The unintentional phone fast

After a great weekend visiting wonderful people in London town, I managed to abandon my phone on my friends' dining table in Bermondsey and didn't notice 'til I was on the tube home...and I couldn't turn back as I knew even if i did manage to navigate my way back to my friends' flat I had no idea what number it was and didn't think anyone would appreciate me buzzing through all 50odd buzzers at 1am!! A not so good end to the weekend and the start of a busy week...

I immediately began scheming all the different ways I could get it back- could I jump on a train first thing or after work?! But when I spoke to Jon the next morning he suggested he post it back- ah, yes, the sensible option! I was very grateful for this, but was also thinking how am I going to survive for the next couple of days without my phone while it was in transit, let alone wake up in the morning?! Luckily my housemate lent me a conventional laptop and I managed to find most people's numbers I needed through Facebook. However I was very sad I had to cancel a few skype dates and I felt stumped not being able to check the weather first thing in the morning so I knew what to wear for the day!!! "What do people do who don't have smart phones?" I thought, "let alone before mobile phones generally?!".

Ooops - phone dependency uncovered...

I quickly realised the next few days (royal mail dependent!) were going to be the longest period of time I have not had a phone in over 10 years... This may be a reason for my helpless reaction and stupid worrying about not having a phone, but it's not an excuse for such an unhealthy relationship with my phone.

So after a day I decided to try and treat this time I had without my phone as a fast. I started doing some research about the ethics of mobile phones. Aside from the obvious (mobiles causing issues in relationships, accessibility issues between rich and poor, recent phone hacking scandals and riot organising) I was shocked to find that in the DRC slave labour (well, worse really, people working at gunpoint) is used in sourcing coltan and cassiterite, minerals that are essential to the production of most mobile phones and laptops.  And worse again, people aren't just treated appallingly when they are mining these minerals, the demand for these minerals are so great they have been one of the driving forces for war in the DRC. 

I have to say I had never really thought about what a phone is made from before and so I was horrified when I came across this film on YouTube:

There is further detail about all this in the following New Internationalist article and more links to other information: http://www.newint.org/blog/majority/2009/10/15/cassiterite/

This is awful - I hope and pray that since this article and video were produced several years ago that this is no longer going on, but I am doubtful. I would be interested to know if anyone out there is aware of any more evidence of this and / or general slave labour in the production of mobile phones?? 

I read this quote earlier in the week and it sums up how I'm feeling after discovering all of this:

 "I am scared, sometimes, to own anything, even a name, let alone a coin, or shares in the oil, the munitions, the airplane factories. I am scared to take a proprietary interest in anything, for fear that my love of what I own may be killing somebody somewhere." - Thomas Merton, 1940

(And for those who are interested, I was reunited with my phone after 3.5 days. I'm not sure if I'm any less attached to it, but I'm more appreciative of the privileged position I am in and the freedom in which I live).

Supermarket Sweep

It feels like it’s been a while since I wrote on here.  It’s interesting reading back over my previous post about make-up from over 2 months ago now – I don’t think I entirely kept to the second part of my make-up fast (only wearing make-up at weekends until the middle of June), but I am definitely wearing make-up less, thinking more when I pick up the mascara and haven’t bought any new make-up since.  However, my good friend, Nat, has found a site which sells ethical, organic, home-made make-up (if anyone’s interested: http://www.etsy.com/people/BeneficialMinerals?ref=ls_profile&add_user_to_circle=BeneficialMinerals&show_panel=true)

Anyway, onto the real topic of this blog – my third main fast of the year – supermarkets.  Ouch, this one was hard!! I didn’t quite manage to do a full month (didn’t want to inconvenience friends / family etc), but I did 6 weeks, with the exception of 3 days in the middle, without buying anything from the big 9 supermarkets (see table below).  And sometimes I ate some interesting meals as a result!  I had no idea how dependent I was on supermarkets – and that wasn’t even the reason I decided to boycott them.

So, some of you may be wondering, why give up shopping in supermarkets?  It was when I was studying my undergraduate degree that I first realised the devastation that UK supermarkets have caused to local economies not just in the UK but to communities across the globe.  I remember being shown a short film in a lecture about farming in sub-Saharan Africa and how Tesco treated farmers in countries that produce a lot of vegetables and fruit sold in their UK stores.  I was shocked when the farmer was not only talking about how farmers were beaten and punished if the produce did not look perfect when it was harvested, but also that he thought that Tesco was the whole of Europe because the quantities of perfect produce they farmed were so huge.  

More recently, BBC’s Panorama highlighted the horrific conditions that many farmers and manufacturers work under so that we can consume high-quality food for as cheap as possible from supermarkets: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00wyh2f/Panorama_Supermarkets_What_Price_Cheap_Food/

Anyway, I decided to spend a month or so trying to boycott supermarkets and doing some further research about the ethics behind the 9 biggest supermarkets in the UK.  I came across this really insightful study, which I have summarised in the table below (http://makewealthhistory.org/2009/03/10/which-is-the-most-ethical-supermarket/):

Supermarket	Fairtrade	Environment	Animal Welfare	Co-operative behaviour
Co-op
Waitrose
M&S
Sainsburys
Morrisons
Tesco
Asda
Aldi
Lidl

Green: Pretty good, for a supermarket!

Amber: Could do better / some areas failing in

Red: Pretty shoddy attempt / no effort at all

I found this study really helpful to gain a good perspective of the different areas each chain is choosing to focus on and make a difference in.  It is, of course, a subjective piece of research and other ethical studies have come to slightly different conclusions (see http://www.ethicalconsumer.org/BuyersGuides/Food/Supermarkets.aspx).  The main thing I felt challenged to campaign about from this research was, however, that the cheaper something is to buy, or if I feel like I’m getting a really good deal on my tomatoes or apples etc, how much less is the producer getting paid?!

I think the main thing that I was reminded of during this fast was how many people in the world suffer so that I can live a comfortable Western life – I have the power to choose what to eat, what to buy, and who to buy it from and yet so often I don’t even consider the person at the start of the supermarket chain – the producer, who is probably paid next to nothing.  

I know that it does not seem entirely possible to not shop in supermarkets (I couldn’t even manage 6 weeks) and it could be very expensive (as well as very inconvenient) to buy all your food and other necessities from the local butcher, market, cornershop, but I would like to challenge anyone who might be reading this to think about the buying power they have and how they can use that to promote more ethical values in the future.

Made up without make up?

So, a month without make-up - it's been a long one!  I didn't quite realise how dependent on make-up I was until I banned myself from using it - I worked out I've been wearing it almost every single day since I was 12 - that's over half my life!  Once I'd figured this out, it helped me understand why I was finding it quite so difficult and feeling fairly repulsed when I was looking at myself in the mirror with a make-up-free face...It took me nearly two weeks to get used to my 'natural' face, particularly when I was at work - when I caught my face in the mirror at work I felt like I just looked like a child playing dress up in work clothes.


To give some history, I started wearing make-up so regularly and so young to both cover up my bad skin (foundation/concealer) and to draw attention away from my awful buck teeth (thick eyeliner / mascara).  Quickly, it became a habit, part of my routine, part of me - I wouldn't go out the house without any on - it made me feel better.  I was first challenged about my dependence on make-up by a youth-leader when I was 17 - I knew it wasn't healthy to dislike my natural face so much and need to wear make-up to feel okay about myself, but I felt like there was no way at all I'd ever be able to give it up.  Sounds extreme, but it's taken me almost 9 years from hearing the challenge to feel secure enough in myself to actually make the step of giving it up for a month.   


I wish I could say that by giving up make-up for a month I have come to appreciate my 'natural' appearance.  I am still finding it difficult to look at myself in the mirror and look at photos of myself from the past month.  However, I think I have managed to slowly cut down on the number of lies I am telling myself about how awful my natural appearance is - I have been learning that there are far more important and significant things in life than what my face looks like - whenever I am having a particularly horrible feeling day (girls, I think you'll know what I mean!) I have been trying to focus on more eternally beautiful things.  One quote from Tom Wright, Bishop of Durham, has really spoken to me:


"the voice of God calls us all to celebrate, despite all our remaining puzzles and fears, the fact that we have a God who has not left us to muddle through on our own, but who has issued in blood and fire - his own blood, his own fire - the call to follow him in his work of recreating and healing his battered and beautiful world."


Another thing I have been thinking about and doing some investigation on is the use of slaves in make-up production.  What I have found has really helped give me some greater perspective on my fears and insecurities - children are being made to suffer so that I can make my eyes sparkle:


"Deep in the jungle of Jharkhand state in eastern India, at the end of a rutted track passable only by motorbike, a six-year-old girl named Sonia sat in the scorching midday sun, sifting jagged stones in an open-cast mine in the hope of earning enough money for a meal.  Sonia was halfway through her working day and she was already exhausted and dishevelled. Her hair was matted and her pretty flower-patterned dress spoilt by dust. She barely had enough energy to glance at her eight-year-old cousin Guri, toiling intently beside her as they searched the stones for pieces of mica… If the girls spotted enough mica, they might earn 63p each for a 12-hour day. If they found none, they would probably go hungry." (Times Online, July 2009)


Mica is the stone which is used to produce the shimmer that is found in make up.  There is a price to pay in beauty - read more at   http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article6719151.ece 


I've found it fairly difficult to find out which make-up brands, if any are slavery free - if you know of any please get in touch!! Such slavery is an incentive for me, if there was any, to not wear make up often, if at all. 


I have been looking forward to tomorrow (the day the make-up fast should end) all month.  But, I feel like I'm probably not going to be able to break this dependence I have on make-up fully if I give up now.  However much I don't want to say it, I think I need to continue.  For the next month at least (until 9th of June), I am only going to allow myself to wear make-up at the weekends and I am not going to buy any more until I can find a responsible trader.  Now I've put it on here, I feel as though I'm accountable to anyone who is reading this - feel free to challenge me further....!

One down, six to go...

Well, hello there blogging-world! 


This is my first-ever entry, to my first-ever blog and it's a privilege to partner with Nemo and Lifi in our 7 in '11 campaign.  It's exciting that there are 3 of us in 3 different countries united with the desire to fight "materialistic and consumer patterns and mindets" (as Nemo so eloquently wrote).  


**Before I go any further, just to explain - Nemo is what I call Naomi (who wrote the first post here and came up with the vision of 7 in '11).  And Lifi is Lisa-Felicitas (who has yet to post).  There are stories attached to these nicknames, but I didn't coin either of them so I'll let them explain, if anyone is interested.**


So Nemo told me about her vision several months ago now and I thought it was fantastic - I knew immediately that I wanted to get involved as I'd been feeling challenged about how sucked into the material world I had become and apathetic to the evident social problems around me.  I also felt like so much of my time was being consumed by consumerism and I knew that this needed to change.  I loved the concept of "recompense" and thought how cool would it be to symbolically recompense those who have been victims of my materialistic way of life.  
By sacrificing 7 different aspects of of the consumerist life that I lead for a month each throughout the course of 2011, maybe I will be able to pray more for and raise awareness of those who suffer so that I can live in material wealth?  


I decided that I would, like Nemo, combine my first month with Lent - I didn't go for vegetarianism though - I chose to give up facebook.  To some people, this might not sound like much, but for me this was huge!  I'd been thinking about doing this for a while - but I remember writing it off fairly quickly as I thought I'd never ever manage.  I came up with a heap of excuses for why it would be impossible for me to do (which in itself proved that I really needed to break the habit).  
Since I got my iPhone and installed the facebook app over a year ago, my facebook useage had upped dramatically and it almost had become second nature to check it as I woke up in the morning, before I went to bed and when I was feeling bored at work.  I was wasting a lot of time that could have been used for much more productive things - facebook really was consuming my life and definitely being a distractor from my relationship with God.  


On Shrove Tuesday (8th March), I shut down my facebook account and didn't touch it again until about half an hour or so.  The first few days were really quite difficult - I was ashamed at how automatically I reached for my phone to click onto facebook (luckily I'd deleted the app) or how much my thoughts focussed on facebook.  I had been on there for almost 6 years and the longest I'd probably ever not been on there was probably for about 2 weeks if I'd ever been abroad and without regular internet access.  However, after a week or so life without facebook became a lot more normal - I was only having the odd thought like "I wonder if so and so's wedding pictures are on facebook" etc.  By two weeks in, I realised that my morning routine was far more efficient and I was much less distracted at work.  I found myself phoning people more and being far less caught up in technology (so much so that I decided I wasn't going to post on this blog until I'd broken the fast).  


Anyway, after 46 days of not going onto facebook, something has certainly shifted in my relationship with God - I've certainly found more time to meditate on His word and listen and talk with Him.  It has been a good way of de-consuming my mind of the facebook-stalking and hopefully my relationships with friends are richer for it.  After returning to facebook this evening, I have to say I don't quite know what all the fuss was about - yes, it's a useful tool to keep up with old friends, particularly those abroad, but it's unhealthy too in the way it makes you constantly think about how others are viewing the you that you have created your profile to be.  Also, "stalking", it's not a healthy activity in the real world so it was never going to be an action with pure intentions in the virtual world.  I've learnt my lessons and hope that God can forgive me for all the time I have wasted on facebook.  I'm not going to give up facebook for good, but I am not going to download the app onto my phone or check it through my work computer.  If I want to go on facebook, I'll have to make the effort to switch on the computer at home after work!


So, what comes next (anyone who has been bothered to read this far might be thinking)??  My second "sacrifice" began on April 9th - Nemo and I have partnered together on this one - I am also giving up make-up for a month.  So far, it's been a lot harder than the facebook fast.  But I'll talk about that more next time...!  Thanks for reading if you did.  

Love to the blogging world, Katie xxxx

7 in 2011

Instead of an anual resolution, I have been inspired to have an anual theme. The point of a theme is not to do the typical New Year's Resolutions (i.e. lose weight, eat healthy, etc) but to challenge myself in becoming a better and more well-rounded person and to draw closer in my relationship with God.

So for the year 2011 I want to challenge myself in an area that I stuggle. As I have mulled over this, I realized that I find myself being sucked into the way the world/western world thinks... and you know what, I don't want to be considered a conformist any more! I want to fight my own materialistic and consumer patterns and mindset.

In thinking about 2011, I first thought, what rhymes with '11... 7! So there it is: 7 in '11! But what does that mean? Well, I decided that the 7 = 7months in the year 2011. And so here it is: "7 in '11: Fighting Personal Materialism and Consumerism"

What does that look like? Well, there will be 7 different things I do (each a month long) within 2011. I have ideas (and will express them in time), but am open to suggestions. So if you have a brilliant idea, please let me know!

My first month (March), which also coincided with Lent, I chose to be a vegitarian and to meditate on Isaiah 58. In watching what I'm eatting I am more aware of what I'm eatting, where the food is coming from, and gaining a deeper understanding of what true fasting looks like.

For my second month (April 9th-May 9th) I am going without make-up. Who would have thought that this would be so hard! In doing this I hope to fight my vanity and pride, and to find an imperishable beauty through my relationship with God.
In talking with my friends about these issues, I've been encouraged that they too want to join with me in their own "7 in '11" theme. So we decided to create this blog to give a platform for us encourage/share with one another what we have learned, struggle with, and changes we want to be permanent. So currently there are 3 of us from 3 different countries doing something similar and blogging about it. I know that each of country has their own issues, concerns, and strengths. What we do may very well overlap as well as differ! I'm excited to see what is going to happen for each of us as we journey through our own "7 in '11" theme.