YOU VOTE EVERY DAY
By Paul Strubell of Dirt Orcas – 11/11/16
As many of us come to grips with the uncertainty of the direction of the United States Government, I thought it best to make today’s thoughts about a way that we can all influence real change. That way is to vote with your dollars.
Each day we all make numerous choices about companies to support and trends and causes to embrace. By supporting companies and organizations that stand for the things you believe in, you can impact the world in a very tangible way.
The most pressing issue of our time is clearly the changing environment. The election was important to many people for many reasons but those issues are all footnotes if we continue on our current trajectory of destruction. Women’s reproductive rights in Florida wont matter if it’s all underwater.
There are a million deep dives and internet worm holes you can go down trying to learn about individual companies and where they rank on the scale of oil spills in your living room to hand weaving your own cloths from the wool of a lamb you raised alongside your kids.
We all impact our world drastically by the things we choose to eat, wear, consume, and the ways we choose to dispose of our waste.
In an effort to streamline your education you can check out articles like this one from The Good Trade to learn more about ethically responsible and fairly traded fashion.
Or you can can enact change in a different way by donating to organizations who make it there business to protect and preserve the environment.
Some of my personal favorites are The NRDC, Rainforest Alliance, and Ocean Conservancy. You can find a great list of additional causes and organizations here.
We are all part of the effort to improve our environment because we are all part of the problem to a certain degree.
Believe me… I dislike the expansion of oil pipelines as much as the next person, but I also can’t help but laugh at the irony of the #NODAPL protesters who rallied over 100 trucks and SUV’s in a caravan to “protest” oil. Or YouTube tough guy Matthew Cooke ranting about the police occupation of Standing Rock while driving around LA. Keep burning that gas while you rack up those views Matt! While the move towards clean energy is slower than many of us would like, we can all try to ease the demand for fossil fuels while we wait. Carpool, ride a bike, ETC.
There seems to be an obvious disconnect for many people, but the things you buy and the companies your support matter.
We can all be more aware and more responsible of our impact on the world. A good place to start is with educating yourself about the products you buy, paying attention to your carbon footprint, and minimizing waste.
You can find out your own carbon footprint at Carbotax.org.
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