So I’m standing in my most favourite stationary store of
them all (Paperchase of course), a notebook in each hand trying to decide between the two products.
In my right hand I have the Hippy Central notebook – made from
recycled paper and using vegetable based inks only (although maybe a real hippy would
make one out of dead leaves they found in the street instead of buying one).
In my left hand I have the notebook version of a banker –
straight lines, white paper and the ink is probably made out of baby panda
spleen. Not a hint of anything recycled or environmentally friendly in sight.
The hippy notebook has 100 less pages than the banker
notebook. The hippy notebook has yellower (is that even a word?) pages than then
banker notebook. The hippy notebook doesn’t have a spiral spine or perforated pages.
But the hippy notebook costs £2.50 more than the banker notebook.
Decisions decisions.
Do I stick to my principles of trying to be environmentally
friendly but pay more for a slightly lesser product? Or do I sell out and get
the product that is more functional and cheaper but more damaging to the
environment?
Am I willing to act on what I claim to believe even when
there is a cost?
This is a question I face more than I would like.
Last week I was walking through H&M in the Eastfield Temple
(the Westfield in East London – get to know!) acutely aware that most of their
clothes sport labels proclaiming ‘Made in Bangladesh’ or ‘Made in Vietnam.’
Now I don’t know for sure that the workers who had to sew
these labels in were being exploited but my guess is that it’s more likely than
not. So what do I do? Do I buy the cheaper clothes that make a profit from
someone else’s misery? Or do I save up and only get fair-trade stuff from
somewhere like People Tree?
Am I willing to act on what I claim to believe even when
there is a cost?
Are you willing to act on what you believe even when there
is a cost?
I am pleased to say that I put the banker notebook back on the
shelf and proudly took my Little Hippy Notebook to the till.
But I did get the clothes from H&M (birthday present for
my brother. He will almost certainly take them back though. It’s the thought that
counts right?).
