and environmental standards and reporting on it. If more businesses can put these good intentions into practise, then perhaps we might actually make some progress towards more sustainable consumption.

Wants, needs and homogenised households: just another day avoiding temptation

I’ve been rather quiet recently, but it’s not because I’ve given up, it’s because I’m doing ok. Over the past few months I’ve had a bit of a reassess and I’m trying to live my life more simply. I’ve been buying more bread from my local bakers, buying less ‘stuff’ that I don’t need and generally working out where I want to go from here. I must confess, I have been buying more CDs as I no longer have a TV, but charity shops are pretty good for CDs too! I was starting to think ‘yes, it’s been two years and finally I’m not finding this ethical shopping thing too much of a struggle.’ My mindset of staying out of the shops to avoid temptation was working. I’ve been spending my time gardening, giving new life to my old furniture and picture frames and I have a pile of fabric I inherited that I intend to make cushions from (thank you Kirsty’s homemade home for the well timed inspiration).

However, I returned home from work last night to find an Ikea catalogue on my doormat. Flicking through the glossy pages I found the old familiar pang of ‘want’, clever disguised as ‘need’ nagging at me. ‘But its only £15 for a 100% cotton duvet cover’ my little brain was crying, ‘that’s so much cheaper and easier than spending £50 on that fair-trade organic cotton and making a duvet cover.’ You can’t fault my logic, but the glaringly obvious still remains. How can Ikea possibly make this stuff so cheap and retain their ethics? The catalogue includes a double page spread of how they intend to improve, using less packaging, including more recycled materials and solar powered lamps which is all very commendable but it’s the very nature of Ikea that I’m opposed to. It’s the mass produced, cheap & cheerful items that make everyone’s house look the same which crushes peoples’ individual style, tells us how our homes should look and homogenises households into something that you can buy online in a few easy steps. Don’t get my wrong, for some people it’s perfect, but I like the way that most of my furniture has a past. For example, my desk used to belong to my mum’s yoga teacher friend, my chest of drawers became mine when a friend moved to America and my Grandma made my bedspread. No one else in the world has a patchwork bedspread like mine! Having said that, I’m still tempted to get the £15 duvet cover; I love my ethics but I also love a bargain!

Fishing: free food but is it worth it?

As my quest for a clear conscience continues, I’m delving deeper and deeper into the world of ethics. I’ve found myself in the mine field of food ethics again and have opened up a whole new can of worms: I went fishing for the first time on the weekend. The idea of catching your own dinner really appeals to me, especially as its free food but knowing that a fish has had a hook through its mouth, which has to be ripped out doesn’t sit well. I suppose if you then kill and eat that fish it’s justifiable, it’s far more humane than what occurs at a slaughter house. Plus, it’s a wild fish rather than farmed where the fish spend their lives swimming in their own excrement with dead fish and a poor quality of life (not that quality of life is considered with fish). At least a fish straight from the sea is fresh (you can smell it) and the issue of food miles is non-existent but cost-wise it’s probably not worth it, unless you can find your own bait too. If you don’t mind spending five hours of your weekend on a cold beach watching a rod bobbing in the breeze without thinking that a trip to the fishmonger would have been easier then its probably worthwhile! Having said that, I’d go again. I can imagine it’s the same feeling you get when you serve fresh vegetables from your garden as you dish up your fish dinner, and no amount of shivering could lessen that pride.

Cause and affect: learning that my philosophies don’t define me

After a year and a half of careful consideration over ever purchase, I feel its time to take stock and reassess my situation. So, am I pleased with my progress so far? Well, that’s a tough question. I have previously commented that I fear my ‘ethical’ mind set has shaped me into a organic eating, yoga practising guardian reader, the type that most of us love to hate, (by the way, I don’t do yoga, but have recently wondered if it might help my posture) and its probably my almost obsessive fascination with charity shops that keeps me from becoming one of ‘them’. You see, this ethical quest has almost redefined who I actually am. I’ve always been proud to be different, despised the kind of people who will only buy brand named food and turn their noses up at the bargain bin. Those M&S food shoppers who eat asparagus or actually know what those bizarre ingredients are in cookbooks have previously fuelled my deepset insecurities of inferiority and I’ll rather be a hoody drinking stella in the park on Friday night than become one of them. I love chocolate spread on white bread, always have done, always will do and no amount of encouragement is going to make me want to put pollen into my yogurt. Anyway, my point is (yes, there is a point), my point is that shopping ethically isn’t about becoming a middle class, pollen eating yoga instructor. It’s about thinking about consequences, thinking about how my money can affect other people and how my spending habits can do something other than line the pockets of the fat cats of the world.

The other day I found myself thinking that I needed to spend £30 on a new pair of shoes to go with a dress to wear to my friends wedding. Where this idea came from I don’t know, but it scared me. Under normal circumstances I would rather go barefoot than face the high street just to fit in at a social function. As the high street phobia kicked back in and I realised I really didn’t want to fight my way through the throngs just for a pair of sandals I discovered that my four year old sandals would go very nicely with the £3 dress I bought at the end of last summer. Job done. Perhaps it’s because I now know that I can pass for ‘normal’ in my charity shop clobber that I feel I can become part of the ‘normal society’, not that I’ve ever wanted to be part of that scene. I suppose even at my age it’s easy to get sucked into the lifestyles you see on TV and in magazines and feel you have to compete. It’s scary how fast that white picket fence can grow up around you and before you can say IKEA, you’re not you anymore. Lesson learnt; stay focused on the bigger picture and enjoy being a individual.

Redemption: Charity shop fashion is not too shabby chic

On the weekend I was at Radio one’s Big Weekend in Swindon and as usual, spent a large part of last week fretting over what to wear. In everyday life my charity shop wardrobe can manage but being surrounded by people in their finery (who are hoping to be on TV) really takes me out of my comfort zone. I finally settled on a fairly respectable ensemble put together from various charity shops topped off with a Marc Jacobs t-shirt I found in Oxfam. When a brunette girl asked me where I got my t-shirt from I proudly told her it was from a charity shop. That obviously wasn’t helpful for her as she wanted to find one for herself and she was rather stunned when I showed her the label! But for me, this was acceptance and I’m proud to be a charity shop fan.

A question ethics: animal welfare vs environmental concerns, which stand should you take?

Being vegetarian is far harder than I thought. It’s incredibly easy to do it half heartedly or hypocritically as I have discovered! Whilst sat in the park yesterday, eating my veggie sausage sandwich and feeling virtuous about my veggie efforts I rather naively was ranting about the mistreatment of animals whilst wearing leather shoes! Having looked into the alternatives to leather I have discovered that shoes marketed as vegetarian or vegan are made of cotton or faux leather. The environmental issues associated with cotton production are well documented (including the almost complete disappearance of the Aral Sea due to the use of water for crop irrigation) and faux leather is made of plastic. Call me cynical, but personally I think using one cow to feed several people and make many pairs of shoes is far better than producing plastic, a non-biodegradable substance formed from petrochemicals! The evils of oil are far more wide reaching including global economic instability from the price controls, pollution and destruction of fragile environments for oil extraction, not to mention the heinous nature of the Iraq war. Having said that, beef production in the past has been responsible for the destruction of rainforests for grazing land, global warming from the methane and, ultimately, obesity and heart disease! Maybe I should just stay barefoot instead.

Veggie ventures into the world of meat free food

After a recent incident where I ate some steak which according to various people may or may not have been veal (can you get pale beef?), I have been having a serious rethink of my attitudes to meat. Whilst I was in Tanzania I saw cows kept in tiny sheds in the dark being fed only banana leaves and never allowed out to graze or see the sunshine. These rather callous attitudes to animal welfare in the farming industry are what have prompted various people such as Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, The Soil Association and Compassion in World Farming to campaign for change. My concern however, is no longer whether or not the ‘steak’ I ate was or was not veal, but that if the thought that I might have eaten veal has shaken me up this much then should I be eating meat at all. So, since Monday I have been avoiding meat until I have made up my mind on whether I should become vegetarian or if I should only buy free-range and organic meat. What has really shocked me is the total lack of vegetarian foods in the supermarket. It seems that the typical British diet is still very much focused on the ‘meat and veg’ mentality of the 50s.
It might be tough but that hasn’t stopped me before so here goes with the whole veggie thing!

Fashion is the opiate of the modern masses

I was going to have a little rant about ethical book buying as seeing that Jade Goody has the best selling autobiography at the moment, outselling perhaps the most important man in modern history (Barack Obama) really wound me up on the weekend. But boycotting book buying wouldn’t last long for me! Plus, books are one of the few things in this world that aren’t considered to be disposable. So, instead, I’d like to complain about channel four’s inability to relate to the public.

Last night, Gok Wan was doing his usual ‘fashion fix’ and taking on the designers with ‘budget’ clobber from the high street. What startled me was the total lack of budget. Whilst most of us are struggling to make ends meet with utility bills and the cost of food through the roof, out of touch Gok was fawning over outfits costs a couple of hundred quid – a steal compared to the several thousand pound outfits being offered up by the rather mental designer-obsessed fashionista (and her pet pooch). Seriously, aren’t we all a bit beyond that now? I mean, who can afford the capsule wardrobe these days? Yes, Gok has a point, ‘buy less, wear more’ is a great idea but it does seem that Gok wants us all to chuck out what we have a buy a select few items which cost more than my mortgage!

Now what would be interesting is if instead of the designer vs high street battle at the end of the show, we had a high street vs shabby chic face off. I personally reckon that someone with a bit of sewing know-how, some style and guts could easily put together some fab outfits from charity shops, second shops and even car boot sales and on a budget that everyone can afford. Fashion is just a way of giving clothes exclusivity; stick a label on it and everyone knows that you’re minted. I say sod it, its time we all felt good about our clothes. Fuck fashion, everyone woman has the right to look and feel good about herself whether her gear’s from Biba or British Heart Foundation! Sadly, channel four are still promoting short-lived feel good fashion which just encourages the credit card crippling and excessive borrowing mentality that we’re all trying to leave behind. This just adds fuel to the fire of worthlessness and low self esteem amongst those who have been hit the hardest by the credit crunch – fashion is the opiate of the modern masses, and a tough habit to kick.

Sitting in the dark whilst the planet cooks from our self-indulgence

On Saturday millions of us spent our Saturday night illuminated by candlelight as part of the worldwide earth hour. The event has been heralded a great success as videos of famous landmarks plunged into darkness are being emailed to us by various organisations and news agencies. I however felt rather uncomfortable with the idea of watching TV by candle light. My low energy light bulbs are hardly energy hungry compared to the rest of the electrical equipment in my possession. Surely an all out electricity blackout would have made a more substantial comment on climate change? I thought this would have been a better idea and proceeded to turn off my heating and all electrical appliances that weren’t essential (fridge and freezer stayed on).

Sitting in the dark, trying to read by candle light I realised why my plan was flawed – who in their right mind would sit in the dark with nothing to do? And that is the problem. That is why WWF and the promoters of earth hour didn’t ask people to turn everything off. After the failure of earth day last year when electricity usage was actually higher than expected you can see why they set their sights a little lower. Sadly, it’s because of the trappings of the modern world, where everything we use consumes energy, that we have got to this stage. Even sadder still is that fact that very few people are prepared to face the truth that unless we force a real change in lifestyle, a complete paradigm shift, a change of perspective away from the all consuming, energy hungry lifestyle, to a more frugal, energy efficient one then all the earth hours in the world will not change the inevitable climate change and loss of what we take for granted now.

Having said that, I spent 5 minutes in the candle light trying to work out how to entertain myself before I turned on my laptop and watched a DVD using battery power. If some of the most ecologically minded people can’t cope an hour without electricity, then what hope does the world have?

Manolo Blahniks, hypocrits and pikeys; and not a highstreet in sight

As I sat drinking my decaff fair-trade tea with soya milk this morning, I started to wonder if I was becoming a cliché guardian reader. Then I looked down as my ripped jeans and my brother’s old jumper I was wearing and realised that perception is nine tenths of society’s flaw. The sad truth of the world is that people are judgemental. If I went to work in these ripped jeans the London commuters would probably expect me to ask them for spare change. This saddens me, why should we instantly respect the man in the suit – I’ve seen said men in suits regurgitate their city booze into the train toilets like the rest of us. Posh or pikey, we’re all the same on the inside. Does it really matter if your clothes are from Moss Bross or Mind?

I overheard some girls recently saying how they’d spent £200 in the shops. One said she couldn't wait til she had a job so she could buy loads more stuff. My little brain nearly exploded on receipt of this information. Firstly, £200 of shopping when you don’t have a job? Secondly, surely there’s more to life that shopping? It’s sad that young women today aspire to be like Victoria Beckham or other female celebs who achieve nothing but become style icons and (I use the term loosely) “role models” because they spend money on designer clothes and have famous husbands.

Standing on a busy train out of London, surrounded by the suited and booted is a depressing experience. Silence fills the carriage as everyone, tired from a days work sighs in relief that they are going home. Why do they do it? They all look miserable and overworked and what for? To be able to afford ‘stuff’? This isn’t life, this is self inflicted slavery. These people aren’t free; their chains are made by Cartier, their shackles by Manolo Blahnik. And with falling interest rates there really is no incentive to change this lifestyle. The government wants to encourage spending and borrowing which means these slaves to materialism will keep shopping. I in the meantime will keep my hypocritical judgements in check and stop admiring fellow commuter’s shoes.

Thrifty greeny shopper or time pressed convenience gatherer: Is there a middle ground?

After spending about an hour on the internet on the weekend trying to find somewhere that sells ecover hand wash in bulk I’m starting to see why most other people would just go to the local shop and buy what ever is there. For a start buying 5 litres of anything costs a lot compared to buying it in 500ml bottles. Despite the fact that I know it probably works out cheaper to buy in bulk, even with the delivery charge, it still hits the wallet hard. If I could pay in monthly instalments it wouldn’t be quite so painful! So, the discovery that boots is now selling paraben free ‘eco’ style toiletries should be good news. Well, I bought some shampoo, conditioner and shower gel to test them out and compare them to the other brands that I usually have to hunt for. They work fine, smell good; the usual standard you’d expect from boots but they don’t give me that ‘I’m doing something good for the world’ feeling like the others do. I suppose, if boots can convert people from the chemical ridden products made by pharmaceutical companies and cooperate global giants then all is well but my cynical little mind just thinks they’ve seen a gap in the market and decided to fill it. I still prefer the greener alternatives, although for convenience, I may buy the occasional bottle of shampoo if I happen to walk past boots on my way home!

Valentine's Day in a financial crisis? I can think of better things to spend my money on

It’s that time of year again when singles run and hide and the cynics start ranting about commercialisation: Valentines Day is here again. The shops started to stock an array of red and pink goods back in January, from the usual cards, bears and chocolates to pink champagne, inflatable lips (why?) and pretty much anything heart shaped. You can usually find the valentines’ day stuff next to the Easter eggs! But when most of the world is in serious financial crisis is it really appropriate to encourage people, many of whom are struggling to pay the bills or have been made redundant to spend what little money they do have on fairly useless junk? I suppose it’s a matter of choice. What if you have no choice? Well, you always have a choice: if you are with someone who demands expensive gifts then I think now is probably a good time to reconsider that relationship! You could argue that by spending the day eating chocolates and drinking from heart shaped champagne flutes and being soppy you can take a day off from worrying about money. There are ways to be romantic without spending any money. You can cook a nice meal at home, bake a cake, give your other half a massage, light lots of candles and stick a Barry White CD – the best things in life are free! And if you really feel the need for some sickly sweet heart shaped item, there is always the pound shop!

Confessions of a Shopaholic, Barefoot in the Park and other inspirational films

As I stood in my garden this evening, in my pyjamas feeling the cold snow under my bare feet, I had a sudden realisation. Why should all the fun things in life costs money? Shopping has become a pastime with magazines dedicated to fashion and even a film about it. Surely there are other things we could be doing with our time instead? For many shopping is a rush, is fun or the items bought make people feel special but there are other ways to feel good. There are the obvious endorphin release activities of sport, exercise and sex but there are other things you can do, real experiences that can break the routine and remind you that you are actually a free thinking entity that doesn’t have to follow the sleep-work-eat-tv-sleep pattern every day. When you’re caught up in the rat race, bombarded with advertising and media telling you what to eat, what to drink, what to buy and to some extent what to think; its hard to take a step back and think of things to do to prevent the monotony of modern life from taking over. When was the last time I went for a walk in the rain, jumped in puddles, admired a landscape and felt part of this big wide world we live in? Too long ago. Perhaps that should be my new year’s resolution: to think of new ways to enjoy life, to feel alive for free. Hopefully the next life affirming idea I have won’t give me frostbite.

David vs Goliath: can one person make a difference?

The other night I watched with interest as despite the impeding recession, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall was still encouraging consumers to spend more on chicken by purchasing free range poultry. This time though was an all out campaign against Tesco which failed. It was a rather ambitious campaign and perhaps one doomed to fail from the onset when they requested £87,000 just to put the idea to the share holders. I won’t be my usual cynical self and suggest that £87,000 could have been better spent elsewhere as it was an admirable campaign. Now the campaign is slowing back to a more realistic pace and asking for clearer labelling which won’t cost consumers at a time when money is tight and won’t put supermarkets on the defensive. It’s clear that lessons have been learnt from the David and Goliath battle with Tesco and a new tactic has come into play. Yes, all out war against a huge corporation can grab the headlines but real change is best achieved by the softly softly approach. Jamie Oliver only managed to make changes in school dinner by working with schools rather than standing against them.

This has got me thinking. Has my all out boycott of everything multinational been the wrong approach? Should I be encouraging the high street stores to clearly label their items with details of where and how they are made? Would it be possible to get the music industry to put how much solvents and metals are used in each CD? If I was a celebrity then it would be possible but can one person without media backing make a difference? Time will tell. In the meantime, its time for me to find out how other people have instigated change and what they did and who they recruited that make the difference between success and failure.

Primark: Fast fashion or guilty pleasure?

So, another year gone and the news is as bleak as ever. I was planning to report that despite a shameful blip at Christmas my ethical shopping is still on track; the staff in my local charity shop are starting to recognise me as I’m in there around three times a week! Christmas is a hard time for ethical spending, especially with the credit crunch coupled with a shortage of time. I’m afraid a couple of high street stores did benefit from my hard earned cash. Oh and there was the guilty pleasure of collecting a few bargains from Woollies. Onto the more important news: the BBC have reported that budget retailer Primark have been using ‘slave labour’ to produce their cut price crap. Well, we kind of all knew that anyway; the actual shocking part is that these garments were made in sweatshops in the UK. With consumer spending slowing as more people feel the effects of the economic downturn, I doubt this news will even dent Primark’s profits. As redundancies continue, food prices remain high and living costs stretch most peoples pay cheques, Primark’s discount products will seem more appealing despite the bad press. It’s a shame really; it wasn’t that long ago that I was hopeful that ethical shopping was a growing trend with organic, free range and fair-trade on the increase. Now it seems that the old phrase is right: when you’re poor you can’t afford morals. Pity.