WARNING - this isn't my usual sort of post...but hopefully it's a provocative one.
There is hope for America, and it resides within its people!
Click here to see what one woman has done to take on Wal-mart after receiving major chemical burns on her feet (taking over 7 months to heal) from wearing cheap flip flops made in China. (Please note these images are ugly and nasty - and please come back to read the rest of my post, even if you get sucked in an spend an hour on her site - there's another great link later in the post you won't want to miss). You can read all about the run around she's been given, the denials, the refusal to take action to keep others out of harm's way, and the hundreds of others she's found who have had the same burns (yes you can see their burned and oozing feet too). This is technology at its finest! Digital photos, email and websites, putting the voice of the people out there - 48 million hits and climbing! People love a train wreck.
I ask myself, would I have been willing to invest the time and energy that Kerry has to rage against the machine? Would I have cared enough to help out so many others who have suffered so they could ease their pain. Perhaps she'll get something for her time from Wal-mart.
Yet, the picture is so much larger than some flip flops and burned feet. Fortunately Kerry and the others affected have shown us clear and undeniable damage by a system out of control. Just maybe it can get through to us all because we get it that maybe it could have been us in agony. I wonder...how rigorously do I check the things I buy and bring into my home for product safety?
This isn't an isolated problem. The amazing site below explains why something like this happens. I planned to post this site anyway, but after the flip flop thing it's a must! Watch The Story of Stuff by Annie Leonard and you'll see how the flip flop incident relates to our entire way of life. I have posted the first two minutes of the video below. The site has been getting so much traffic it may be down at times, so you want to you can watch the video in 7 parts right here. The other parts will show up when the intro ends.
If you kept watching you heard an earful about chemicals and it's pretty easy to see that those flip flops are just a seedy symptom of a much bigger illness...I hope you'll watch the rest of Annie's video. It's MUST SEE in my book.
Our willingness to accept the absolute insanity of current day manufacturing and production is mind boggling. The toxins are in everything! Remember Madge and Palmolive? "You're soaking in it."
And the waste! UGH!
Both Kerry and Annie have my attention. I am inspired and I have been called up. If things are going to change, we are going to have to do it. Moms and Dads, everyday people. WE must be the watchdogs, because the Walmarts of the world won't be, nor will the FDA. (That's a whole 'nother post.)
As my friend Sandy Arch says, it all boils down to us taking our power back - and he's not talking about voting in the elections. He's talking about voting EVERY DAY with our dollars. He tells me that WE have the real power. Without everyday people, Walmart, Montsanto, McDonald's are nothing. We make them, and we can break them. We can CHOOSE more wisely about where we shop and what we buy. They need our money more than we need them.
I for one am no longer willing to be manipulated by the system and unintentionally support an economy of death. It's time to put my money where my mouth is - even more than I already am. Yes, I already spend more money to buy no VOC paint, eat organic food, use natural deodorant salt sticks, wash with eco-friendly detergents, drive a Toyota Prius, etc., etc., etc.
I have to vote with my dollar for a future for my daughter. I simply must. And today, I am inspired to do more...starting with sharing these two fierce women and their willingness to stand up and speak out with all of you. Maybe you will be inspired too.
Be Joyful. Be safe. SHOP WISELY!
