I was replying to Anglico's short but excellent diary, Upper Crust or Dead Meat, and his tip jar, in which he asked us to "buy something today, something made in America, preferably made locally. Best of all, if you can, hire someone to do something."
I then realized my reply might be better put out there as a diary so we can kick around some ideas in this vein. (Thanks, Anglico, for helping to get the conversation started. Do good. Be nice. Have fun!)
Follow me below the fold for the four criteria I use to evaluate whether or not I need to be buying something (assuming I have the money to buy it, of course).
The criteria I'm using for purchases are these:
(1) Does the purchase contribute in some way to sustainability, flexibility, and resilience?
(2) Does the purchase support a business I'd like to see remain viable, saving jobs?
(3) Does the purchase do more to help the environment than it does to harm it?
(4) Is the purchase a better investment than saving the money would be?
If I can't answer at least three of those with yes, I look for something else. Before I tell y'all about what I'm planning to spend some money on this month, please think of these and add to them your own criteria, then share with us what you're going to purchase. If we all kick our ideas around, we can wind up not only helping the economy but making our society stronger as well.
Okay, for example, this is what I'm planning to buy when my next check comes in. I received the Original yesterday, and the pots are a lot bigger than I thought, so I'm pleased with the potential. By my criteria, this will give me great value for my money:
Criterion #1: Nothing keeps me happier than gardening, and growing healthy food is a basic and very important activity now. I don't currently live where I can ground-garden, though, which has been frustrating to say the least. But I could do some serious growing in these pots, and there are a lot of flexible ways--both indoors and out--that I can use them. Whether I go the hydroponics route or the standard container-gardening route, they will work well; I've found great reviews from people using them in creative ways. They are strong, well designed, and stack very neatly when not in use, too, so they will be easy to move to whatever situation we find ourselves in. So now that I see how it's all supposed to work, next week I'll order more pots and pick up the rest of the materials locally--preferably from a local business and not one I do not wish to support (Wal-Mart, Home Depot).
Criterion #2: As far as I have been able to determine, this is a U.S. company with local workers, and they have a really useful product for these times. I want this company to be around so I can continue to expand my food-growing capabilities using their system. I'm already imagining a setup like that, but with some standard row-type crops--maybe sweet potatoes or peanuts or herbs, etc.--also growing underneath.
Criterion #3: Okay, yes, these pots are made of plastic. I should find out if they use recycled plastics to make their pots--or convince them to do so if they don't. I do know their packaging is environmentally responsible because I've already received a shipment from them. And when I take into consideration that these pots will last a long, long time and will allow me to grow food at home instead of supporting the whole Big Agra thing--with all its wasteful monocropping and GM seeds and shipping and packaging and petrochemicals and risk for food poisoning--not to mention deterring sustainable local growing--I think this one nets a yes.
Criterion #4: All I can say is, I think so. When my money sits in the bank, it is not drawing interest. It is there so I can afford food and shelter, no matter what happens. What I would mostly use it for is to be sure I have food to eat or that I don't sink down so deeply into depression (the condition that has disabled me) that I cannot function and take care of myself. Facilitating my ability to garden is worth a whole lot more than knowing that small amount of money is in savings. Besides, I'm as inclined to worry about losing my savings to greedy crooks (or the repercussions of their activities) as the next person, so knowing my pots can't evaporate into thin air and nobody can take my ability to grow my own food away from me is worth more to me psychologically than the money itself. If we wound up living in the back of our truck, we could still grow food using these pots!
So, what are you thinking of buying now? Is it something some of the rest of us might want to spend money on, too? How come?