Friday 24 January 2014

Charitable giving and possibly being a hypocrite while shopping and generally in life*

Warning - this is going to be a wordy, rambling mess of a blog post - I was pondering it the other day in the car! It also has nothing to do with Swirlyarts but 'person behind the blog' and all that :)

As you may well know I do like a good charity shop - both to buy from and also to donate to. I had a huge amount of fabric to donate the other day and it goes into the fabric bins at my local supermarket. There is normally only one bin but this time there were two - one for a cancer charity and one for The Salvation Army. Given the choice (as I was) I chose the the cancer charity as I really don't like The Salvation Army stance on LGBT issues (the article is on Huffpost Gay Voices so there may be some bias there but you can see more on Snopes here) However I have been into their charity shops, have bought from them in the past and even donated fabric to their bins so maybe a little bit of hypocrisy there? There is a very small charity shop in Burnley that raises money for the Catholic Church. I go there although I'm an atheist and don't like certain aspects of the Catholic Church or organised religion full stop. More hypocrisy.

I'm keen on sustainable fashion where the workers are paid a decent amount of money but I also shop at Primark. I like the idea of Fair Trade food but often buy non Fair Trade food even though we can probably afford most things Fair Trade. I don't like Nestle's stance on lots of things but I do like Aero bars and Quality Street. I have friends who boycott Nestle but I don't even though some of the things they do are horrible. More hypocrisy.

Maybe I am over thinking things (me?? Never!) Anyone else a hypocrite?? Thoughts and ramblings of your own are welcome!

*and the longest blog title award goes to.......


3 comments:

louisa said...

I am a card carrying member of the hypocrite club too.

Like you, we're more careful about where we donate stuff to but not so fussy about where we buy from - I buy from a church-related shop: my uneasiness bought off by its cheapness (and the fact that it is so chaotic that I doubt it actually makes any money). I'm as likely to buy a Wispa or a mint Aero as I am a Fair Trade chocolate bar. And while I try to eat happy meat and happy eggs at home, I'm nowhere near as careful in restaurants etc.

(Back when I was blogging regularly, we used to whisper "shhh, don't tell the internet!" whenever we didn't recycle or compost something, or if I bought a bottle of water. ;) )

I've always felt pulled between frugalness and green/ethical living - sure, there is some overlap but there are always times when they're at odds. I don't know what the answer is but I suspect being conscious of our behaviour is the first step...?

WendyCarole said...

yep I am too. I have given up on religion. Bu t I am quite happy to have coffee or lunch in a church cafe.

I also buy non fair trade chocolate bars. Feel awful how garment workers are treate din other countries but still buy cheap clothes.

s.z.elliott said...
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