ok. valentines day is en route.
love it. hate it. eat chocolate because you're celebrating. or eat chocolate because you're not celebrating. buy roses for your lover, your mom, your cat , your kid, or yourself.
wear red. wear black. listen to love songs. listen to hardcore punk rock.
whatever your plans. valentines day is en route.
and whatever your plans i'm going to guess someone - even if it's grandma - is going to buy you something. and whatever your plans i'm going to guess you're going to buy something for someone - again, even if it's grandma.
so...lets not say i love you with slavery.
a few years ago, i started harping on slavery. there were 27 million global slaves then.
as awareness grows, apparently so does that number. there are now 36 million slaves globally.
so....again, lets not say i love you with slavery.
two of the worst offenders are the chocolate industry and the rose industry. perfect. right? if single folks flooded by pink and purple kissy ads in north america hate valentines day, you can just guess how the folks harvesting those roses and chocolate (typically young boys) feel about the day of chocolate and roses.
but! we're about a month out. there is time to be wise and just absolutely refuse to participate in slavery this february.
if you live in my neighborhood (everett, wa), go to ethical choices downtown on colby. meet leo carpenter who owns the store and puts everything on the table to end slavery. let him help you pick out the perfect gift for that special someone. or grandma. or your cat. or that perfect snack to have on a day of appreciating yourself.
if you live in seattle, head over to ten thousand villages or to the theo factory. better yet, take your date or your grandma for a tour of the theo chocolate factory - i took my husband there on our first date...and, well, we're married now, so i think it worked out well.
if you live other places,
shop for roses here: www.oneworldflowers.org. you can pick them out and set up a delivery time.
shop for your chocolate at any of these places:
- www.sweetearthchocolates.com
- sjaaks.com
- www.alterecofoods.com
- www.theochocolate.com
- www.divinechocolate.com
if wine is your thing, order a bottle of one world chiraz or visit fair spirits.
if you want to give something else and you don't know where to find it ethically, again, if you are in Everett, stop by ethical choices and talk to leo. he knows almost everything about fair trade. seriously. maybe even everything.
if you don't live near leo, try searching this webiste: fairtradeusa.org
if you don't find it there, honestly, send me an email and i'll see if i can't chase down some fair trade options for you.
or, just make something or give time. just make sure the things you make are made with ethically sources materials and that the way you share your time doesn't involve slavery (ie grabbing hot chocolate at starbucks...)
we can boycott slavery this valentines day.
we can love whoever it is we love enough to love everyone!
if you are in and you wouldn't mind, i'd love if you would comment and either say what your giving and where you got it or just that you are in. that way we can see that this is really happening.
no slavery this valentines day. let's tell the folks that profit from flowers and chocolate while abusing young men around the world that this year they don't get their profit and we're sending it to folks who really share love on valentines day and the rest of the year.
i love you all enough to love everyone. join me in that.
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