fair trade

As I am preparing to go to college next year, I find myself in need of a number of new items. My main concern is the laptop that I will need. It doesn't need to have a wide-screen or an extra-fancy video card, just a good amount of memory space. I'll probably be happy with whatever I get. But, believe it or not, I'm rather concerned about the accessories I will buy to go with it.  Read More »

Smells so lovely when you pour it,
You will want to drink a quar't
Of coffee.
It's delicious all alone, it's
Also good with doughnuts.
Black coffee.
Coffee stimulates your urges,
It is served in Lutheran churches,
Keeps the Swedes and Germans
Awake through the sermons
Have a pot of it today,
I'm sure you'll say it's awfully
Good coffee.  Read More »

Chocolate lovers are all over the world, and it’s a common thing to love because it depicts love and affection. I’m sure many of us have bitten into a delicious piece of chocolate that and felt momentarily lifted.  Read More »

In 1998, the FIFA World Cup in France said that it would not buy soccer balls made in child labor facilities. As well, Starbucks makes it possible for customers to buy "free trade coffee" which possibly came from child labor or "fair trade coffee" which is a little more expensive but came from a reliable source that doesn't enslave children.  Read More »

Today at the grocery store, I bought some oranges. I was expecting them
to be fresh, farm-picked Florida oranges, but on inspection they are
actually fresh, farm-picked South African oranges. This is very strange
to me: I live in one of the orange capitols of the world, and yet my
citrus is coming from thousands and thousands of miles away. I guess  Read More »

My love affair with H & M was over almost before it really began. I am a bit of a miser and hate spending a lot of money on clothes when I tend to ruin them. Since we don't have an H & M in Maine, I was pretty excited that there are like three in Edinburgh. I hadn't been to one since last summer, in Boston--funny how my perception's changed.  Read More »

A friend and I have just started a project called Caveat Emptor. It's a wiki with the purpose of informing the public about more conscientious consumption--reducing it as a whole, but also focusing on socially aware and green living.  Read More »