support local & independent artists...and remember those abroad, too!

I probably don't need to add too much to that, to be honest! Like many others, I make regular gift purchases on Etsy and in other handmade venues. In fact, I am so looking forward to going to Chicago's Renegade Handmade Holiday Fair next Saturday. The joint is just overflowing with handmade goodness!

Another place I've done some of my holiday shopping in recent years is Ten Thousand Villages, a non-profit chain of stores that sell fair trade goods from around the world. I'm lucky to have one located just a couple blocks from my apartment so I can stop in regularly to see what's new.

While I'm a big fan of reducing my carbon footprint as much as possible, I also believe in fair trade practices, as they support artisans and crafters in areas of the world where they wouldn't otherwise have a stable income. So sometimes I give a little on the carbon footprint bit -- those goods still have to be shipped here from overseas, after all -- to help my fellow human beings have a better life.

That's a trade-off I'm so very willing to make. I realize more and more each day how fortunate I am to live the life that I do. My problems are first world problems -- do I have time to get to the grocery store after work? will the gift I mailed get there in time? can my building manager come by soon to deal with the excessively hot water I'm getting in my shower because it's, y'know, kind of uncomfortable?

Big whoop! These are not really problems!

Who cares if my water's too hot or the gift is late or it's tomorrow when I get to the store? I am incredibly fortunate and increasingly grateful for the fact that I have a job that I'm well compensated for, complete with health insurance. I can buy food easily. I can buy and mail gifts with ease. I have hot water whenever I want, even if it's too hot for comfort. Much of the rest of the world, like the artisans supported by Ten Thousand Villages, may not have clean water or a bed or a regular job or food or the simple luxuries that so many in the U.S. tend to take for granted every single day.

Making a few fair trade purchases from abroad, rather than from local artisans, seems the very least that I can do. I'm still purchasing handmade goods, and doing more than a little good in the process.