Living lives controlled by our own choices and not by those of large corporations can help us live more consciously and sustainably. Need a few tips to get you started down that path? Here are 7 ways to reduce the corporate influence on your life.
Frugally Sustainable's list of 7 things you can do to reduce the corporate influence in our daily lives is worth checking out. Here are 3 examples:
Don't eat at corporate restaurants
Instead you can:
- Stay home.
- Learn to cook frugal and nourishing meals.
- And when we do go out for a treat, we can choose to support the local ma and pop joint.
Don't buy corporate coffee
Instead you can:
- Find a small company that sells fair-trade, directly from sustainable farmers coffee and buy from them.
- Set the timer on the coffee pot while we're getting ready for work and make your own at home.
- Stop drinking coffee altogether (yeah...okay that's a stretch).
- Look for the the little local coffee shop and go there if we have to have a hit.
Don't buy new clothing made by a corporation
Instead you can:
- Simply live with less. I ask myself all the time, "Why do I need 6 pairs of jeans, 20+ pairs of shoes, God only knows how many shirts, and 4 different jackets?" At some point I felt proud to own all this stuff, now I see it as a burden.
- Exclusively shop consignment for the whole family.
- Learn to create, hem, repair, and re-purpose our own clothing.
- Retrain our minds...buying that new, super cute dress will not bring me happiness!
• Read More: Find the other 4 tips over at Frugually Sustainable
(Image: Flickr Member nyoin licensed for use under Creative Commons)
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Comments (4)
I think the real advice about clothing is similar to what is given about coffee: buy from small businesses, try to buy clothing "Made in the USA," and to think about buying quality clothing that will last many seasons.
Please do not forget shade grown coffee! Many farms use mixed crops which provides wildlife habitat and helps reduce global warming. Great list, eating at home has saved us a bundle. We also grow our own veggies. No gross hands touching my food, no screaming kids, just us and the cats, and a good movie or food show! Next I want to learn how to make clothing!
What an awesome website. Very comprehensive+not offputting with hoity-toity 'you're bad for buying/using this.'
If you can afford it: buy clothing from independent designers. And ALWAYS buy the best quality you can afford so you won't have to replace it as frequently.