Mindful-Consumer Report.....

Next time you grab your credit card or cash or checkbook, ask yourself.....

1. Do I really have a need for this in my life? 
2. Where did the thought come from that makes me think I NEED it? 
3. How much of my time and energy is needed to maintain this purchase in my life? 
4. How long will I use it for? 
5. Will it just become part of the already-existing clutter in my life?
6. Am I willing to pass it on when I'm done using it?
7. Is it durable or will it end up in a landfill in a few months?
8. If it's food, it is truly healthy for my body? 
9. Just because it's cheap, do I really need it?
10. Could I pay just a little more for the fair trade version of the same product? 
11. Who made it? A child? An underpaid laborer in a foreign country?
12. How long would it take to break down in a landfill? 40, 50, 400, 500 years??
13. How much of earth's natural resources were used to get this product into my hands? 
14. How far did it have to travel to get to my house? How much oil was used?
15. Can I buy it locally instead, if even for a few extra cents or dollars? 
16. Can I make it myself, perhaps with repurposed material or things I already have around the house?
17. CAN I BUY IT or FIND IT USED? 
18. Can I borrow it from a friend or neighbor?
19. Will this really truly bring joy into my life? Or someone else's?

Your home is the center for social change. Wake up and see how much media (all forms of it) influence you to consume massive amounts of JUNK that you think will make you happier or make your life easier.....just for the small price of your TIME and ENERGY! 

We started leaving the home to go to work in order to support the home. We have been doing this for so long that we have forgotten the purpose for which we sold ourselves in the first place"

-William Coperthwaite

You sold yourself to the promise of a dream...... of peace, hope and happiness! Think of all the warm and fuzzy commercials and ads promising if you just bought a Diet Coke or a Big Mac or this new car, you'd be happier or boost your social status! Really? Did it really give you that? No! You've been fooled into a $9 TRILLION dollar industry with no consideration for social values or ecological sustainability! Your children are being fooled too! They spend billions, billions, to advertise to their young minds!

Take back your time, take back your life!