My name is Archi. This is the blog I have made to track my yearly challenge.
A few years ago, during my fourth year of university, I decided to challenge myself and my spending patterns, especially those around clothing. I had spent some time learning about the lives of workers in various clothing manufacturing warehouses/sweatshops and decided I did not want to be part of the cycle that demands their abuse, so I stopped buying “new clothing”, or rather only bought “new” items from places that did not use sweatshop labour, and bought most of the rest of my clothing from thrift stores. It was challenging, I ended the year realizing that there were so many shades of gray in this issue. Though I bought most of my “new” items from American Apparel, I greatly disagreed with their ad campaigns’ objectification of women. Also, as much as I enjoyed thrift shopping, it was not always possible to find items that fit the needs I was looking for, and there just weren’t enough thrift stores that were easily accessible to me and my purchases when I was traveling by foot or public transit. Since that year, I still buy most of my clothing from thrift stores and do my research on the manufacturing of new items I purchase. I still have the values instilled in me to either use what is already in existence (either previously purchased or bought second hand) or to choose to purchase new items that are ethically-made and durable.
Last year, I lost my fire for such challenges. I lost my vision and passion, and found myself surrounded by people who didn’t share these passions and visions for living a simple life not at the cost of others and to question the commodities that surrounded us. After a slow process of searching and seeking, the fire came back.
This year, I decided to challenge my spending and consuming patterns around food. For the year of 2010, I will not partake in pre-made meals/food items, in my attempts to maintain a healthier diet and further cultivate my love of cooking. Join me on my culinary adventure.
