Fall 2013
Table of Contents
The Human Cost of Stuff
In Depth
Explore SectionFrom the Editors
After Rana Plaza: Let’s Bring Humanity Back Into Our Stuff
We all know our stuff doesn’t grow on store shelves. Here’s how we can rehumanize our relationship with our things鈥攁nd the people who make them.
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Annie Leonard: How to Be More than a Mindful Consumer
The way we make and use stuff is harming the world鈥攁nd ourselves. To create a system that works, we can't just use our purchasing power. We must turn it into citizen power.
Annie Leonard
The TPP Is Another Job Killing Trade Deal鈥擲o Why Are Both Parties Supporting It?
Factory owners in the United States say that the Trans-Pacific Partnership鈥攚hich is being negotiated this week in Brunei鈥攚ill force them to lay off workers. Yet opponents in Washington are few and far between.
Natalie Pompilio
What鈥檚 Fairer than Fair Trade? Try Direct Trade With Cocoa Farmers
Fair trade is good, but it still leaves cocoa growers in poverty. Here鈥檚 how to do better.
Kristy Leissle
What 11-Year-Olds Get鈥攁nd Adults Forget鈥擜bout Child Labor in Chocolate
Marie Hogan confronted Hershey鈥檚 about using children in its supply chain because she cares about other kids, fairness鈥攁nd candy. Here鈥檚 what we can learn from her.
Katrina Rabeler
Escape from an L.A. Sweatshop: How Modern-Day Slaves Become Lobbyists
Lured from Mexico into forced labor at an American factory, Flor Molina鈥檚 human trafficking story was typical. What鈥檚 remarkable is what she did next.
Christa Hillstrom
Too Much Stuff in Your Life? 7 Ways to Turn it Around
From sharing to repairing, the inspiration you need to lighten your load.
Shannan Lenke Stoll
Just the Facts
Infographic: Your Stuff鈥檚 Not As Cheap As You Think It Is
What do we really trade for all of the cheap stuff we buy?
Doug Pibel & Katrina Rabeler
Adam Hochschild: We Can End Slavery鈥擜gain
It took just 20 years to end the British slave trade. What history teaches us about ending exploitation today.
Christa Hillstrom
For Safer Factories, CEOs Are Listening to Workers on the Frontlines
The future of corporate responsibility means hearing firsthand from factory workers about their conditions.
Samir Goswami
Is Your Phone Smart Enough to Not Poison the People Recycling It? This One Is
Our throwaway electronics harm people overseas, but new trends in responsible design are not just smart鈥攖hey鈥檙e kind.
Chris Sweeney
Growing Up in a Kenyan Slum Taught Me the Real Value of Stuff
It was only after experiencing the abundance of stuff in the United States that Simon Okelo learned to value life with less, the way he grew up.
Simon Okelo
Move Over Duct Tape鈥擶hy a Mason Jar Is the One Thing You Need
The best measure of the value of a thing may be this: 鈥淗ow many ways can I use this? How many other things will I not have to buy?鈥�
Tracy Matsue Loeffelholz
Solutions We Love
Explore Section
The Unexpected Gifts of Photographing Mandela, Tutu, and the Dalai Lama
Photographer Jane Feldman on earning the trust of beloved world leaders鈥攁nd capturing their laughter.
Valerie Schloredt
How a Small California Town Curbed a Teen Suicide Epidemic鈥擝y Talking About It
Suicide is the fourth leading cause of death for 10- to 14-year-olds in rural America, and Native American kids are hit the hardest. After Indian Valley lost its sixth teenager, residents started talking about suicide out in the open鈥攁nd it's working.
Jane Braxton Little
A Safe Place for Bees: Will US Follow Europe in Banning Hive-Killing Pesticides?
While banning the use of bee-killing pesticides is crucial, planting your yard with flowers instead of grass helps, too.
Katrina Rabeler
Bringing Bison and Biodiversity Back to the Prairie
A Montana-based nonprofit is moving to preserve 3.5 million acres of the Great Plains.
Sarah Kuck
This 80-Year-Old Grandma Walked Hundreds of Miles to Retrace the Underground Railroad
And 14 other grannies who are shaking up the world.
Katrina Rabeler
One Thing College Alumni Can Do about Climate Change Right Now
I've respectfully informed my alma mater that, until it divests its holdings in the fossil fuel industry鈥攃oal, oil, tar sands, and fracked natural gas鈥擨 will not donate another cent.
Laurent Daloz
The Page That Counts
6.5 Percent of All Humans Ever Born Are Still Alive Today
(And 22 other facts you should probably know.)
Chris Francis & Katrina Rabeler
Culture Shift
Explore Section
Yes! But How?
4 Ways to Share the Season鈥檚 Harvest (and Make Friends Doing It)
Guerrilla grafting, crop mobs, and other ways to make the fruits of your labor go further.
Chris Francis & Katrina Rabeler
The Economy of Smallness: Making Economic Exchange a Loving Human Interaction
Philadelphia restauranteur and local economies movement leader Judy Wicks on making good and doing good.
Abby Quillen
The Healing Journey of a Daughter of Slavery and a Son of the Slave Trade
Why an African American marketing consultant and a white writer took a journey to explore the effects of slavery, racism, and privilege.
Lisa Gale Garrigues
Foraging the Urban Wilderness鈥擣rom High-Carb Cattails to Dandelions
鈥淒andelion Hunter鈥� is an education about the food that grows along our city streets, and the deep history author Rebecca Lerner discovered along the way.
Valerie Schloredt
“Alice Walker: Beauty in Truth” Is as Beautiful Visually as It Is Spiritually
Filmmaker Pratibha Parmar's presentation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning author鈥檚 life will inspire you.
Heidi Hutner
Also
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