Making a Difference

Hello wonderful readers,

Happy Monday!

I wanted to take this week to share something I personally believe in: making a difference. I was not influenced to write this post by a company or organization that is wanting to advertise on this blog, but I was moved to donate a portion of this blog to organizations around the world that are making a difference.

Some of you might be thinking this is a form of free advertisement, but I see it as a form of education and taking control of consumerism. Yes, I am going to discuss consumerism on a minimalism blog. Being a minimalist doesn’t mean that you don’t buy anything. Minimalism is taking back the control you as a consumer hold and not allowing your items to control you. I do purchase items, necessary items, and if that makes me less of a minimalist, then so be it. I am sharing this with you to let you know that minimalism isn’t shaming yourself for buying something. I believe a proponent of minimalism is putting your money where your beliefs are,  for whatever your beliefs are. We can make a difference with the items we buy, the items we wear, the items we drive, the items we consume, the items we live in, and so on. We can make a difference with what we spend our hard earned money on.

We live in a world that has more access to information than ever before. We live in an environment where companies are sharing their passions through what they are selling. These companies are making a difference with the money they make instead of deepening their own pockets. Please do not take this week’s post as encouraging you to buy a lot of items, but as a way to open the door to discuss the power that you as a consumer hold. Yes, you’ve got the power. You hold the power to actually put your money where your mouth is (please don’t actually put your money in your mouth because it’s not sanitary). 

You as a buyer on this planet are casting a vote and expanding the stakes in the company you are buying from. Think of yourself as a stakeholder or as a large donor for a company or organization you are buying from. Your money is the driving factor as to why a company is still in existence. Purchasing anything on a shelf in a physical store, or online in a virtual store, is growing that product and company. Your money goes towards the advertising, the materials or items used in the product, the employees of the company, the beliefs behind the company, the laborers who actually created or grew the items, the means of transportation to get the items to a shelf or to your front door step, and so on. Every step that the item has been on you have supported with your purchase.

You might be thinking, "come on Jenny, buying a shirt from a store does not mean I support every step it has been on." I would like to challenge that thought (if it ever existed in the first place or if it’s just hypothetical). When you buy a shirt from a store, you are supporting that company. When you pay for a twenty-dollar shirt, your money goes towards the employee that stocks the clothes on the rack or shelf. You support the advertisement that brought you to the store in the first place. You support the employee(s) who created said advertisement. You support the type of material the shirt is made out of and where the material came from (probably outside of the United States). You support the person or machine that wove the material together to form the shirt (again, probably overseas). You support that persons employer, or the employer of the machine. Furthermore, you support the person running the machine and whether or not they are being paid fairly or working in fair conditions. 

You support all of these things and all you did was purchase a shirt. The same goes for other items such as your food and where it comes from (I might need another separate post about that topic).

The reason you as the consumer hold so much power is because without your demand and your monetary contribution, there would be no product. The items need to sell in order to keep the company working and moving forward. One individual person holds a great deal of power, and together, working collectively as a group, we hold immense power. Enough power to keep businesses running, or possibly closing their doors. Again, I am not sharing this with you to help shut any particular companies down, but to allow you to see how much power consumers hold.

Back to my point of making a difference. Since we hold so much power as consumers and we are holding up companies with our pocketbook, your spending habits should align with your beliefs and morals. If you support products that are fair trade, buy products that are fair trade. If you support products that help others in need, buy products that help those in need. If you support buying local, buy local. If you support animal rights, buy products that treat animals fairly. If you support equal rights, buy products that have strong equality morals.

It is easy to find out what a company stands for or supports. I am trying as hard as possible to stay bipartisan in this post because I don’t care much for politics even though you could form an argument that this post is very political. I am simply asking you to do some research into the companies you are purchasing your necessary items from. You might be surprised what you find.

I was moved to write this post when doing research for the Change post over Labor Day weekend. This post was about the average shoes an American woman and man hold and the #MsMinimalistChallenge was to move one pair of shoes to the donation pile. Something that was mentioned in the post was socks are the number one requested clothing item in homeless shelters. This pulled at my heart strings thinking of individuals without socks; an item that is necessary to survive and thrive in almost the entire world. After reading this on multiple websites, the nonprofit management college graduate in me asked “what are we doing to close this need gap? Who is taking action to create change?” 

So I looked into socks for homeless shelters and came across a company named Bombas. Bombas is a sock company that “exists to help solve this problem,to support the homeless community, and bring awareness to an under-publicizedproblem in the United States.” Every pair of socks purchased by a consumer like you, they will donate a pair of socks to a homeless shelter and someone in need. One pair purchased=one pair donated.

This is a company I can believe in and feel good about supporting as a consumer. This is a company that is changing the lives of those in need and is helping me keep my feet happy. All around, it’s a win-win for everyone.

I wanted to state one more time that I was in no way, shape or form compensated or encouraged to post about Bombas. In doing research for a blog post, I came across them and felt inspired to share the power we as consumers hold. As I come across more organizations creating change, I will post their information and a little bit about what they are accomplishing. If you feel moved to support a company for their positive involvement in society, please feel free to help them financially and refer them to your loved ones.

Thank you so much for reading the post this week. I greatly appreciate each and every one of you.

Subscribe, comment, and share.
Make a difference, light the way, and share your story today.
Namasté.