4 Ways To Practice Nonviolence as a Consumer

ExistentialVegan

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As we honor the life and transformative legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., I wanted to take time to reflect on the principle of nonviolence that inspired his approach to change. ⁠

The term “nonviolence” in our modern context is closely associated, for most people, with the likes of Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr., who both displayed the principle of nonviolence put into action. Gandhi himself was deeply influenced by the earlier work of the 19th century American Transcendentalist thinker Henry David Thoreau.

Thoreau published his thoughts on the act of civil disobedience and how he believed it was right to resist things you thought were immoral and wrong by (nonviolently) refusing to cooperate and lend yourself to unjust causes. Thoreau refused to pay taxes that he knew the US government was using in partiality to fund the Mexican American War, a war Thoreau saw for what it was, unjustified violence and suffering and he went to jail.

He held that he was more free behind bars, having expressed his beliefs and values through his actions (or rather inaction) than he could ever be while paying taxes as a “free” man.

He questioned how free he could ever be while living in opposition to his beliefs.

In this blog, I offer my advice about how to practice nonviolence in your lifestyle as you buy goods and support different brands—I settled on four tips. ⁠

1. Support brands that use ethical labor
- Do your research and, if you are able, save your money to buy things made by workers paid a living wage.

2. Buy sustainable materials
- A form of violence against the planet and other beings is to support the unsustainable use of the resources that we all share. Plastics, polyesters, and animal-based materials are all harmful in their own ways. Buy goods made with materials that cause as little harm as possible throughout their lifecycles.

3. Be packaging-mindful
- Bring your own containers and shop the bulk foods sections, choose paper vs. plastic packaging, bring your own bags and produce bags to the store, and always have a reusable water bottle and coffee cup with you while you are out of the house.

4. Shop locally
- Buying local whenever possible also helps cut down on carbon emissions and packaging waste from shipping, as well as spreads support through your local community.

Read the full post on how you can practice nonviolence as a consumer here. ⁠

Let me know what you think about the post. In what ways do you practice nonviolence in your life? 🖤
 

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#1 should be - be vegan.
Perhaps you missed that because it's too obvious or goes without saying. but it still should be said.

Otherwise a good blog post.
BTW, your attachment does not work.
 
#1 should be - be vegan.
Perhaps you missed that because it's too obvious or goes without saying. but it still should be said.

Otherwise a good blog post.
BTW, your attachment does not work.
Thanks! I appreciate it. I was envisioning all things vegan under #2 buying sustainable materials. I could edit it to make it a bit more clear!

Thanks 🖤
 
Thanks! I appreciate it. I was envisioning all things vegan under #2 buying sustainable materials. I could edit it to make it a bit more clear!

Thanks 🖤
Yeah. not to belabor the point but #2 and being vegan are two different things.

as far as your main point goes - vegan really is the first and most important thing and maybe the one that gets the least attention.
 
I do consider the factors you mention in my life, although some of them sporadically.

In addition to that I avoid animal products.

And try to avoid fossil fuels where possible. To achieve the latter, I've reduced flights and mostly don't use transport, heating or anything else that uses fossil fuels. Since Chile's electricity grid is half fossil fuels, I also have home solar + batteries and reduce my electricity use at times when the solar is struggling to cover the demand (winter and evenings).

I also avoid most Big Tech for various reasons, of which the final straw was their blocking of climate action in the US: See my posts #497 and #510 in US - Politics-2021

I also think it makes sense to consider buying less products from companies headquartered in places with dubious human rights records such as Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Israel. I think buying such products may slightly strengthen the country and support its government.

I don't believe in 100% boycotts, if I really want or really need something, I am going to get it.
 
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I do consider the factors you mention in my life, although some of them sporadically.

In addition to that I avoid animal products.

And try to avoid fossil fuels where possible. To achieve the latter, I've reduced flights and mostly don't use transport, heating or anything else that uses fossil fuels. Since Chile's electricity grid is half fossil fuels, I also have home solar + batteries and reduce my electricity use at times when the solar is struggling to cover the demand (winter and evenings).

I also avoid most Big Tech for various reasons, of which the final straw was their blocking of climate action in the US: See my posts #497 and #510 in US - Politics-2021

I also think it makes sense to consider buying less products from companies headquartered in places with dubious human rights records such as Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Israel. I think buying such products may slightly strengthen the country and support its government.

I don't believe in 100% boycotts, if I really want or really need something, I am going to get it.
Everything you are doing is inspiring, Jamie.

I think it's so important to think about the brands we support, and Big Tech is such an insidious one because of how much technology is integrated into our lives in ways we don't even notice at times. Love your post on that.

I also really appreciate your perspective on 100% boycotts, there is nuance in everything and B&W approaches are more harmful than helpful usually.
 
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