The choices you make with your dollars matter. Choosing to support small businesses and businesses that align with your ethics matters.
Life is hard out there for a small business. Americans have been trained to expect Wal Mart prices, Amazon shipping, and products that are destined for the landfill before your next paycheck. Small businesses are being squeezed out of the marketplace. Quality products are being replaced by mass produced junk. We hear a lot these days about the vanishing middle class but we don’t think about how our own choices contribute to the problem.
If all the money flows out of the middle class to the billionaires (Amazon, Walmart, etc.), how do we sustain our existence? We contribute to the increasing stratification of our society by opting for the cheapest, the quickest, the least thoughtful products. We are quite literally voting against our own best interest with our dollars. Like it or not, power = money. And while we may not have as much as the 1%, our dollars still mean something.
I’ve been thinking a lot about my own spending habits and I need to make some changes. I’m working on this for my 2018 resolution. It’s just a draft for now but maybe you will find it useful.
2018 Shopping Resolutions:
- Shop mostly small and local businesses
- Support female-owned business
- Shop size-inclusive brands
- Shop ethically made products, mostly in US
- Shop only brands that do not perpetuate negative stereotypes, hyper-sexualization of women, or body shaming
Let’s work together in 2018 to make better choices! 💵🇺🇸🌎👭💪