box-mart bans

When I was in college I had a phenomenal professor who had a passion for being knowledgeable, not just about what we were learning in the classroom...but of being aware of our carbon footprints and personal consumerism. She would occasionally bring in NPR recordings or Discovery videos that were relevant to the class...which was a Demography class...pretty easy to make something relevant.

She once brought in an NPR recording regarding a situation with a certain fruit company, we'll call them Mel Donte. I decided that I didn't want to support that company anymore and ....BAM... first real ban!!

I was sitting in a financial advisor office waiting for an interview right after college and they were playing a video about a national Box-Mart... it made me think. I did my own research and read several books along with personal stories about how Box-Mart did business. My dad was a Computer Programmer at a local textile factory. The factory came on hard times and closed due to other companies (overseas) being able to make a cheaper product...BAM... second ban!!

That was really the end of the bans...but I recently had an epiphany...

If the Box-Mart sells what I need for cheaper and I have no money...who am I really hurting by paying more for the item by going to a different store?? And it's not like I have the principle of not going to ANY big 'mart'...just one... in fact, I LOVE Target :)

If the grocery store that I go to only has Mel Donte bananas, do I travel to a different store to get another brand?? I used to... but not so much lately. I have broken down after a long day and thrown the Mel Donte fruit into my buggy... reluctantly...but I still do.

And if I don't go to Box-Mart, I don't necessarily go to a local owned shop to buy what I need. I do go to a grocery store to buy groceries, and a bookstore to buy books, and a pet store to buy pet food... but most of these store are still national chains who use the cheapest product in order to get the highest consumer business. If Box-Mart has what I need for 14.99 and I have to drive out of my way to get it for 31.99, aren't I just punishing myself??

But I haven't bought anything from Box-Mart since I graduated college (5 years)...it's hard to break a streak like that. A huge reason (besides making me sick) behind why I don't eat meat is because I haven't in almost 2 years...it's hard to break that!!

Maybe since I'm 5 years older and a little more in tune with my own life and who I am, it's time to revisit the principles I swore to back then. That doesn't mean that I don't have any, just that maybe absolute bans on products isn't necessarily the efficient way to do things. Hmmm...