Life's A Debate: Stash or Slash (or How some companies find it so hard to recycle)

My darling devotees,

A couple of nights ago, I watched Blood, Sweat and Luxuries a TV show about a couple of privileged young British consumers who are taken to the parts of Asia and Africa where some of their luxury goods are originally sourced and made to experience the low standards of living that the average third-world luxury good worker has to survive with. In the episode I watched, the young adults were taken to Ethiopia, to work on coffee plantations and in coffee drying factories, alongside local workers, and to try and survive on the ridiculously low wages (of about a $1 a day ) the people have to survive on each day. By the end of the episode, quite a few of them had formed some pretty strong opinions about the luxury good industry at large and the coffee industry in particular. Some were tearing up at the injustice of it all and others claimed to be determined to buy only fair trade from now on. In another episode, they were horrified by how much of the toxic technological trash of the West ends up on the coast of countries like Ghana, and appalled by the poverty in which the people who mine gold live.

Watching this show filled me with so much sadness and a huge sense of injustice. I try to focus on the bright side and good things in life as much as possible but I am very aware that there are many things wrong with the world in which we live. I do not divorce myself from it and pretend it doesn't exist, instead I acknowledge it's presence and try to fix what ails the world while not letting it get me down. I am amazed by the number of people that can be aware of all the hurt and turn a blind eye. Some claim that you can't fix everything so why even try, but just because you can't save everyone doesn't mean you shouldn't save anyone. No one can person can save the world alone but I really believe that if we all make an effort, we can really change things up.

Now the debate comes in with what exactly is constituted as making an effort? Should clothing companies be allowed to slash their unsold goods when there are people desperately in need of clothing all over the world? Should luxury good refiners in the first world be allowed to pay so little for the primary goods they get from the third world countries when they make so much more from the finished goods? My answer to both questions is no, but that's just my opinion. I don't own any of these companies or have any direct influence on them so alone I probably can't make them change but if more people support stores that are fair trade then there will be pressure on the other companies to change.

But yeah. Now you know where I stand on the fair trade issue, I would love to know what you all think about fair trade and any of the other similar issues, like buying cheap clothes that are non- fair trade, which probably means they come from sweat shops, as opposed to buying slightly more expensive clothing. Give me your opinions about what ails the world and how we should fix it in the comments below.

Love you all and Stay inspired,

P.S. So let me know what you think. Are you vegan or vegetarian for the environment? What do you think about fair trade? Do you think that their should be policies prohibiting things like slashing unused goods? What about policies about recycling and pollution? Feel free to let me know in the comments below.

Photos from: we heart it and sustainable is good

Life's a Debate: What's the rush? Married couples in middle school

I just came off of this Seventeen magazine forum where a 17-year old girl was asking people what they thought about her recent engagement to be married. She wanted to know if they thought that she was too young and if they were married or engaged. She got a LOT of replies. Most of which said that she wasn't too young as long as she is in love, and that 17 is fine to get married. Going through the responses, I found at that quite a few of these responses came from girls aged 14-18 that were either engaged, married or considering it.

This has got to be the single most shocking thing I've seen this week, and that includes the whole Tiger Woods/possible mistress situation.

I mean have I really been away from the United States for so long? Because, when I left 8 years ago I really don't think I had any friends that had older siblings in high school that were engaged or married. Then again, maybe I was just oblivious to this now entirely too interesting trend. I In my junior high and high school equivalent, marriage was definitely not an issue, for me or any of my school mates at least while in the secondary school (grades 7-12), and usually for a couple of years after that as well. Even now, I personally can not imagine, at the age of 18, getting ready for my own wedding. And even in the year I spent at my old university, I really didn't know anyone with serious wedding plans, and most of the people I knew were at least in their 20s.

I don't see what the rush is about? I can't speak for anyone but myself but even though I was very happily in a relationship for almost a year, the thought of getting married then was not even in my mind. And no, it was not because I am entirely unromantic and just want to be alone forever. My reasons were and still are:

1. I don't want to do anything as important and wonderful as marriage halfway. When I do get married I want to be in it for the long haul and be willing and able to devote myself to making it work.

2. I am still learning new things about myself and trying to understand myself right now. If I don't know and understand myself, how can I help someone to understand me?

3. I have a lot of goals and ambitions that require a lot of commitment and like I said in #1, I don't like to do things halfway. Right now, I have things I want to experience, places I want to go, and goals I want to achieve and now is the time to be able to put my all into them without distraction so that later I will have no regrets. When I am ready for a family and marriage, my husband and family will get my undivided attention and will always come first for me.

I just feel that if you love someone, as in really love someone there is no need to rush into marriage, especially if you are not really sure about who you are yet and what you want out of life. True love never dies and if you are sure the person you want to marry is the one for you, the person will still be the one for you in a couple of years when you are both more independent, stronger and more self aware.

Once again, I can only speak for myself. I really want to know more about the other point of view and people's reasons for getting married in their teens and early 20s (21, 22).

Love you all and Stay inspired,

P.S. So let me know what you think? Would you get married in your teens? Are you married or engaged? How do you do everyday life as a young married couple (especially if you're 15 or 16). And what ever happened to promise rings? Feel free to let me know in the comments below.

Life's a Debate: "Does this come in Pretty?"

While traipsing round stores on our local high street in search of certain necessities for the average college girl in New England (read: rainboots and flannel sheets), I approached a not-so-unusual hurdle. You see, it has been about 6 months or so since I was first able to correctly identify my personal style, and was originally super pumped about finally having the opportunity to remake and recreate my wardrobe accordingly. But as I scoured the stores and malls for the perfect (insert college necessity here), I discovered that finding the quirky and unusual forms of my needs would not be easy in the least. Don't believe me? Well then, explain why it took me 8 hours of searching all over the city to find a normal duvet (not flannel) that I could make do with for the first couple of weeks? I mean, my personal style is primarily bohemian, it really shouldn't be that difficult to find bedding that appeals to me.

But it was.

And as days go bye, it gets harder and harder to cling on to this sense of self that I acquired when I identified my style. One day, after looking at the same selection of sports bras that I had seen in the six previous stores I moaned in frustration, 'Why doesn't this come in pretty?'.

Just because you'll only wear something to the gym doesn't mean that it can't look good. Where, I ask you, does it say that one must always sacrifice style for comfort? They aren't mutually exclusive. And I have proof too. I own some incredibly comfortable and cute white and silver trainers that have served me well and have not failed me yet(see above right). And like I mentioned once before, after hours of searching, I found this absolutely gorgeous plaid hoodie that I love to death. So I honestly believe that you can combine style and comfort. But, there must be some reason that so many people believe that you can't. I can't come up with any but I'm willing to learn, and open to all opinions. If you know them, please feel free to tell me.

Love you all and Stay inspired,

P.S So let me know what you think. Do you agree that style can be combined with comfort? Or do you believe the two can't or should never be combined? Feel free to let me know in the comments below.

Life's a Debate: No Drinking, No Clubbing, No Tanning?

When I first heard that tanning beds had been declared a Group 1 Carcinogen or cancer causing agent (along with smoking tobacco, sunlight, asbetos and a few others), I just knew that this would lead to a huge press and political situation. And guess what? I wasn't disappointed.

Apparently, this information has led to serious talks about restricting and even prohibiting the use of tanning beds by under-18s. This is mainly because, tanning beds have been discovered to increase the risk of melanoma (basically skin cancer) by 75% if used before the age of 30. Therefore, these laws are being put in place in order to protect children and kids in their early teens. However, tanning beds are not only a risk to children ,as they can more than double your risk of skin cancer at any age. Because of this, many governments and health organisations are warning the general public against their regular use.

Despite all this information, the Indoor Tanning Association believes that this is a hype and have even released an ad claiming that people should not be give in to the hype. It claims that the UV radiation that it gives out is controlled and therefore not dangerous. In response to this, health specialists claim that the use of a tanning bed can be compared to using SPF 2 or 3 on a sunny day i.e. not much better.

In the end, people will do what they want. Governments can try their best to decrease the use of tanning beds through the under-18 bans and through warnings but the truth is that it is some people may decide to continue their weekly tanning appointments anyway. I personally wouldn't be willing to take chances on my health like that, but people aren't the same.

Love you all and Stay Inspired,

P.S. So tell me what you think. Should the use of tanning beds be banned for under-18s? Should other measures be used to restrict indoor tanning? Or do you think that the decision to tan should be left to the individual? Feel free to tell me in the Comments below.

Life's a Debate: A herd of... crocodiles?

Now let me just begin by saying that the above title does not mean I believe a group of crocodiles is a herd. I know for a fact that is either a congregation or a float(Ha!). But that is besides the point of this post as you will soon see.That being said, I can now introduce the topic.

Well, one day as I sailed through cyberspace (much better than "surfing" because you can multi-task darling...lol) I stumbled upon the headline "Hermes Breeds Own Crocs to Meet Bag Demand" on Reuters.com and was instantly repulsed. Yet, I read on and, as I suspected, the article told me all about Hermes's then recent decision to breed its own crocodiles on its own farms. At first, I was appalled. What kind of world allows and even encourages animals to be reared just so that they can be killed and their skin used to create a bag! And by maintaining farms in order to meet this demand isn't Hermes enabling the current situation? After all, the best way to solve the problem of excess demand would be to stop demand, wouldn't it?

But one can't only look at it that way. After all, Hermes is at least making an effort. According to Paul Thomas, Hermes is willing to run its own farms despite the fact that crocodile rearing is capital intensive and generally expensive (each crocodile has to be kept separately and even then a third of them may die in the rearing process). This should decrease the amount of wild crocodiles hunted and killed for their skin, especially considering the fact that it take 3-4 crocodiles to make each bag. Apart from that, they do have a responsibility to their customers especially if they want to maintain brand loyalty. It's all very complicated.

This is a topic I've wanted to write about ever since I heard about it but I wanted to wait for a followership first because of the nature of the post. It's a little food for thought.

Love you all and Stay Inspired,

Aury

P.S. So tell me what you think. Is Hermes's decision pro- or against crocodile survival? Are organizations like PETA and other animal rights centered groups being to hard on them? Or do u think that the only real way to make a difference would be by switching from real to faux? Feel Free to comment below.