The Uggggggggg effect

I was in North Carolina in early December.  I met with a GOTS certified dye house and completely "clicked" with the owners.  Ya know when you meet someone and it's like you are simply on the same frequency?  It was like that.  We both believe strongly in doing the right thing for our customers, our environment, our communities.  Neither of us believe in cutting corners or doing shady things like adding dye to get the weight of a fabric to appear heavier than it is.  YES, companies do that!  Eeeww.

I bring this up because when I was in the Carolinas I had a lot of time to myself in the car.  I started thinking about the way things are manufactured these days.  How cost has become such a driving factor.  It seems to be valued over quality much of the time.  

When I lecture I often recommend that people not buy cheap crap.  The cost to people and planet are way more expensive (and hard to solve) than the just avoiding the items in the first place.  The more I thought about it though, people aren't just selling things cheaply, they are selling CRAP and when it is cheap for some reason we let them get away with selling us crap.  That's the problem.  We accept crap.

Example:  My mother-in-law loved her Ugg boots and wanted me to have a pair.  She bought me a pair and within a couple of months the sheepskin interior was worn out and my ankle was rubbing against plastic.  Ouch.  Well, as I am sure you know, Uggs are NOT cheap.  We called the company and were told, "No, they should not wear out that quickly.  Send them back and we will send you a new pair."  Done and done.  Three months later, same thing happens.  We call them yet again.  We discover this time in talking with the customer service person that the new Uggs aren't made in Australia, they are made in . . . you guessed it . . . CHINA!  I am sure they did this to save $$ but they definitely lost quality.  At this point, we asked if there were ANY still made in Australia?  Yes, different style and color.  So I ordered those.  That was over 3 years ago and I still am enjoying them and the sheepskin is still intact.

I went through the hassle of returning 2 pairs because I expected more for the money that was spent.  I wondered though, would I have bothered with a pair of $20 knock off Uggs from Walmart?  Probably not.  In my opinion, there lies the problem with cheap crap.  We don't expect it to be worth much and therefore we get what we pay for.  Unfortunately, it isn't just ourselves that end up being hurt in the process;  it's the factory workers that are paid poorly, the planet that is exploited, the landfills that grow enormous, the Gyres that spread.  It's the vicious and unfortunate state of things.

We like to play victim.  Blame mutli-national corporations but they are rich and powerful because we buy their crap and we don't hold them to any standards of quality.  So I have reframed my statement.  Cheap isn't the enemy, crap is.  We've allowed it.  99 cent stores are all about this.  Whose going to complain about something that only cost 99 cents?  We should, or we shouldn't buy it.  But to do both is to only exacerbate the problem.

Do you want to join my crusade to AVOID CRAP?  Ok, I'll hop off my soapbox.