fair trade -- where do i start?

He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. 
- Micah 6:8 

I have finished my first two week block of student teaching. One of the classes I was in was a grade 12 Global History class. My cooperating teacher showed them documentary after documentary focused on different issues. Films like Life and Debt (economic situation in Jamaica) and Slavery: A 21st Century Evil confronted kids with major issues in the world. They felt a little overwhelmed. What is their response supposed to be? Guilty enjoyment of their privileged lifestyle?

To be honest, I feel a little overwhelmed, too. Like the students, I get fed up with just hearing about a problem and feeling bad because I know I'm contributing to it. I wanted to research baby steps I can take to act more justly -- especially when it comes to what I buy. I didn't want to read theories about fair trade, I wanted a "cheat sheet" -- a list of things to avoid, things to support, and things to consider.

Here's what I found:

• www.greenamerica.org
• This site has a responsible consumer guide that puts companies in a list from best to worst. Companies are categorized by industry -- if you're about to buy a specific thing, you can browse through that category. The site's "Green Pages" offer better alternatives for the same category of products. 
• www.ethicalconsumer.org
• This site gives different companies a “rating” based on different criteria (environment, people, animals, politics, etc.). What I really liked about this site is that you can decide what is the most important criteria to you -- by changing the emphasis to the environment, for example, the company ratings change. I think you need to subscribe to this to get the full information about the companies, but you can still check out the basic ratings for free. 
• Fair Trade Canada www.fairtrade.ca
• “Most Wanted” Global Exchange List
•        http://www.globalexchange.org/corporateHRviolators
•        This site provides a list of companies that are best to avoid! … along with reasons WHY
• Red Thread: The Best and Worst Corporations
• This is an excellent article -- it gives a list of the best and worst companies for every category of product. Not only does it give the name of the company, it also gives lists the brands that the company owns -- what you as the consumer will actually see on the shelves! 
• aletalane.wordpress.com/2011/05/.../the-best-and-worst-corporations/
• Chocolate and Candy: What to buy and what to avoid
•   http://www.rageagainsttheminivan.com/2012/10/from-problem-to-solution-practical.html
•   Key points I got out of it: avoid Hershey and Nestle! I appreciated how this article gave "not as bad" options and "good" (fair trade!) options. Sometimes I get frustrated when sites only give small, out-of-the-way or online companies as the fair trade options. This article is a bit more realistic -- "If you're going to buy chocolate that's not fair trade, at least stay away from these brands." I was happy to see that Toblerones were on the "not as bad" list!
• www.coffeehabit.com

•  Drink responsibly! -- coffee, that is! This site is all about coffee and provides information on where different coffee brands and coffee buyers (example: Tim Horton's!) stand in the areas of justice. I had heard that if you are going to switch to anything that is fair trade, coffee and chocolate are some of the key industries that need to be held accountable. If I can drink coffee and eat chocolate with a clean conscience, I'm happy! 
• World Vision: Don’t Trade Lives
•      http://www.worldvision.com.au/Act/DontTradeLives.aspx
•     This site has links to information about chocolate, coffee, palm oil, and other industries. It also has articles/guides around certain topics -- for example, how to have an ethical Christmas! 
•  How to Shop for Clothes Ethically
•    http://www.wikihow.com/Shop-for-Ethically-Made-Clothes
• This is one topic that I really struggle with -- I'm cheap, remember?! A good alternative: buying used clothing or hosting clothing swaps! 
• Good Guide
•         www.goodguide.com
•        Guide to the best and worst companies/brands according to category.
• www.labourbehindthelabel.org
•       Click on their “resources” link -- they provide information on different companies and events, links and material to help you take action (example: a template of a letter to write to a local politician or your favourite brand).

One teacher at the high school actually has an app on her phone that apparently scans tags of clothes and can give feedback about where/how it's made? I'm not sure exactly how this works (I'm a little technologically challenged), but maybe this website can help: 

• MacLife: 8 Apps for Fair Trade and Ethical Shopping          http://www.maclife.com/article/gallery/8_apps_fair_trade_and_ethical_shopping

If anyone else has any resources or ideas, please share! 

tidbits from "odd girl out"

I just finished reading the book, Odd Girl Out by Rachel Simmons. The subtitle of the book is "The Hidden Culture of Aggression in Girls." 

I expected the book to be full of "extreme" stories -- the most severe forms of bullying, tragic suicides ... horrifying tales that are removed from my realm of experience. While these things are important, this book tackles the seeds of female aggression and some of the dysfunctional ways (most) girls learn to relate to each other. Every woman can connect with this book in some way. As I was reading, I was overcome with memories from my junior high years in particular. Some of those memories are painful; while it's uncomfortable to think about times that I was hurt by "friends" or haunted by insecurities, I cringe to remember those times when I was part of the vicious cycle. 

Gossip, jealousy, silent treatments, rolling eyes ... all of these are constant features of girls' social worlds, and yet they slip under the radar of parents and teachers. This book gave some theories as to why girls and women resort to these "alternate aggressions" and also gave some advice to parents (although fathers were hardly mentioned), teachers and girls themselves. I think every teacher should read this book, especially junior high teachers. 

Some quotes:

"Silence is deeply woven into the fabric of the female experience. It is only in the last thirty years that we have begun to speak the distinctive truth of women's lives, openly addressing rape, incest, domestic violence, and women's health . . . Now it is the time to end another silence: There is a hidden culture of girls' aggression in which bullying is epidemic, distinctive and destructive." (3) 

"Our culture has girls playing a perverse game of Twister, pushing and tangling themselves into increasingly strained, unnatural positions. We are telling girls to be bold and timid, voracious and slight, sexual and demure. We are telling to hurry up and wait. But in the game of Twister, players eventually wind up in impossible positions and collapse. . . In a culture that cannot decide who it wants them to be, girls are being asked to become the sum of our confusion. Girls make sense of our mixed messages by deciding to behave indirectly, deducing that manipulation -- the sum of power and passivity -- is the best route to power." (115-116) 

"...if girls can never be sure who they are supposed to be, they will play out their (and our) anxieties on each other, policing themselves into the ground, punishing and bullying and fighting to know the answer for themselves." (128) 

"I have come to believe that the alternative aggressions in which girls engage are halfhearted, unsatisfying forms of communication, that they do not satiate the universal human need to express anger, and that they should not be the only avenue of expression available to girls. Girls need to make peace with conflict, and they need our help. This means providing girls not only with a healthier relationship to aggression, but with permission to experience the uncomfortable feelings that often precede anger and conflict. We need to stop rewarding manipulation. We must encourage girls to embrace respectful acts of assertion ..." (231)

DIY hair clip holder

What do you make for a family with three little girls? They already have an abundance of books, toys, clothes, and hair clips. Something to organize their little girl things, that's what!

I made this hair clip holder for my nieces. Because I had extra material around the apartment, I only had to buy a funky frame ($2 at a garage sale) and some pretty ribbon. I designed it to (hopefully) match the colours of their home.

Step 1. Get a cool frame and remove the glass.
Step 2. Choose a piece of fabric and staple it to the cardboard in the picture frame.
Step 3. Choose some matching ribbon and staple a few strips vertically over the fabric (staple only on the back of the cardboard).
Step 4. Put the cardboard back in the frame, fabric side facing out.
Step 5. Voila! Add some hair clips for a unique, economical, and practical gift!

I hope they like it!

white crayon and watercolours

This is a little art project simple enough for me to do! I got the original idea off of Pinterest and tweaked it a little. 

Step 1. Choose a quote. 

Step 2. Type out, style and print the quote on a piece of computer paper.

Step 3. Tape the computer paper to a window.

Step 4. Tape another piece of white paper on top of it. 

Step 5. Using a white crayon, trace the words onto the fresh piece of paper. Make sure you get a good layer of white crayon. 

Step 6. Streak it with watercolours of your choice -- the words will magically appear! 

Step 7. Let dry. 

Step 8. Put it in a frame (in my case, from the dollar store!)

Step 9. Hang it, to your husband's chagrin. 

A pretty nice little piece of art for only a few dollars! I love words, so I take any chance I can get to display a good quote! 

ignore the awful glare! 

Canning 2012

This was our first year making our own preserves. Isaac and I are both students with many siblings. As an affordable gift that will hopefully still be appreciated, we decided to give preserves for Christmas this year.

We spent summer and fall driving to u-picks in the Annapolis Valley, hunting down deals at farmer's markets, picking peaches from a friend's backyard, and hiking to pick wild blackberries, raspberries, and cranberries. We spent hours of quality time together pitting, peeling and processing. The result: a full, beautiful pantry of our own preserves.

We had a few bumps along the way, of course. Since our first batch of jam turned out a little runny, I decided to err on the side of caution on the next batch. I managed to burn a pot of raspberry jam. I realized something was wrong when I poured the jam into a jar and, as it cooled, it transformed into a candy-like consistency. I couldn't even save the jar -- it had to be thrown away! Now I see why the recipes insist on small batches  ... at least I didn't waste all our berries!

Ever-frugal, I kept track of all of our canning costs. The results:

Start-up costs/re-usable:
This includes a funnel, a ladle, a hot water bath canner, a jar lifter, and lots of jars (from thrift stores, garage sales, etc)
Total: $53.87

Costs for 2012:
This includes jars that will be used for gifts (I got 48 pretty little jars with one-piece lids for $20 off Kijiji!), ingredients for the jam (pectin, lemon juice, berries, etc), and jar lids that cannot be re-used. (Please note: I kept a detailed list of all costs, include a 14 cent jalepano pepper!)
Total: $202.45

Total of Start-Up and Consumed Costs: $256.32

Types of Preserves Made:

Raspberry jam
Strawberry jam (used a recipe with less sugar -- even though it made less jam, the jam was a beautiful ruby red and bursting with berry flavour!)
Blackberry-Raspberry jam
Peach jelly (made from the peach juice strained from peach pits and peelings -- love being frugal!)
Apple Almond Earl Grey jelly (delicious, delicate flavour!)
Marmalade
Cranberry sauce
Strawberry sauce
Spiced Blackberry sauce (aka runny Spiced Blackberry jam!)
German cabbage (red cabbage with seasonings -- these didn't turn out so well, the spices were too strong)
Spiced Blackberry jam (although the recipe with nutmeg was yummy, the spices were a bit overpowering)
Canned peaches
Canned pears
Red pepper jelly (sooo yummy! We go through this very quickly! The recipe is easy, fun to make, and I prefer mine on the sweet side! It's very nice on sandwiches and on crackers with goat cheese!)
Tomato sauce (I have to admit I was a little disappointed at how much 10lbs of field tomatoes boils down! But the sauce was delicious)

Jars Made

250 mL jars: 20
190 mL jars: 20
pints: 27
quarts: 20
1/2 pint: 7
plus about two ice cube trays of frozen strawberry sauce (to be put in a freezer bag for smoothies!)

Total number of jars: 94

Including start-up costs, each jar only cost me an average of: $2.73
Not including start-up costs (which will be re-used year after year), each jar only cost an average of: $2.15

Even for my first year of canning, I must say that's a pretty good deal! Especially considering the number of gift jars I have (40). Even if I give each person 3-4 jars in a little basket (baskets from Value Village), each gift still comes in at under $10.

There's nothing quite as beautiful as the sight of a pantry full of different coloured, different shaped jars... I'm pretty proud of what we accomplished this year!

OCM day 1

For those of you who have never heard of it, OCM stands for the Oil Cleansing Method. Some friends and I had a "girls' night" a couple of weeks ago - complete with paraffin wax, nail polish, and a chick flick. One of the girls raved about a natural skin treatment she was trying out, and convinced me to try it, too. It felt amazing!

Turns out, the oil cleansing method is a hot topic on the Internet. Busy, down-to-earth moms to ecoholic hipsters have all jumped on the bandwagon and added it to their blogs. I've decided to give it a shot. 

Here's how it works (from what I've learned): 

1. Combine castor oil with a second oil (the most popular carrier oils I read about were extra virgin olive oil, sunflower seed oil, avocado oil or grapeseed oil) Make sure you get pure, quality oils. 

2. The ratio of the combination will be different according to your skin type. From what I understand, the castor oil is the primary cleanser -- the more oily your skin, the higher the ratio of castor oil. 

3. Rub the oil around on your face (counter-intuitive, I know! Research it -- it supposedly works wonders for ALL skin types!) 

4. Dampen a washcloth with hot water and lay it over your face for thirty seconds to open your pores. Wipe the oil off, rinse the washcloth and repeat until the oil is off of your face. 

I'm using castor oil and grapeseed oil. Instead of mixing the two up in a bottle, I'm trying out different ratios first. Tonight I used a ratio of about 1/3 castor oil and 2/3 grapeseed oil, since my skin is usually dry (especially in the wintertime)! 

Tonight, after day 1 of my second student teaching placement, I decided to treat myself with some all-natural pampering. I ground up 1 cup of oats in our coffee grinder and mixed it into a hot bath (oats help soften your skin). I lit some candles, turned out the lights, and soaked for a good forty minutes. In the tub I treated my face to the OCM, and my feet to a sugar scrub. After getting out and drying off, I moisturized my legs with grapeseed oil. 

So far, my skin already feels great. It feels like a cleanser, toner and moisturizer all in one. Last night I used the castor oil as an eye makeup remover, and it worked wonderfully! It also apparently encourages hair growth (in areas where hair already grows -- I'm not going to turn into a werewolf!), so it should also thicken eyelashes. I mentioned this to Isaac, and he is now using it to rub down those patches on his cheeks that refuse to grow the beard he longs for. 

Day 1 of the OCM ... I'll post an update on how it goes, and whether or not Isaac has grown a beard.