While handmade gifts are wonderful, many of us don't have the time or even the inclination, for such endeavors. So we buy gifts, spending on average $462 per family during the grand gifting season upon us. Consumed with pleasing the receiver, we often don't realize the powerful ripple effect our choices have on the gift-maker, on community, and on the global environment.
For example, every dollar you spend locally turns around seven times in the community, explains Mike Matejka, local labor leader. So choosing to buy from local stores is one small way you can support the community that supports you. But unfortunately the mass-market goods that adorn our well-stocked retail stores are often products of sweatshop labor. Corporations are notorious for pocketing profits while keeping poor workers poor. Little do we realize our well-intentioned "spending-to-bring-joy" fuels such suffering, a connection to the gift-maker few of us relish.
That's one reason why many people seek locally-made (not just locally sold) gifts, or gifts made by global artisans who are compensated fairly for their craft. Fortunately our community has a bounty of such goods, many tucked into shops in the heart of downtown Bloomington and Normal. When you buy gifts from artisans treated with dignity and fairness, you nurture seeds of hope for a better quality of life, and for stronger, more sustainable communities. Your gift gives twice.
Putting a human face on giving also brings a deeper sense of meaning to both the giver and receiver. Marilyn Townley of Crossroads observes that people love to hear personal stories about their artists, and to share these along with the gift. Would that gift then give thrice (to the receiver, maker, and giver)? Moreover, the work of an individual person's hands exudes a richness, character, life, emotion and pure fun that is vacant in mass-produced products, Sarah Bushnell of Garlic Press notes. For example they sell unique wooden bowls hand-carved from native trees (by artist David Bloom) that inspire a connection with this Illinois land, which roots us like the tree. Interestingly, cultures rich in arts tend to be peaceful. The fertile hidden metaphors woven into a person's hand-made creation allow us to explore our sense of mystery in safe, indirect ways that guide us to a deeper understanding of life. They nurture a culture uniqueness rapidly vanishing in our homogenized global melting pot.
Wow, what a cascade of hope, happiness, and peace the small act of gifting offers. Choose your gifts with the gift-maker in mind. You will make a difference.
Lowest Pricing Fuels Sweatshops
We like the rock-bottom pricing at giant retail stores like Wal-Mart, Target, K-Mart and Toys-R-Us because it helps us stretch our dollars. But how does this low pricing fuel working conditions we would abhor? Giant retailers set the price they will pay for a toy or other good and how quickly it must be delivered, with little room for negotiation. Manufacturers agree because they want (often desperately need) the business, then push workers beyond limits of decency, ignoring local labor laws, environmental and safety precautions, and cheating workers out of wages. For example, the National Labor Committee's "Toys of Misery" report highlights worker abuses in China where over half the toys bought by Americans are made. Young women toil for 16 hour workdays, seven days a week for a mere 17 cents an hour, with forced and unpaid overtime, few bathroom breaks, not maternity leave, in 104-degree temperatures handling toxic glues, paints and solvents, and often punished or fired if sick. Yes, these sweatshops of old are with our global neighbors today in full force. The dazzle of Mattel's Barbie, or Hasbro's Star Wars sours when such invisible suffering is revealed. It doesn't have to be this way. Do something -- anything -- to voice your concern. Check out www.nlcnet.org for ideas on pressuring giant retailers to honor basic human rights for all the world's gift makers.
Great Neighborhood Places to Shop for Locally-Made or Fairly-Traded Gifts.
Stroll the heart of downtown Bloomington and Normal for great heart-felt gifts that help build a culturally rich community both here and abroad.
- McLean County Arts Center - 601 N East St, Bloomington, 829-0011, www.mcac.org. Support the local art culture while picking up unique gifts from an eclectic mix of local artisans. Offered on consignment you'll find handmade Ziba soaps, Robert Shaw photography, Jill Lambert stamp cards, stained glass, beaded wire jewelry and crafts, pottery, handcarved bowls, gourds, paintings, and much more. Staff Lori Ryburn says last year's post 9/11 holiday season brought an unexpected record sales of local artwork, noting "People like to know who they're buying from. It matters."
- On the Square Museum Store - McLean County Museum of History, 200 N Main St, Bloomington, 827-0428, www.mchistory.org. Book lovers will delight in this unique selection of books about the changing fabric of life in McLean County -- corn farming, civil war, history of medicine, Rte 66, 4-H, Lincoln, Passion Play, Irish immigrants, vintage postcards, Illinois ancestors and more (see partial listings online). Gift shop open anytime during museum hours on request.
- Crossroads Local Handicrafts - 428 N. Main St, Bloomington, 827-0121. This volunteer run, nonprofit store is stocked with a delightful array of fairly-traded handicrafts from around the world -- handmade jewelry, baskets, musical instruments, ornaments, nativity scenes, candles, cards, toys, books, clothing, fair-trade coffee and more. The store, part of Ten Thousand Villages, is careful about what they buy, preferring cooperatives that work to build stronger communities, rather than ventures that merely maximize profits. Read stories about individual artisans.
- The Chocolatier, Inc - 514 N Main St. Bloomington, 821-0277. Where can a dollar bill still buy you something? Here in this locally-owned candy store where high quality chocolates are made onsite - buttercremes, turtles, toffees, nut barks and many more. Owner John Shank says customers stock up on his sweet treats for gifts because the taste can't be beat. Gift boxes, decorator cups and special holiday treats make beautiful scrumptious gifts. Other quality bulk candies also available.
- Common Ground - 516 N Main St, Bloomington, 829-2621. Why not assemble a potpourri basket brimming with a selection of tasty locally-grown foods? Owner of this small grocery store, Katha Coenes, is constantly on the lookout for local products, currently stocking seasonal organic produce, farm-raised eggs, honey, apple butter, red popcorn, bulk grains, Ziba soaps and bath products.
- Uniquely Bloomington Store - 200 W Monroe, lower level, Bloomington , 829-9599. Offers unique items made in Bloomington and about Bloomington including afghans, handmade cards, Illinois Brewing Company mugs, David Davis and Courthouse museum items. The group also offers grants to local people to improve the downtown area.
- The Garlic Press - 108 North St, Normal, 452-8841, www.thegarlicpress.com. Many unique pieces of handmade jewelry by local artists incorporating contemporary metal and semiprecious stones by Linda Isaacson, glass beaded bracelets in vibrant colors by Debbie Schlattman, and delicate beaded wire with semiprecious stones and crystals by Michelle Bock. Also handmade wooden bowls by David Bloom. Staff enjoy facilitating an interchange between artists and customers.
- Earth Spin and Fire - 211 W. North St., Normal 454-3006. You can be the artist here. Come in and embellish your own ceramic bowls or mugs for a special, personalized gift. Or buy exclusive local artwork of every media from ceramic pottery, glass blown ornaments, paintings, jewelry, or handmade soap. Part-owner Katina Briscoe says some artists featured will work on commission if you have a special occasion upcoming with a unique gift in mind.
- Babbitt's Books - 104 North St., Normal, 454-7393, www.babbittsbooks. Stocks books by local authors like "Fiery Struggle" by Mike Matejka, "Requiem" by Curtis White, "Riflemen: On the Cutting Edge of WWII" by Earl Reitan. Look here also for good prices on used books.
Consignment and Thrift Shops
You can still stretch your dollar yet find some real treasures in local consignment and thrift shops. You'll gift the earth to boot by keeping goods in circulation and out of landfills. Here are just a few…
- Sweet Repeats - 314 N. Main St., Bloomington, 829-7275. Wide selection of quality second-hand children's clothing, toys, furniture, and accessories.
- Home Furnishing & Consignment - 1210 Towanda Plaza, Bloomington, 828-9155. Constantly changing selection of quality second-hand home furnishings.
Other Ideas -- Sources of Environmentally and Socially Friendly Products:
www.greenpages.org, 800/58GREEN: Co-op America's National Green Pages directory listing over 2,000 socially and environmentally responsible US businesses including Fair Trade Federation members.
www.ecomall.com: Searches hundreds of sites with green products
www.littlearth.com Creative gifts of recycled pop culture
www.seventhgen.com: Non-toxic household products
www.realgoods.com: Home and personal products designed for ecologically sustainability
www.motherboardinc.com: High quality gifts made from recycled motherboards
www.recyclestore.com: Showcase for innovative products made from recycled materials
www.treeco.com: Real Earth recycled paper and office products
www.fairtradecertified.org 510/663-5260 or www.sweatshops.org/buy/ladders_coffee_leaders.html: Fair Trade coffee
www.altgifts.org, 800/842-2243: (Alternative Gifts International) Gifts fund a selection of reputable projects supporting international relief to oppressed people, community development, and protection to the earth's endangered environment.
References
- "Toys of Misery: A Report of the Toy Industry in China" January 2002 by the National Labor Committee, www.nlcnet.org.
- "Wal-Mart's Shirts of Misery" by the National Labor Committee, www.nlcnet.org, viewed 11/25/02
- "Ten Thousand Villages is Fair Trade" www.richmondvillages.com/fairtrade.htm, viewed 11/21/2002.
- "As American as Apple Pie" by Jim Hightower, The Nation, Sept 30 2002.
- Local spending effect on community, sweatshops, labor issues -- Personal communication with Mike Matejka, co-director of the North Central Illinois Laborers LECET (Laborers-Employers Cooperation & Education Trust), and member Bloomington Town Council.
- Art's role in culture -- Personal communication with Kari Sandhaas, local artist and graphic designer.
- Local store goods -- Personal communications with local store staff noted above 11/22-26.
December 2002
If you have questions or comments, please call Wellness at 556.3334, e-mail us at wellness@iwu.edu, or stop by our office in the Shirk Center.