"Humanitarians" & Showing Off

It also bugs me when people like Angelina claims she is such a humanitarian but buys $45 shirts for her baby. The celebs often spend hundreds of dollars on one outfit for an infant. Even in "regular" circles, this bothers me. I subscribe to Yoga Journal. This last issue had a bit about how eco-clothing tells how a person truly lives and believes. What is "humanitarian" about wearing overpriced outfits with the claim they are not made from any artificial materials or animal products? Of course, there was a moo with her young daughter in designer "eco" clothing. It is nothing but pomposity. I wrote a letter to the editor of how proper living and being a humanitarian goes far beyond buying a $300 dress because it is made from bamboo or threads of recycled tires. Being a true humanitarian means living simply. Just my opinion...

I can understand the eco-clothing thing. If the clothes are made by native craftspeople who make a good living wage at it, and if the materials used for the clothing are natural and not treated with pesticides, chemicals, etc., then it's probably good stuff.

Much of the cheap polyester clothing we buy at discount stores is made in sweatshops.

Heck, if I had all the money in the world, I'd probably buy "eco-clothing" too.

I hear you, CFScorpio. My issue with the fancy, designer eco-clothing is that the stuff is made by American designers who are getting rich off of people who think they are so "humanitarian" by clothing their and their kids' bodies with this overpriced stuff. Yeah, it would be different if native people were making the items and getting a huge cut. It is all about image and showing off. You are right about the sweatshops and the discount clothing, too....

Alot of the eco-clothing is more expensive because it's not mass produced in a sweatshop. It's also usually designed to last longer and wear better than mass produced clothing. It's more expensive to raise cotton, or hemp, organically and sustainably, and my experience is that folks who are willing to spend the extra dinero for eco-clothing, organic foods, and locally produced products, generally shop and own less than your average consumer.

What really cheeses me off about celebrities, or the rich in general, is how they go on about how much they care about the rest of humanity when they're living in a 24 million dollar mansion, driving 60,000 dollar cars, wearing 24,000 dollar dresses and dropping 3,000 dollars every other day at the spa. Bono's hat flies first class, Sting lives in a gi-normous mansion, Angelina and Brad basically rented a 3rd world country so they could have their baby "in private". Huh, I wonder if they tried to live like normal people, how much money they could put towards good causes?

Couldn't "normal" people just reuse clothing for their loafs? Years ago a friend of mine with a loaf would go to garage sales and buy outfits with change she found around our apartment. She could buy whole outfits for the kid for 50 cents each. Reusing what's already here without buying more and more crap is good way to be more eco-friendly.

if all these stars put their hands in their pockets, they could solve so much more, thats what annoyed me about live aid, rich stars, wanting us to give our money and they never did.. or if they did it was for publicity

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I just post the stories, for interest.. for everyone

Lord, what fools these mortals be!
- A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act III, Scene ii

Voltaire said: "Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities."

H.L.Mencken wrote:"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.”

Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. Albert Einstein

That's what kind of cheeses me off about corporate 'donations' to causes based on the number of box tops, pull tops, can lids or whatever that get sent in. Firstly, they'll only donate up to a certian amount, no matter how much trash folks send in, and secondly, why the hell don't they just donate the money without making folks collect and send in a bunch of garbage? Oh yeah, it's about "improving the corporate image" and not about acutally being of any sort of service to others.

That's a good point, Feh. Have you seen those pink lids from the Yoplait yogurt containers? You can send them in and they'll donate some money (a set amount) to a breast cancer charity. The lids appear to be made of thin aluminum. The company will probably recycle it and get some type of tax break for recycling.

Speaking of Yoplait, are they the ones who have some disgusting repugnant moo shaking her (uncovered) fat belly (and her ass) in one of their commercials as she's slurping her yogurt? Puuuuuuuuke!

(If it's not them, then it's some other yogurt maker. I'm too horrified to find out, since I always change the channel in a hurry.)

I agree with Nour. Buying loaf and toadler clothes second hand is a great way to re-use, and is more wallet-friendly than the eco-friendly clothes. There are some nice consignment shops in my town, and our local theatre group has a really cool thrift shop that supports the theatre. I shop there.

As far as saving box tops, labels, and other packaging crap, I really hate clutter, so I never save that stuff.

Hear...hear, Nour! I am very big on buying second hand at thrift shops. To me & that is only my opinion, shopping this way is more eco-friendly than buying a $300 dress or $40 "organic" t-shirt made by an overpaid designer to try to prove I am this humanitarian yogi. It does irk me how yoga has become a trend by advertising fancy-schmancy mats and clothing for moos or yuppies to take to yoga class with them, which is more of a social gathering. I also agree with you, Feh, about the box top "donations".

Oh, I agree that simply recycling things is far more *green* than buying new. And toadler/loaf clothing is definitely recyclable. I mean, how long do they wear anything at that age before they outgrow it? They grow so fast that they will outgrow most outfits before they wear out.

Sad commentary on the town I live in: there used to be a children's consignment store about a block away from me. I never had reason to set foot in the place, but I've walked past it a lot and peeked inside. It looked very clean and well-organized, and the clothes were all on hangers, not just thrown into heaps. And it looked like someone had bothered to iron them to make them look as good as new. The window displays were always very attractive.

When the weather was nice, they'd put some larger items outside, such as strollers and plastic Little Tykes kindercrap. But these, too, looked almost new. And the price tags on these things were at least half of what they would cost if bought new.

The sad part is that this place went out of business. This surprised me, because there are an awful lot of breeders around here. I guess they'd rather go to the maul and buy new shit at full price, because used stuff isn't *good enough* or *trendeigh enough*.

Also, a lot of said breeders around here throw perfectly good stuff out with the trash, including kindercrap items that could be used for another child somewhere. Once, some breeders in the building behind us put a perfectly good bookcase out into the trash. Catdaddy helped me haul it into our apartment, and I cleaned it up. It wasn't even that dirty, but it had been sitting outside. That bookcase is still in my kitchen, where it holds cookbooks and other kitchen stuff.

Breeders have to be the most wasteful people on the planet!

I have also seen nice consignment stores in the strip malls in my area. They went out of business, too, because moos are too stuck-up to buy "second-hand" for their offspring. I used to work with a young girl who thought she was so high class for buying Tommy Hilfiger for her two out-of-wedlock babies by drug dealers. This was back in 1998 when Hilfiger was the "thing".

I am very big on buying from thrift stores and recycling. To me (like Catmommy), that is far more "green"/eco-friendly than buying a pricy frock advertised in Yoga Journal. In my complex, I also see breeders put perfectly good furniture by the dumpster. Moo usually is demanding that her husband buy her a new dining room set or sofa. It is easy to waste money when someone else is earning it!

Add me to the list of those who like to shop at the thrift store. Don't get me wrong, I like the occasional new piece of clothing (I'm a big fan of Hot Topic, which has some pretty outrageously-priced stuff), but my mom knows that one of the highlights of coming home for vacation time is going to the thrift store. I mean, who can complain about getting three pairs of jeans for under $10? I don't mind wearing stuff that's already been on someone else...I mean think about how many people may have tried on a "new" shirt sitting on a rack in the mall.

But really...what is so wrong about buying used clothing for a kid? I'm sure whatever the piece of clothing is will get thrown up on or shit on eventually, so why spend sick amounts of money on a new outfit just to have it soiled like that? People are really stupid sometimes.

Hot Topic is cool! I wait for the clearance sales -- especially an extra 50% off the sale price.

For things like furniture, this makes me want to go out and garbage-pick the good stuff.

During our last bulk trash week, I smiled when I saw a garbage-picker type driving through with his pickup and his bounty in the back.

AngelieJOSHITLEE is so full of shit.

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lab mom

Beware the Curb Couch...there may very well be a reason it's there.

Feh Wrote:
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> Beware the Curb Couch...there may very well be a
> reason it's there.
>

The thought of that made me itch...

I love used stuff! I freely admit I'm an alley- picker. I found this gorgeous cherry futon in an alley. I did buy a cheap mattress for it, and plopped it in the den. It looks brand- new. Really, check out alley's in good areas. They're treasure troves!

Feh Wrote:
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> Beware the Curb Couch...there may very well be a
> reason it's there.
>
Now there is some truth to that. This is why I will never buy upholstered furniture from a thrift shop, nor trash-pick it.

A friend of mine once bought a couch from the Salvation Army. It turned out that there was a family of MICE living in it.

Well, he put it on the curb, and someone took it. Too bad for them!

awww poor mousey home..

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I just post the stories, for interest.. for everyone

Lord, what fools these mortals be!
- A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act III, Scene ii

Voltaire said: "Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities."

H.L.Mencken wrote:"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.”

Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. Albert Einstein

I love to give my stuff away to others. I don't like clutter, so I tend to often clean and bring things to work and leave stuff in the kitchen where people get coffee and heat up their lunches, etc.. I don't like to throw things out in the garbage, even magazines I pass along to co-workers. I put a sticky with "Take Me." I have given away picture frames, pins, knick-knacks, trinkets, souvenirs, etc. and everything is gone. I have left stuff in the dumpster in the alley and one hour or so people have taken everything. DH and I recently moved to a smaller place with less closet space so we had to get rid of stuff. Some toys I gave away to a co-worker with 4 kids, unused art supplies from DH's high school time I gave to my co-worker who is an artist. I gave so many bags away of clothes and shoes to a community center that does not resell clothes, but rather give them to the needy. I had a drawer filled with pens, pencils old geometry rullers and many notebooks which was clutttering, so I donated these school supplies to an alternative high school. It is a good feeling to give stuff away to the needy. I am in the process of cleaning my bedroom and basement at my parents' so there is a rummage sale at a nearby church that needs donations of old stuff to sell to raise money for the church. My work is also collecting new and gently used books to help a library in New Orleans.

In my town all the leases come up for renewal in the first two weeks of August, with a good 70% of them on August 15th. It's a glorious time that locals call "hippy christmas". Most of the renters are students who just throw out tons of perfectly good stuff, it's a great time to junk pick if you're tenacious enough. I think most of the people moving support "hippy christmas" as they generally keep their trash seperate from the usable stuff. I've gotten perfectly good furnature, stereo equipment, paintings, music and even clothes. My best find was an original lava lite from the 60's.

I know what's on that curb couch. My exhusband, the alcoholic, created quite a "curb couch" when we were married. It was soaked in 100% pure American urine. I fear any 2nd hand upholstered furniture!!