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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 200;
femurescg),imprint.uwarerloo.cl Features Editor: Bryan Carn!:\ Features Assistant: Kemct Bahlibi
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The spots to check out in the K- W region that will let you keep your cash and keep it real at the same time
Rebecca Temmer IMPRINT STAFF
Hew is it that students, a notoriously imp<wcrished demographic, manage to also be the country's most stylish group of Sure some people have the cash to pick up designer duds, but the majority of us have to make our dollars stretch farther than that plastic i\nnstrong fellow. In the spirit of Buy Nothing Day, purchas·· ing textiles that have already been used reduces your impact on the environment, recycles money in the community and turns shopping into an adventure to push the limits of your creativity. The obvious options include browsing the super-discount racks at the mall and waiting untill your favourite store has that end-ofseason blowout sale. Then there's the staple of the fashionconscious penny pincher ------ the thrift store. \X'aterloo is home to some notoriously funky second·-hand stores. 3600 in uptown \Vaterloo on the corner of Kjng and Erb specializes in recycled chic and always has window displays to knock your socks off. 111eir prices are a little higher than regular thrift shops but they handpick their stock and vend nothing but hlgh-quality merchandise. Generations, near Bridgeport and Regina, is operated by the Mennonite Central Committee and run by volunteers.
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.All of the clothes are donated to the store so the selection can be a little hit-and-miss in terms of quality. The money from your purchases goes to MCC projects around the world and "the purchase of one shlrt in an MCC thrift shop "vill provide breakfast for one child for one month in Sudan," according to the MCC's website. Lastin our tour, but deftnitely notleast, is the economy superstore Value Village. The Kitchener VV is located on Ottawa and Weber, just a quick ride down the number 8 bus route. Their clothes are all donated and shopping at the VV is a quantity over quality treasure hunt. Definitely check out the monthly 50-percent-off sales, but you best go early because it gets a little rowdy after 11 :00 a.m. Some people ftnd the idea of wearing "somebodv else's clothes" a little ilistasteful, but that's Just a riiliculous sentiment. There are a few tricks of the trade that I can offer to help the impoverished fashlon diva get off on the right foot. First off, there are a few things to check for. Most clothes people give away are in pretty good conilition but sometimes you can find some real crap on the racks. A bit of a musty smell is natural and will come out in the wash, but make sure there are no stains, torn seams or holes (unless you're willing to do some mending). Check out the accessory section: there are often tons of great scarves that were fashionable several decades ago (yes, retro) and weird jewellery that's excellent for crafting or revmnping. Mostly stay away from the shoe section, though it's worth a quick browse just in case. My final tip, a reward for reading to the end of this article if you will, is that the little boys' T-shirt section i~ the secret motherload sta~h. Happy shopping, fellow thriftsters. rtemmer@imprint.uwaterioo.ca
Who's thrifty and who's not? If you don't know, we'lt never tell.
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Make constructive contributions toward social justice with your purchases instead of delaying for a day Bryan Carney IMPRINT STAFF
Extremism breeds extremism, as they say, which perhaps explains how the popularity of "Buy NothingDay" has continued to grow under our environment of increasingly invasive commercial advertising, indirectly backed by the urging of some political leaders to buy, buy, buy our way out of looming economic adversity. Whlle recognizing the symbolic significance and intentions of "BND," (being held November 26 this year) it's hard to imigine the act of not buying anything for a day, let alone that act being any more effective in solving economic or social justice problems than buying lots, especially if everyone just buys tl1e same things tomorrow that they missed. There are some goods and services toward (or rather, away from) whlch the all-encompassing anti-consumption energy revved up by "BND" cart more productively be directed. Gasoline
The first is the most obvious, but also the most difficult, since our love affair with it extends over a century.
In tills case the "anti" energy is normally a little too finely tuned and rumed squarely at those nasty SL'Vs ruining the environment for all us other efficient motorists. The SUV is a pretty potent symbol of social justice arrogance - the vehlcular equivalent of a fur coat; there's no pretending you need the big vehlcle for your large family
or to haul cargo these as can be done with vans, minis or not. However, there are probably many times more single-occupant minivans sitting in Canada's 401 traffic dams and Tim Hortons drive-through lines. Useful purchases would be a public transit pass, a smart(er) cat, a travel mug to fill up at home, a manual lawn-mower, a home nearyour workplace or membership in a -political party that will acknowledge a likely energy crisis coming out of the inevitable descend from peak oil production (research it and decide). Clothing
\Ve all hate slave labour but perhaps not as much as we hate what seem like relatively overpriced clothes, especially for student budgets. Unfortunately as BND champions at Adbusters often point out poetically, there is a high cost to low cost; somebody else very likely paid the rest of the low bill you received for clothing at many mass retailers - probably someone without a choice. 'The wage regulations (or lack thereot) of the country where a garment is manufactured is usually a pretty good tip-off. In a crunch,
buying local is a useful purchase in the direc-tion of social justice. \XJith an investment of time, a foreign-made "fair-trade" garment will go much further. Food
Buying local or organic foods are both better options than holding out for a day, especially if you extend your concept of social justice to include animals. But even if vou don't, the conditions on organic farms are decidedly more humane for the human workers in a general . shop versus hctory fashion. Buying local is a little bit more challenging in a country "I.vhere the ground is frozen fo!' a good portion of the year, but not impossible. There are a number of produce co-operatives that v.rill even deliver the local goods (stockpiled and preserved from the growing season) right to your door if you become a shareholder. There are plenty more \'lays to make etWc.a1 purchases that, if balanced \vith an as-neede;d mentality, can produce many morelasting effec ts than a yearly "buy nothing" delay ever will. Every purhase is a signal to the producer \to keep doing what it's been doing bcarney@imprint.uwaterloo.( ;a