Where I work, I am surrounded by independently-owned eateries from Italy to Eritrea, yet still, too often, I stumble in to Marks and Spencers for a factory-produced, plastic-wrapped and ultimately bland-tasting meal deal, which I then gulp down at my desk as I work.
Clothes shopping bores me, so twice a year I battle the crowds on Oxford Street and buy my generic high-street wardrobe (from The Gap to Top Shop), then retreat for a few hours of recovery time in bookstore behemoth Borders and its squeeze-out-all-the-small-coffee-shops-in-every-town Starbucks, wondering why I feel so unexcited about my purchases.
I firmly believe it's the small decisions we make daily that result in the big global changes, but I do not simply mean consuming for the sake of being ethical. Uninformed shopping makes us reliant on just a limited range of global brands; it dulls our senses and cuts us off from the richness, diversity and sheer excitement of choice. Real choice - offered by a diverse range of independent stores and stalls - is liberating.
Coca Cola is one such brand I unthinkingly consume, and a visit tonight to a lecture at University of London's SOAS on the impact of Coca Cola on local communities in India and Colombia has reignited my political awareness of brand consumption.
Coca Cola in India stands accused of depriving communites of water, poisoning groundwater and local vegetation with toxic waste, and poisoning people by having 30 times the acceptable level of pesticide and insecticide residues in their drinks.
Coca Cola in Colombia stands accused of gross human rights violations, where workers daring to unionise and organise are murdered, kidnapped, tortured and disappeared. There is currently a lawsuit against Coca Cola by trade union SINALTRAINAL working its way through the US court system for such abuses against Colombian workers.
The smallest thing I can do as an informed consumer is not buy Coca Cola products (Coca Cola, Fanta, Lilt, Minute Maid, Sprite) - a difficult thing for me as I actually love the stuff.
The by-product of this tiny protest should be the discovery of a wide variety of other drinks to consume, such as Whole Earth organic cola and locally-squeezed fresh juices (even Irn Bru!). This greater choice can only enrich my experience of daily life.
Related links:
+ The Qibla Cola path of resistance. London students are trying to fight the US hegemon through the drinks machine.
+ Ethical Consumer magazine
+ Fairtrade Foundation
+ Nike sweatshops
+ Behind the Label's sweatshop report (PDF)
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