Chris Jordan's Three-Second Visual Meditation for Shoppers

"Three Second Meditation" is artwork from Chris Jordan that offers a reminder about how our consumer society has run amok. Click here, then click on the artwork to zoom in and see the details of the composition: 9,960 mail order catalogs, equal to the average number of pieces of junk mail that are printed, shipped, delivered, and disposed of in the U.S. every three seconds.

The Psychology of Shopping

I've written in the past about the power of advertising and the psychology of store design and product placement that convinces us to buy things, often things we don't need (scroll down and search for "Advertising" in "Categories" on the sidebar of this blog to read previous posts). The psychology of shopping is endlessly fascinating to me, and I've compiled a few more posts that address aspects of it.

1.  In "Psychology Today," Kit Yarrow, Ph.D, presents five ways that sales make you vulnerable. In her article, "Why Clearance Sales are Psychologically Irresistible," fear of missing out is in first position on her list.

In her research she found that "sale shoppers ultimately spend more money than non-sale shoppers. They often purchase things that aren’t truly satisfying; and because they aren’t satisfied they continue to shop. Additionally, the rush they get from snagging a bargain has an addictive quality - the products they purchase are in some ways secondary." She offers some suggestions about how to counter this vulnerability, including using cash rather than a credit card because cash is "real" and credit isn't.

2.  Here's a rather surprising observation, discussed in a New York Times opinion piece by Oliver Burkeman entitled, "Suffer. Spend. Repeat," about shopping during the holiday season:

"[I]t may strike you that retailers have gone out of their way to make holiday shopping as unpleasant an experience as possible. The odd truth is that they probably have. And there’s a reason for that: evidence suggests that the less comfortable you are during the seasonal shopping spree, the more money you’ll spend."

And once you start spending, chances are you'll continue because, "according to the theory of 'shopping momentum,' as explained by researchers from Stanford, Yale and Duke Universities, we fret far more about whether to buy the first item we purchase during a trip than we do subsequent ones."

3. Martin Lindstrom "has learned a few things about advertising and marketing. He's advised major corporations such as Disney and Proctor & Gamble, and recently wrote a book called Brandwashed, which chronicles the many ways corporations get us to consume their products."

Brandwashing starts very young (Lindstrom says the average American 3-year-old can recognize 100 brands) and it saturates our lives. Example: Those small cardboard boxes in the produce department of Whole Foods that say "Patty's Farm" aren't exactly what they seem to be. The box "[has] actually been designed by a graphic design company in New York City to make us feel this is nostalgia at its peak."

Learn more in an "All Things Considered" NPR interview called, "Products R Us: Are We Brandwashed?" (8 min 26 sec)


Obviously, the solution to functioning in a society that's saturated with marketing ploys is to try to outwit the advertisers by being constantly aware of their efforts and prepared to meet the onslaught that greets us whenever we go shopping. But vigilance can be fatiguing and even the most knowledgeable and sophisticated shopper can be vulnerable to just the right combination of sales techniques.

I find that avoiding "window shopping" and its equivalent, browsing online, help keep my focus on what's needed. But there have been times when that hypnotic "Oh, look! It's sparkly!" moment has taken over my brain and claimed my sanity just long enough to open my wallet and pull out a credit card. Do you have any special tricks your rely on when you're shopping? Please share because we all need as much help as we can get!

(Image credit: Robert Linder on stock.xchng)

Co-opting Cultures for Consumer Goods



A post by Lisa Hix on Fresh Type, "Why the ‘Native’ Fashion Trend Is Pissing Off Real Native Americans," brings up some thought-provoking concerns about co-opting another culture to create art or design for general public consumers. The most recent example of  this was Urban Outfitters which headed into the 2011 holiday season with a "Navajo" line. The result was a lawsuit by the Navajo Nation. The basis of the suit has to do with trademark infringement. From NPR:

"What they did here was they went and sued them on the basis of the Indian Arts and Crafts Act, which says it's illegal to produce a product that says it's Indian made when it's not Indian made. So the Navajo Nation is saying that the products that the company is producing makes it appear that Navajos had some part in the production of these products and therefore that's against the law."

From the Fresh Type article:

"The problem," says Jessica R. Metcalfe, a Turtle Mountain Chippewa and doctor of Native American studies who teaches at Arizona State University and blogs about Native American fashion designers at Beyond Buckskin, "is that they’re putting it out there as 'This is the native,' or 'This is native-inspired.' So now you have non-native people representing us in mainstream culture. That, of course, gets tiring, because this has been happening since the good old days of the Hollywood Western in the 1930s and '40s, where they hired non-native actors and dressed them up essentially in redface. The issue now is not only who gets to represent Native Americans," Metcalfe says, "but also who gets to profit."

But, as the article continues to explain, this is hardly the first time a culture has been used in products by designers who are not a part of it, for consumers who are also not a part of it.

"For example, the pattern we think of as 'paisley'—now most commonly seen on ties—was once a holy symbol of the Zoroastrians in Persia. And throughout fashion history, designers have been swiping motifs from other cultures—from China and Japan in Victorian times, Egypt in the 1920s, and West Africa and Latin America in the '60s."

I found the story about the long intertwining of the Pendleton company with Native Americans to be fascinating. Also interesting was learning how young Native American fashion designers are using the Pendleton blanket:

"It’s really cool to see how they reinterpret the blanket," Metcalfe says. "For Sho Sho, she’s using very vibrant colors and the bold graphics of the Pendleton blanket and giving it this hip-hop vibe, by making these hoodies for men and women. She's made the wearing blanket something cool for Native Americans to wear again."

Wait a minute. Hip-hop vibe? That's cultural appropriation, too.

Complex issue, isn't it?

Buying Locally in 2012

Perhaps the most interesting idea for thoughtful consumers to ponder for the new year is buying locally. Not only farmers markets, but small local businesses benefit from this. Consumers benefit by having access to special items that aren't available in every mall or supermarket across the country. The community benefits not only economically but also by forging links that bond neighbors together. Linton Weeks, who wrote an NPR post about the "new American localism," suggests that it may provide a new (revised from the 1960s) slogan for a bumper sticker: "Think Locally, Act Locally." Seems very thoughtful to me.

Happy New Year and thank you, readers, for your continued interest in and support of this blog!

Secret Santas

In the middle of all the usual holiday season advertising that encourages us to spend with wild abandon, and the attendant nervous speculation about whether or not we will, it was refreshing to read the following post from one of my favorite blogs, Cool Chicks from History. It's about Secret Santas:

If you haven’t heard yet, there is a nice little trend going on where people are going to Kmart and other retailers to pay off other people’s Christmas layaway. (Layaway is a program where people put aside items and pay for them a little bit at a time through the store).

In Grand Rapids, MI 20 Kmart layaways have been paid off in the last three days.

More than a dozen people have visited Bismark, ND Walmarts to anonymously pay off someone’s layaway.

An anonymous donor in Davenport, IA paid off four Kmart layaways.

Secret Santas have paid off layaways in Indiana, Nebraska, Michigan, Iowa, and Montana.

The phenomena seems to have started in Michigan and most of the incidents so far have happened in the Midwest. Donors have mostly asked to see lists that include Christmas toys and left a small balance, asking that the person who put the items on layaway be told that the bulk of their balance has been paid off.

Kmart, Walmart, Target, Toys R Us, and Babies R Us all have layaway programs if you are inspired to play Secret Santa yourself.

If you have a little extra cash, this is a great idea for how to spend it wisely. It also reminded me of another Secret Santa opportunity which I've enjoyed in the past. The Post Office collects letters to Santa Claus from needy kids for Operation Santa Claus. Here's the scoop from their website:

We hope that you will participate in Operation Santa Claus and become a Santa's helper this year by answering one letter or multiple letters from needy children. These are children who are not asking for toys, but for articles of clothing, for school supplies, for a toothbrush or other personal care items. While toys are a lot of fun, the items on these children's "Dear Santa" list are much more basic. Please help!

Here's a link to the list of participating Post Office locations, but you might also check with your own local Post Office. After you sign up, you'll be given a letter (or a bunch of letters to chose from), then all you have to do is purchase the items on the child's list, wrap them up and drop the box in the mail (I gave the return address of Santa Claus, North Pole, of course). There's still time to give a child -- and the child's family -- a great surprise Christmas! 

The Thoughtful Consumer Holiday Sales!

While mindless holiday shopping is something I don't advocate, mindful shopping for meaningful gifts is part of our holiday traditions. With that in mind, here are a few suggestions for gifts from The Thoughtful Consumer for friends and family -- or yourself:

If you'd like a boost to get you going on that seemingly inevitable New Year's resolution to unclutter and organize, try reading my book! You can find it on Amazon.com in both print and Kindle formats, but there's a special sale going on at Lulu.com that will let you save 30% on CyberMonday. To take advantage of the offer, click here for the print version; click here for the e-Pub version (you can read ePub books on the iPad, Nook, your computer and many other devices, but not the Kindle). At check-out, enter the code: CYBERMONDAY.

If you need to focus on getting your closet under control, check out my 20-page article, "How to Get Dressed Without Driving Yourself Crazy." It's available exclusively for the Kindle (and Kindle Reader) here, always for only 99 cents!

Art is beautiful, interesting, challenging, uplifting, stimulating, meditative, thought-provoking, soul-embracing, and sometimes just plain ol' fun. I think of it as an important part of life; I don't think of it as unnecessary "stuff." Granted, if you have too much art in your home, it can become as problematic as anything else that clutters your space, but usually people collect art rather than pile it up like too many toys or t-shirts or plastic food storage containers.

So, because I hope to contribute to the life-enhancing qualities of daily life -- and because it's just plain ol' fun -- I make art. You can see it on my blog, Art by Cynthia, which features examples of art I make and art I like. [Above: Japanese Garden Bridge, 3"x4", image transfer painted with watercolors, matted] Search the categories to see the paintings, drawings and hand-colored photographs I've posted, all with reduced holiday prices if you order by December 25, 2011. There are additional charges for shipping. If you live in Los Angeles and would like to see some of my other work, let me know and we can arrange it.

Happy Holidays!

Buy Nothing Day 2011

I'm appalled by the decision of some large retailers to open their stores on Thanksgiving to extend the time for what is usually the traditional Black Friday sales. Black Friday is bad enough, having gone from frantic buying frenzy to the kind of insanity that results in injuries and even death. Why diminish the value of Thanksgiving, which doesn't have any shopping other than food associated with it, by turning it into part of an annual high-pressure spending event?

Although the concept of simple living seems to be more popular each year and the necessity to cut back on spending is definitely increasing for most families, we still can't shake the idea that buying stuff is the primary focus of the holiday season. So, I'll mention once again the sanity-saving holiday, Buy Nothing Day, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. One day, November 25th, in which we make the decision not to spend our money. At all. Period. It's like a one-day fast: enough to make you aware of what you're doing, not enough to cause you any harm. It also keeps you out of the Black Friday madness.

But, realizing that we can't go forever without buying anything, after our one-day fast let's also consider being more conscious of how and where we do spend our money. Small Business Saturday, on November 26th, advocates shopping in locally-owned, non-chain stores. The two-year-old initiative is sponsored by the big business American Express in support of its small merchant customers. A company spokesman explains that by next year it will become "a part of the holiday tradition nestled between Black Friday and Cyber Monday."

Yes, Cyber Monday is now an "official day," too. The term was invented in 2005 by Shop.org, part of the U.S. trade association National Retail Federation when it was noted that "millions of otherwise productive working Americans, fresh off a Thanksgiving weekend of window shopping, were returning to high-speed Internet connections at work Monday and buying what they liked."

I doubt that we'll return anytime soon to the days when a joyful holiday season wasn't associated with spending massive amounts of hard-earned cash on everything from gifts to decorations to a new holiday wardrobe, followed by months of deprivation while trying to pay off the bills. But as some of us continue to spread the idea of restraint, maybe more of us will start to be mindful of our spending choices. Spending is a choice, once you've taken care of survival necessities, and while everyone is entitled to make their own choices, I know that camping out for a full week to snag a few Black Friday deals isn't one I'd make. Would you?

Technology and Convenient Shopping

There's a fine line between offering convenience to shoppers and manipulating them. I'm not sure where that line is drawn -- probably in different places for different people -- but we, the consumers, would have to stop shopping altogether to avoid all the subtle and not so subtle maneuvering that influences us. Because that's an unlikely proposition, all we can do is become aware of what they're coming up with to steer us in the direction they want us to go: the cash register. Here are some of the latest "convenient" ways that we're being encouraged to part with our money:

Mastercard wants to make shopping and paying on your smartphone easier with a soon-to-be-available Google Wallet app: "Utilizing gesture recognition tech, items could be selected on-screen by holding your hand over an item and navigating through the checkout process." Literally, wave your hand and you've got what you want!

WalMart plans to use social media data to figure out how to sell to you. This includes: "Using data from social-media interactions in the neighborhoods around Walmart stores to help determine how to stock them. Providing gift suggestions for your friends and family members based on what they’ve been talking about on Facebook and Twitter. [Sending] alerts from smartphone apps that flag you while you’re shopping in Walmart about products in sync with your social genome." Fortunately, those alerts will be an opt-in choice.

Macy's and Bloomingdale's are already offering shoppers free Wi-Fi and digital receipts. "The brands have also added live chats to their online shopping sites, allowing customer service representatives to provide real-time assistance to customers."

Also, "Macys.com has launched a new denim fit finder for women powered by fit personalization software. The function allows online shoppers to select a pair of jeans among all of the denim brands offered by Macys.com using a three-step process based on a customer's body type and style preferences." Now, that's convenient!

Five Aggressive Advertising Techniques

A thought-provoking update to my previous post about facial recognition software:

"5 Sci-Fi Ad Techniques That Are About to Make Life Creepier," a post on Cracked.com, lists some surprising methods, including facial recognition, that will affect -- or already are affecting -- how advertisers reach us:

1. Ads that literally whisper in your ear
2. Billboards that watch you back
3. Digitally editing product placement into old TV reruns
4. Eavesdropping on your phone calls
5. Eavesdropping through your computer

Notice this startling ad for Amnesty International that's mentioned in category #2; technology can be put to work for non-profits, too.

But have we gone too far? Of course, even if we have, there's no turning back now. Do you think these techniques will make you more susceptible to the ads you see or might your awareness make you resentful of the advertisers? Do you have greater concerns about your privacy? Will you alter your shopping behavior or use of technology now that you know what's going on? Is "1984" almost here?

Small Houses, Urban Gardens, Consumer Spending ~ and a Blog Anniversary

In honor of today's fifth anniversary of The Thoughtful Consumer blog, I'm taking a hiatus from my hiatus to share several articles devoted to three of my favorite areas of interest: small houses, urban gardening, and consumer behavior.

Small Houses

As regular readers know, I enjoy exploring the options offered by small houses, but sometimes I'm amazed at just how small a house can be and still have someone willing to live in. The design model pictured above is an example. This house will be 28" at its narrowest and about 4' at its widest. It's scheduled to be completed in December in Warsaw, Poland, and, yes, it was commissioned. Read more and see more photos at the NPR post here.

Urban Gardening

On an acre of land in the densely-populated Mission Terrace neighborhood of San Francisco, "Little City Gardens recently became the first legal commercial farm within city borders. Thanks to [the women gardeners], San Francisco leaders revised zoning laws to allow the cultivation and sale of produce in all neighborhoods." Will Oakland and Berkeley follow suit? Read more in the LA Times article here.

Consumer Behavior

The recession may have put a damper on spending in the U.S. on items to decorate homes and make them more fashionable, but that's not the case in other countries that are developing a middle class with "disposable income" for the first time in their histories. Brazil, Russia and, especially, China are hot markets not only for the stylish stuff but for the glossy magazines that pitch it. Architectual Digest is about to start publishing in China, but more than just foreign branches of already established magazines are finding welcoming markets; brand new publications, such as Minha Casa and Bamboo in Brazil and Home in Russia, are also being launched. Can clutter be far behind? Read more here in the LA Times.


I'll be back with more posts soon!

The American Dream: Shopping?



Author/entrepreneur Seth Godin posted on his blog today about the reinvigorated Xanadu, a huge shopping mall project in New Jersey. Triple Five, the company who created the gigantic Mall of America in a Minneapolis/St. Paul suburb, are taking over development of the stalled Xanadu shopping complex in New Jersey and they plan to rename it The American Dream Meadowlands. Seth speculates about the significance of the moniker and the goal it represents:

"Is this the best we can do? Shop?"

Good question. The developer pitches the project as an opportunity to create jobs and adds that it will drive tourism to the area. NJ Biz reports:

"Triple Five’s Mall of America attracts 42 million people a year, but 'we believe and are confident American Dream will be drawing 55 million visitors every year,' 40 percent to 50 percent of which will be tourists, [Dan Jasper, Triple Five spokesman] said. The local population surrounding Mall of America 'is insignificant' compared to that of New Jersey and New York, he said."

Of course, the attraction won't be just the projected 300 stores and fifty restaurants:

"The expansion will include a glass-domed indoor amusement park, an indoor water park, an indoor skating rink, bowling alley, mini-golf course and aquarium; Triple Five plans to retain the ski slope, outdoor observation wheel, performing arts center and 26-screen, 5,000-seat movie theater that already were part of the project plan."

And yet, I suspect that the people who currently show up at the Mall of America entertainment/retail venue and those who will show up at The American Dream will find shopping an integral part of their experience.

The American dream has long included a certain amount of stuff -- "a chicken in every pot," a bungalow with a white picket fence -- but the quantity of stuff that's included now has increased exponentially. It's not enough to have comfort; now we expect luxury. It's not enough to have what we need; now we want what we want -- and plenty of it.

The original American dream was focused on freedom from persecution. Have we abandoned all such noble goals? Have we stopped dreaming about providing affordable health care to everyone, a solid education for children in safe public schools, cities with fully functioning infrastructures? Or personal goals like sending your kids to college, having a meaningful career and a secure retirement?  Has it all been reduced to wanting enough cash for a good time at the mall and a home crammed full of more stuff than we'll ever use, let alone need?

Life doesn't have to be a daily exercise in which we think only of serious responsibilities to our fellow man and our own survival. It's legal to have some fun, too! But how do we define the American dream now? Seth asked if shopping is the best we can do.

No. We can do better.

Five Simple Tips to Help You Make Good Shopping Decisions

'Tis the season! But you may have noticed that it often feels like it's no longer the holiday season, it's the shopping season. In a year of record high unemployment, with massive numbers of home foreclosures, and utter financial disaster affecting a huge number of people, we're still being urged to shop until we drop. Of course, not everyone is buying it.

In the past, I've posted several alternative views about how to handle shopping during the holidays, including observing Buy Nothing Day rather than Black Friday; considering the words of Reverend Billy of The Church of Stop Shopping; and celebrating Discardia, the holiday created by Dinah Sanders who wants us to find the joy in letting go of stuff rather than acquiring more. But the reality is that most of us will be searching for a gift or two, so we might as well be as prepared as we can be when we face shopping.

I'm an advocate of buying consumable gifts rather than stuff: food, tickets to events, memberships to museums, etc. These gifts also offer the advantage of shopping online. But if you're going to buy something that your recipient will have around the house for awhile, I'm also an advocate of shopping at local small businesses who will appreciate your support. Whether you intend to shop in your neighborhood or hit the mall or superstore, it's helpful at least to be aware of some of the factors that influence our decisions to buy.

Retail stores will do their best to engage all five of your senses to get you to make a purchase. They'll be sure to use flattering lighting; they'll play music in a familiar style that makes you comfortable, like you belong there, and the tempo will be slow enough that you'll be encouraged to linger; they'll make the store smell inviting, too, and maybe offer you free samples of cookies or other holiday goodies (eating stimulates the salivary glands and studies have shown that leads to spending); and if you touch something you're considering buying, you'll be more inclined to buy it (a "disadvantage," from the retailers point of view, that online shopping can't overcome; but an advantage for careful shoppers!).

Stores will also encourage impulse buying. We've all been tempted, and often succumbed to the urge to pick up a little something extra while standing in line at the cash register.

Retailers often identify potential 'impulse buys' and stock them at the ends of aisles and close to the checkout stand. Shoppers may not plan to make these sorts of purchases, but stores do plan to make these sorts of sales.

Adding a bonus item for "free" is a temptation few can resist.

The power of 'free' is really quite incredible," says Dan Ariely, professor of psychology and behavioral economics at Duke University in Durham, N.C., and author of Predictably Irrational. In a series of experiments described in his book, Ariely found that people consistently preferred to get something free over paying a little for something, even though they'd actually come out ahead in the latter case. For instance, he offered mall-goers in Boston the following choice: a $10 Amazon gift certificate free or a $20 certificate for $7. Most opted for the freebie, even though they would have netted more money from the $20 certificate ($13 versus $10). In a second experiment, he offered a slightly different choice: People could buy a $10 gift certificate for $1 or a $20 certificate for $8. Again, the $20 certificate was $3 more profitable, but this time — with "free" off the table — people went for it.

All prices are relative and our perception of value is affected by this. A less expensive item in a store full of luxury goods may look like a bargain, but the same price on the identical item in a department store could look excessive because we'll compare it to the average department store prices.

So, for example, a computer store can probably sell more $100 printers if it also has a $300 printer for sale than it could if the $100 printer were the most expensive one they carried.

This is the time of year that stores are most aggresive in offering discounts if you open a credit card account with them. But simply choosing to pay with any credit card can be deceiving.

Paying with a credit or debit card can almost seem like not paying at all. No actual money changes hands. There's no real evidence that you're any poorer than you were before. But when you pay with cash, money does change hands, and not in a pleasant direction. You end up with less than you had before. You're demonstrably poorer. It hurts. A number of studies have shown that shoppers are less prone to impulse buying if they leave the plastic at home and force themselves to endure the pain of paying with cash. Ideally, they should use bills of large denominations, according to a 2006 paper in the Journal of Consumer Research. "People are less likely to spend if they are carrying a $50 bill compared to when they have ten $5 bills," says Mishra, a co-author of that article.

Finally, there is evidence that the shopping experience is different for men and women. We really do still behave like hunters and gatherers:

"There's a shopping center in Germany with a play area for men," says Daniel Kruger, a professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. "A woman can drop off her partner there, and while she shops he can drink, work with power tools or watch sports on TV."

The point being, both of them are happier that way. "Men just want to get what they want and get out," says Kruger, the lead author of a 2009 study published in the Journal of Social, Evolutionary, and Cultural Psychology that documented fundamental differences in the shopping behaviors of men and women. "Women have a much greater appreciation of detail, a much greater desire to actually experience what they're getting. They want to see several items and compare them."

The researchers linked these differences all the way back to when the man of the cave went out hunting while his mate stayed home gathering nuts and berries — "which is very similar," Kruger observes, "to going to a flea market today and sorting through everything to see what's good."

So, assuming you've thought through exactly how much shopping you want to do, how can you plan ahead to be sure you make your best possible shopping decisions?

1. Set a budget.
2. Don't shop while you're hungry or tired.
3. Don't buy something just because you can get something extra with it for "free."
4. Pay with cash.
5. Remember that hunters and gatherers are happier shopping separately!

© 2010 Cynthia Friedlob

Image credit: Robert Proksa at stock.xchng

How to Get Dressed Without Driving Yourself Crazy

To celebrate the fourth anniversary today of the publication of my book, Sorting It Out: One Disorganized Woman Solves the Problem of Too Much Stuff , I'm making my short article, "How to Get Dressed Without Driving Yourself Crazy," available for free! It's over twenty pages of advice from me, a fashion-challenged woman who just wants to get out of the house looking decent. If you curse your clothes closet, please download the PDF, read and enjoy.

A new book is underway, also devoted to the joys of living with less stuff. You'll be the first to know when it's finished. Meanwhile, expect a new blog post very soon about people who want to "sell everything and start over," currently the most popular Google search topic that leads to this blog. Interesting concept, isn't it?

Connections: Cadmium-Tainted Children's Jewelry and Why We Should Still Buy Newspapers

China is a country intent on growth from increasing exports but, whether through ignorance, carelessness or greed, it has a history of selling contaminated products, such as toothpaste, cough syrup and melamine-tainted milk. When they arrive in the U.S., all of those products fall under the jurisdiction of the Food and Drug Administration, the federal agency charged with the daunting task of regulating and ensuring the safety of food, drugs and many other products that affect our health.

Many other consumer products, including toys and jewelry, are the concern of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, another agency with a gigantic task involving the protection of the American public. Because of China's woeful record with deadly exported food, it should come as no great surprise that companies in China have been selling dangerous cadmium-laden inexpensive children's jewelry and trinkets to the U.S. Recent studies indicate that cadmium may be more toxic than lead to the developing brains of very young children. It was rather astonishing that the public response from at least one Chinese jewelry seller just a day after the Associated Press broke this story was that using cadmium cuts costs and profit was the only concern for the makers (see this article):

"Business is business, and it's all up to our client," said He Huihua, manager of the Suiyuan Jewelry Shop at International Trade City in Yiwu, a sprawling wholesale mecca where sellers pitch their wares in hopes of landing a lucrative export contract."

The response by U.S. retailers was swift. Wal-Mart pulled the jewelry immediately and other retailers followed suit. I would imagine that Wal-Mart, so often the big corporate "bad guy" in consumer stories, enjoyed having an opportunity to take an indisputably correct stance:

"Melissa Hill, a spokeswoman for Wal-Mart Stores Inc., called the AP findings 'troubling.' She said the company, which is the world's largest retailer, had a special responsibility 'to take swift action, and we are doing so.'"

AP writers Justin Pritchard and Jeff Donn also reported:

"U.S.-based trade groups, as well as distributors and sellers of the jewelry containing cadmium, said their products meet safety standards. Cadmium is regulated in painted toys but not in jewelry. . . 'This is just the latest example of the need for stronger consumer safety laws in this country, especially for products manufactured and marketed for children, and shows yet again why products from China should be subject to additional scrutiny,' said Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro, a Connecticut Democrat."

What an interesting, complex story that involves government agencies, corporations, and most significantly and wonderfully, at least to me, the press:

1. Cadmium, a hazardous metal, is not federally regulated when used in jewelry, information reported in the press when this story broke, resulting in many calls for such regulation.

2. Children's jewelry that was saturated with the metal (sometimes as much as 90% of its content) was manufactured in China because using the metal was cheap, as the press discovered through their own AP-funded investigation and research.

3. The press reported that the jewelry was being exported to major U.S. retailers whose primary appeal to the public is offering inexpensive goods.

4. The retailers stopped selling the jewelry, we hope for wholly for ethical and responsible reasons, but also certainly to avoid a public relations nightmare in the press.

5. Consumers are being alerted by the press so that they can get rid of the tainted jewelry before their children are harmed.

Internet lovers (and, obviously, I like being online, too), please take note that it was the Associated Press that broke this story. The AP, a mainstream media giant, was founded in 1846. Here's its mission statement (italics are mine):

"AP's mission is to be the essential global news network, providing distinctive news services of the highest quality, reliability and objectivity with reports that are accurate, balanced and informed. AP operates as a not-for-profit cooperative with more than 4,000 employees working in more than 240 worldwide bureaus. AP is owned by its 1,500 U.S. daily newspaper members. They elect a board of directors that directs the cooperative."

Those daily newspapers are suffering right now, cutting back reporters and columnists, and struggling to provide a crucial service to all of us.

Even the most noble government servants must deal with bureaucracies and political agendas, and even the most benevolent corporations are beholden to stockholders and profit motives, but a truly free press is the thoughtful consumer's best friend.

The LA Times. The New York Times. The Washington Post.

Your paper?

© 2010 Cynthia Friedlob
Photo credit: Lusi at Stock.XCHNG

Discardia: A Holiday for Unclutterers

Monday, the 21st, marks the return of Discardia, one of my favorite holidays. I first learned about Discardia two years ago from a post on Jeri Dansky's popular blog; the full story (which is definitely worth reading) is at the website of Dinah Sanders, who came up with the amusing idea for this clever holiday in 2002.

Although it's celebrated throughout the year (between the solstices and equinoxes and their following new moons), the celebration nearest to Christmas is particularly worth noting. I've posted about the spirit of the Discardia in the past, but the basic principle is that it's a time of letting go of unnecessary things, "things that no longer add value to your life." That requires a significant change in the way we think about our possessions. What better time to reexamine the value of possessions than during a holiday season in which the focus too often is on mindlessly giving stuff to other people who probably really don't need it?

I love giving thoughtful presents so I'm not advocating abandoning the practice. I'm just very fond of the idea of using this time to let go of lots of my excess stuff, too. Also, the end of my year-long, 365 Item Toss Uncluttering Challenge is looming, so I've used Discardia to help me make sure I met my goal -- and I have. I've even exceeded it: 486 items have been donated, recycled, re-gifted or sold in the past year! You can get more details about the challenge here on the original blog post (updates are in the comments).

If you celebrate Discardia, you'll find that what you're really doing is giving yourself a gift: freedom from too much stuff!

(c) 2009 Cynthia Friedlob

The Movie Santa Doesn't Want You To See!

Christmas is a tricky time for unclutterers. It makes us painfully aware that we're swimming upstream as far as the general society is concerned, although the tanked economy currently is making that swim quite a bit easier. But even the most confirmed unclutterer is not necessarily a grinch. Except for the ascetics among us, we'd all agree that there's nothing inherently wrong with stuff; the primary issue is the quantity of stuff that so many of us have. True, most of us who advocate living with fewer rather than more possessions would prefer to keep the tangible holiday gifts to a minimum, but that doesn't mean we don't have the spirit of the season. And yet, how does one keep the "correct" balance during a time that's so focused on giving -- or, more accurately, buying?

Bill Talen, aka "Reverend Billy," offers one answer in What Would Jesus Buy? Produced in 2007 by Morgan Spurlock of Supersize Me fame, this documentary film tackles the commercialization of Christmas but has a larger focus on the general excesses of consumerism, too. Talen, a genuinely concerned consumer, is also a comedic performance artist who resembles a younger Jerry Lee Lewis. He travels the nation as a preacher from the Church of Stop Shopping. The Reverend warns of the coming Shopocalypse: "the end of mankind from consumerism, overconsumption and the fires of eternal debt." He exorcises demons at the corporate headquarters of that well-known small business crusher, Wal-Mart. He and the Church of Stop Shopping Gospel Choir put on a rousing good show everywhere from small churches to the Mall of America (surely a place of worship for shoppers), but the message is legitimate: buy less and give more; buy locally; reduce, reuse, recycle. And buy with awareness. Who made the product? Where? At what cost to the environment? Under what labor conditions?

All of these issues are important, even urgent, but sometimes it's easy to get caught up in the seriousness of our concerns and lose the joy of the season and the fun of giving. Sometimes the message has a greater impact when the messenger makes us think and laugh, as Reverend Billy does.

If you live near Greenfield, Massachusetts, you can see the show at the Christmas Revival on December 19th. You can see the Reverend Billy's recent interview on CNN here.

Does the Reverend speak to you?

(c) 2009 Cynthia Friedlob

Bleak Friday

I wrote a blog post last year about the outrageous circumstances of the tragic death of a WalMart employee on Black Friday. Jdimytai Damour was the 34-year-old temporary employee who was trampled to death as a mob of shoppers stormed the doors of a Long Island WalMart store, searching for bargains at the ironically named Green Acres Mall. In case you didn't keep track of the legal proceedings that resulted from the "incident," as it's euphemistically called, here's what WalMart agreed to do last May in order to avoid criminal prosecution:

1) implement improved "crowd management" plans at all of the 92 stores across NY state

2) set up a $400,000 fund to compensate about 11 other victims who were injured at that time

3) donate $1.5 million to social service and non-profit groups in the Long Island community

4) hire 50 local teenagers annually

Although WalMart admitted no wrong-doing as part of the terms of the settlement (which was not accepted by Charles Ogera, the victim's father), this may seem a rather paltry amount for the retail giant to fork over for what many would consider gross negligence. However, I was surprised to learn that, had the case gone to court, the maximum penalty that could have been imposed on the corporation for a felony was $10,000 -- about what WalMart earns in fifteen minutes on an average day. [Correction: The original proposed fine of $7,000 is what WalMart earns in about 18 seconds, according to the LA Times. That makes more sense.]

And yet, as much as the store may have appeared at fault in the eyes of the public, if not the eyes of the law, Bruce Watson, writing at Daily Finance, commented on the power of consumer greed that contributed to the crowd's behavior that day: "...it is worth noting that the store's customers argued with the police and employees who asked them to leave after the trampling. All told, the event suggests a deep consumerist soul-rot that is alarming."

Although economic conditions will probably slow down spending a bit this year, I wonder if we'll ever get to the root of the problem, the "soul-rot" that forces so many people to buy so much unnecessary stuff. Of course, anyone can make the choice not to participate in the shopping madness. I've written about Buy Nothing Day in the past, too; it falls on the same day as Black Friday. Maybe it will pick up a few more adherents this year. I hope so. Whatever happens, I just don't want to have to write another Angry Consumer blog post on November 27th.

(c) 2009 Cynthia Friedlob

Photo credit: Sanja Gjenero/stock.xchng.hu

Going Wrong Going Green, Part 2

Synchronicity, according to Dictionary.com, is "a coincidence of events that seem to be meaningfully related." After my previous post, I haven't been searching for more examples of the complexity of the decision-making process when you want to be a thoughtful consumer, but the LA Times had two articles today that relate to the topic. Synchronicity? Why not?

First, fabric. Let's consider the fact that many consumers who think of themselves as concerned and aware disdain anything other than "natural" fabrics like cotton, yet "Hard Truths about Uzbek Cotton," an opinion piece written by Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), details the plight of children forced to pick cotton in Uzbekistan, the world's third largest exporter of cotton -- cotton that ends up in our marketplace.

"Unlike most instances of forced child labor in agriculture, this mass mobilization is not driven by exploitative plantation owners or desperate families but by the government. . . Consumers and companies in the West prop up this monstrous system by unwittingly purchasing cotton harvested by forced child labor. Supply chain analysts have determined that most Uzbek cotton is sold to countries in South Asia and Eastern Europe. From there, the cotton is processed and turned into garments sold in retail stores in the United States, Canada and Western Europe."

Is child slave labor cotton any more acceptable than blood diamonds? No.

And don't think that buying "organic cotton" necessarily solves the problem. Erik Cussack's "Organic Cotton" blog has interesting posts about fake organic cotton that's being sold as the real thing and about genetically-modified organic cotton from India. Also, if organic cotton fabric is dyed with toxic chemicals, which does happen, that defeats its purpose. There's also a cost factor if you're purchasing most legitimate organic cotton goods; not everyone can afford a $35 T-shirt.

The next issue may sound amusing, but it really isn't: toilet paper. Reporter David A. Fahrenthold wrote, "Environmentalists Target Plush Toilet Paper," in which he explains that "plush U.S. toilet paper is usually made by chopping down and grinding up trees that were decades or even a century old. Environmentalists want Americans, like Europeans, to wipe with tissue made from recycled paper goods."

Although toilet paper and facial tissues account for only 5% of the products made from "the forest goods industry," do we really want to cut down a single old growth tree so that we can have three-ply toilet paper? No.

And finally, before I put to rest, at least for awhile, the problems inherent in going green, I want to close with some information I just happened to come across recently having to do with ethanol, which has been touted as as a biofuel alternative to gasoline. In 2008, the U.S. and Brazil produced 89% of the supply of ethanol fuel; Brazil has been nicknamed "the Saudi Arabia of biofuels."

From Wikipedia: "Because it is easy to manufacture and process and can be made from very common crops such as sugar cane, potato, manioc and corn, in several countries ethanol fuel is increasingly being blended as gasohol or used as an oxygenate in gasoline. Bioethanol, unlike petroleum, is a renewable resource that can be produced from agricultural feedstocks."

This makes it an appealing commodity to environmentalists. But, it turns out that, in addition to potential ecological problems affecting water quality (see the NY Times) and the contamination of grain fed to livestock (see Minnesota Public Radio), once again the human cost must be considered.

According to an LA Times article by Patrick J. McDonnell from June, 2008, "[m]ore than 300,000 farmworkers are seasonal [sugar] cane cutters in Brazil, the government says. By most accounts, their work and living conditions range from basic to deplorable to outright servitude. . . In its annual report, Amnesty International last month highlighted the plight of Brazil's biofuel workers, more than 1,000 of whom were rescued in June 2007 after allegedly being held in slave-like conditions at a plantation owned by a major ethanol producer. . . Although slavery cases tend to grab headlines, advocates say laborers typically face more quotidian abuse -- low pay, excessive work hours, inadequate safety gear, an absence of sanitary and health services, and exposure to pesticides and other toxic chemicals."

So, this is what it takes to produce one type of alternative fuel? Is that okay with everyone? No.

Unfortunately, I could list many more situations that most consumers may not be aware of, including some that I've covered in previous posts (see, for example, Fair Trade Jewelry). Clearly it's not easy to understand the complex issues surrounding every single thing we buy, to make the right decision, to do the right thing. But accepting that fact may at least help us make some decisions that we know are right:

I know for certain that I can live without that third ply.

© 2009 Cynthia Friedlob

Photo credit: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Going Wrong Going Green

We all like to think we’re making wise consumer decisions that are good for us and good for the Earth. We like to think we’re making informed decisions, not irrational, arbitrary ones. Okay, at least we like to think we’re giving it our best shot. Turns out that often there are trade-offs and compromises that probably don’t even occur to us when we’re making those decisions.

Here are just a few things to consider:

Sometimes the real cost of "buying American" defeats, or seriously compromises, our efforts to go green. For example, Newsweek recently reported that "[a] New Yorker leaves a smaller carbon footprint drinking a French Bordeaux shipped across the Atlantic (2.93 pounds of carbon per bottle) than drinking a Napa merlot (7.05 pounds). That's because when it comes to calculating carbon costs, the method of transportation matters as much as the distance. Shipping freight by sea generates less than half the emissions associated with airplanes and tractor-trailers."

The same shipping problem exists for groceries. Consumers have come to expect fresh produce in our stores throughout the year, so importing is the only option. But the New York Times reported that "the movable feast comes at a cost: pollution — especially carbon dioxide, the main global warming gas — from transporting the food. Under longstanding trade agreements, fuel for international freight carried by sea and air is not taxed. Now, many economists, environmental advocates and politicians say it is time to make shippers and shoppers pay for the pollution, through taxes or other measures."

But the transportation/fuel issue isn't straightforward: "The problem is measuring the emissions. The fact that food travels farther does not necessarily mean more energy is used. Some studies have shown that shipping fresh apples, onions and lamb from New Zealand might produce lower emissions than producing the goods in Europe, where — for example — storing apples for months would require refrigeration."

And how about those "green" re-usable bags we're all supposed to remember to carry into the store when we go shopping? Again, it's not so simple to figure out the benefits. From the Wall Street Journal: "'If you don't reuse them, you're actually worse off by taking one of them,' says Bob Lilienfeld, author of the Use Less Stuff Report, an online newsletter about waste prevention. . . . [and] Finding a truly green bag is challenging. Plastic totes may be more eco-friendly to manufacture than ones made from cotton or canvas, which can require large amounts of water and energy to produce and may contain harsh chemical dyes. Paper bags, meanwhile, require the destruction of millions of trees and are made in factories that contribute to air and water pollution. Many of the cheap, reusable bags that retailers favor are produced in Chinese factories and made from nonwoven polypropylene, a form of plastic that requires about 28 times as much energy to produce as the plastic used in standard disposable bags and eight times as much as a paper sack . . ."

Kind of makes you want to throw up your hands and surrender, doesn't it?

But let's not do that. Let's continue doing our best to make good decisions, but let's also remember that life is full of compromises. In fact, it's not always possible to make the "right" consumer choices because we can't always figure out what they are. Maybe realizing this is an opportunity to develop a more tolerant response to people who make choices that we don't understand. Maybe it's an opportunity to lighten up.

And maybe the whole dilemma doesn't matter all that much because if we don't start making better choices about how we relate to and care about other human beings, trust me, shopping will be the least of our problems.

© 2009 Cynthia Friedlob

Photo credit: StockVault.net

The Power of Marketing to Kids

I know that the holidays are a big deal when you're a kid. But I'm also an advocate of parents knowing where to draw the line when it comes to gifts. (Easy for me to say; I'm not a parent!)

Yet, every child wants something special -- maybe a pricey bicycle, an expensive musical instrument, or a hard-to-find toy. So every parent who can afford to, and many who can't, do their very best to accommodate their children's wishes. In holidays long past, parents might buy the item second-hand and that often was just as satisfying as one that was brand new.

Today, techno-toys (anything from computers to fancy phones to game machines) seem to top the list for a lot of kids. Because technology changes so rapidly, second-hand goods in this category are usually going to be outdated and not an adequate substitute. Also because of the rapid changes, many new technology-based gifts will require expensive upgrades, usually more quickly than parents expect. You can also bet that they'll get discarded more quickly than parents expect, too, when the next new toy comes along.

So I was interested to read a blog post by my favorite marketing guru, Seth Godin, called "When Marketing Goes Nuclear" and watch the associated video showing the reactions of various kids, each opening a gift that turns out to be a Nintendo Wii. According to Seth, the video shows what happens when "scarcity plus Christmas plus social pressure plus greed plus kids = critical mass." He found the video disturbing; I'm on the fence about it. I would hope that some kids would be equally excited to find a less expensive gift that they also wanted, but maybe that's no longer realistic thinking.

When did marketing to kids take over to the point that "every" kid wants the same thing, and wants it desperately? Does it go all the way back to Tickle Me Elmo? Cabbage Patch Kids? Shirley Temple dolls? When did a techno-toy become the most important thing to have? Are girls and boys equally excited about them? At what age does the techno-toy desire kick in?

I've got a million more questions.

What do you think of the video?


© 2009 Cynthia Friedlob