Tag: localism

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Changing Things Up

As you can see, it has been quite a while since the last official post here at Rise Up Buffalo. We have been busy working on other projects and getting locked out of our accounts, but we are ready to pick up where we left off, with a few tweaks to the original theme. Rise Up Buffalo was originally created to be a resource for the Buffalo, NY activist community. Our main goal was to inform the activist community on matters of importance. To spur actions and continue the growth of community building in the city. In the past 5 years, we feel that Twitter has become a major source of this type of community building. The opportunities for activist outreach through Twitter are endless. Coupled with other social media outlets, Twitter has been an excellent resource and continues to move change in Buffalo and across the planet. Humans writing pieces on blogs cannot keep up with the minute to minute nature of actions and Twitter was really made for that type of interaction.

Having said this, it seems that Rise Up Buffalo needs a change of focus. Instead of maintaining a standard of information gathering and dissemination for current actions, we feel that it can be a repository for nostalgia in the Buffalo community. So, as we stated back in March, we want to move forward with the writing series listed on the Series Up pages. This will become the main focus of Rise Up and we hope that you will join us on this new leg of our journey. All submissions are welcome! Please read more about this series and contact us with questions. In the meantime, be on the lookout for the first installment of Buffalo, Then, coming in November.

Peace, love, and activism,
Chantale

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The Holiday Rush

During my time writing for Backwash (Hippiegrrl Explains It All – archived here), I wrote many posts on holiday shopping and alternatives to giving store bought, big box stuff. Over the years, the writer and I have tried many alternative ways of shopping (or not shopping) for the holidays. Taking the handmade pledge, pushing ourselves and others to buy local, participating in buy nothing day and culminating in an actual buy nothing christmas in 2010. The underlying urge to change the holiday season has been pushed along by our economic status, but the outcome has made the holidays more enjoyable.

Instead of focusing on buying tons of things and rushing around at the last minute, we have been able to take a step back and breathe. Here are a few ideas that we have come up with that you might like to try. They will make your holiday season more meaningful and less stressful. And after all, shouldn’t spending time with family and friends during this time of year really be the priority anyway?

– Framing a picture that I find in my collection and wrapping it up for someone whom it will be meaningful.
– Baking a batch of cookies and packaging them up in a lovely way for the receiver.
– Making a piece of jewellery that is one-of-a-kind and speaks to the style of the person who will wear it.
– Giving a donation to a charitable organization in the name of the person receiving the gift.
– Creating a coupon book of your time. Each coupon gives the receiver the ability to cash in on your time. For example – “this coupon entitles you to 1 hour of help in your garden!”

The best part of the holidays, by far, is the ability to gather with loved ones and friends. That is my favourite gift of all. The gift of time spent with people that enjoy each others company. If we could all have more of that, the whole year could be a lot better.

Enjoy your holiday season and try to remain as stress-free as possible. Remember that it isn’t about what you give or receive. The memories that are made are priceless.

Peace – Chantale

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from the archives – here we go… 26 november 2007

The holiday season is here. Black Friday (or Buy Nothing Day as we like to celebrate it) has come and gone and we are left with images of crazed shoppers trampling each other on the way into the local Wal-Mart. Highly motivated, yes, but for the right reasons?

In an attempt to make a difference this holiday season, we are going to pledge to purchase handmade items. This pledge will be made through an online group called, interestingly enough, buyhandmade.org. This group is just what the activist ordered. A way to buy products that are produced by the seller. A way to know beyond a shadow of doubt that the products you are purchasing are made by artisans in good working conditions.

Let me back track a bit and explain why this handmade pledge has been made:

– Over the past few years the production for products sold in the US has been largely shipped overseas.
– Products made in foreign countries do not undergo the same scrutiny that products in the US do.
– Working conditions in foreign countries are not monitored in the same way that working conditions in the US are.
– Buying handmade goods will insure that the products purchased were made by the seller under good working conditions.
– We hate malls.
For the reasons above:

We Pledge To Buy Handmade!

Buying handmade isn’t the only pledge I took this holiday season. Buying local is another promise I hope to fulfill. If it works out that I can somehow buy local AND handmade that would be the tops! I’ll follow up in the coming weeks to show my progress and give you some insight into specific reasons for shopping local and handmade. In the meantime – happy shopping! Just remember that people are more important than things. That should be the force that drives you this holiday season, while looking for the perfect expression of love and gratitude for your friends and family members.

Peace!
Hippiegrrl

here are my three favourite local shoppes on the elmwood strip – check them out!
Spoiled Rotten – [where: 831 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14222]
Everything Elmwood – [where: 740 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14222]
Clutch – [where: 814 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14222]

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from the archives – we love coffee! 11 october 2007

coffee is one of the best reasons to get up in the morning. at least that is how i feel about it. it was quite easy for me to become addicted to this liquid while working in a cafe. one free pound of beans per week and as much coffee as i could ingest during my shift was enough to get me hooked. who wouldn’t get addicted?

at that time, in the mid-late 90’s, i must admit that i was pretty much in the dark about coffee. i knew nothing about fair trade, shade grown or bird friendly coffee. i didn’t realize the effect that the coffee i was drinking had on people in hot climates picking beans for less than $1.00 per pound.

then one day the mail came and there was a coffee trade magazine in the mix. since we weren’t that busy i decided to sit and read up on the coffee industry. i came across this great article about an organization called “coffee kids”. their mission was simple –

to help coffee-farming families improve the quality of their lives.

reading on in the article i learned the following –

•Coffee is the second-most traded commodity in the world economy, after oil.
•The global coffee industry $60 billion annually. Coffee farmers earn as little as 4 cents a pound for the coffee they pick by hand.
•For every pound of gourmet coffee sold, small-coffee farmers receive between 12¢ and 25¢.
•25 million families around the world work in the coffee-fields and totally depend on the coffee crop as their only source of income.

these statistics are mind boggling, considering we were selling pounds of coffee at our cafe for anywhere from $9-$15 per pound (and even higher for types such as kenya aa ($25/pound) and jamaica blue mountain ($30/pound). after reading the article, i spoke to our district manager to find out if there was any way that we could start looking into fair trade coffee. i was told to speak to the owner of the cafe i worked for. a few days later i had a conversation with our owner and was told that fair trade coffee was too expensive. this answer coming from a lady that drove around in a bmw and lived in a good size home while paying her own employees well below the standard for baristas in the coffeehouse industry. i’m not sure where i thought i would get with my suggestion, but i had hoped to see a little bit of goodwill on the part of the company i worked for.

needless to say, this was the beginning of the end for me at that particular coffee establishment. it was sort of the last straw to find that my employer wouldn’t even consider something that would make the company better global citizens and, in the long run, help many people in need. fair trade is important. it saves lives and mends families.

if you are a coffee drinker (or tea totaller, cocoa consumer or chocolate fanatic) please consider buying fair trade for these products. whenever you visit your favourite coffeehouse be sure to ask for fair trade products. if each of us does our part to keep up the push on these coffee places, eventually everyone will carry the best and most conscious products available. and believe me, the cup of coffee that you know helped the whole supply chain better their lives is the best cuppa java you will ever sip!

peace – hippiegrrl

links of use for this topic…

frankenbucks campaign from organic consumers
fair trade federation
global exchange
make trade fair from oxfam international

where to find fair trade products in Buffalo and Rochester –
Lexington Co-Operative Market
Abundance Co-Operative Market
One World Goods
The Coffee Connection
Java’s
Lori’s Natural Foods