If you’re anti-Governator, get anti-Target. California Consumers United just launched a boycott against them for giving about $660,000 to causes that benefit Schwarzenegger and his political aims (via BuyBlue.org). Mad about the special election? Pissed about the ballot measure requiring parental consent for minors seeking abortions? Angry that he vowed to veto Cail’s gay marriage bill before it even hit his desk? Get back at him taking your biz elsewhere. (**Update, 10/18/05: In case you needed another reason to quit your Target habit, now this Governator-loving company is letting its pharmacies refuse to fill birth control prescriptions. Send Target an angry letter now!)
In other news: Sam’s Club’s gonna start selling fair trade coffee in October. This is not an endorsement, just an FYI. The chain’s owned by WalMart, after all. And if you’re gonna pay for fair trade coffee, you may as well get the good stuff from people who care. Try Monkey & Son or Trader Joe’s, for ex — which are prolly closer to you anyway.
Luckily, no Sam’s Clubs can be found in the city of angels. There is, however, one WalMart in Los Angeles that you can help bring down by joining BuyBlue.org’s toothpaste revolution. That’s right, toothpaste. I recommend the Tom’s of Maine stuff, available at Trader Joe’s. It works much better than their deodorant. (**Update 9/17/05: Tom’s toothpaste has been rated tops by ethiscore.org! Via Treehugger)
And I hear there was an exciting blackout yesterday! I missed it entirely — was taking my procrastination nap, not studying for my quals. Damn — I always miss the good stuff — But the light better stay on and the earth stay quake-free during my quals tomorrow…
**Update 10/30/05: If you still had any love left for Walmart, check out this NYT article: Wal-Mart Memo Suggests Ways to Cut Employee Benefit Costs (via BuyBlue). In it, you’ll find out that one Walmart suggestion was to stop hiring pesky unhealthy people. Cuz you know, those things cost money. If you’re disgusted, be thankful we only have one Walmart in the City of Angels — and don’t go there.
Filed in: shopping california buyblue walmart target coffee fairtrade labor traderjoes trade losangeles
Damn, I liked Target. But I don’t like Schwarzenegger or his special election so … I’ll have to find somewhere else to shop for now. Thanks for the heads up.
Comment by Stephanie — September 14, 2005 @ 10:13 am
ola siel,
regarding that organic fair trade t-shirt: It was made by The Rajlaxmi Cotton Mills Pvt. Ltd. in Kolkata, Westbengal, India. You can contact the firm via Mr. Rajat Jaipuria, rajlakshmi at vsnl dot com.
i was just looking for organic clothing and found this: http://www.saharaorganics.com/home.html
Or why not try the black spot sneakers:
http://www.adbusters.org/metas/corpo/blackspotsneaker/
I forgot my ble**ding password so i cant login but it is me Johan …
Comment by Anonymous — September 14, 2005 @ 2:02 pm
i still cant remember my password but why not have at this list of companies for “fair trade” clothes etc
http://www.cleanclothes.org/companies/04-04-alternative-ethical-clothes-review.htm
//Johan
Comment by Anonymous — September 14, 2005 @ 2:29 pm
It’s been a lil while since I’ve been at Target, but I did buy cards and wrapping paper there before — They were cheap and some were quite cute, so I’ll have to find a new outlet for that. But other than short-term use stuff, Target goods really don’t make sense — mostly cheapos made to break or warp or fade or lose shape. I’d say it’s cheaper in the long run to fork over the money for good stuff that’ll last a while.
Johan — Thanks for the info on fair trade clothes :) Will have to research my options. Good luck with the password issues!
Comment by Siel — September 14, 2005 @ 6:09 pm
I’ve got to refine my posting methods. Did it again. Comment failed to appear and it was short no less. Anyway, I said that it’s been years since I shopped at Target and I try to avoid the Plantation (Wal-Mart) when I can. It’s hard, though. Hope the quals are going smoothly.
Comment by Fletch — September 15, 2005 @ 4:42 pm
What do you buy at Wal-Mart? Curious — Haven’t been in one since I went to college in Indiana.
I hope it’s not toothpaste –
And about commenting issues — I’ve found that the “words” on the word verification feature are getting longer and more complicated. For this comment, it is fhwgklow. I constantly mistype them. Wouldn’t like 3 letters do?
Comment by Siel — September 16, 2005 @ 12:12 am
No, no Wal-Mart toothpaste for me. You know, I can’t really remember what I last bought there, possibly because the place is so context-free. They all look alike, are featureless, and employ workers who dress alike.
I know nothing about word verification software, but a few letters would seem to work to me. There are exactly 17576 possible “words” from three letters, but maybe more are needed to fool the spammers.
Indiana, huh? Mmm, interesting.
Comment by Fletch — September 16, 2005 @ 2:24 pm