Use your Money to Send a Message

The American people will spend an estimated $500 billion this holiday season. That works out to an average of $1,667 per person or $5,000 for a family of three. That's a lot of consuming. It drives up stock prices and employs people all over the world, just to facilitate our consumption.

Consuming isn't bad. We all do it and we should do it. We eat, have clothes, enjoy entertainment and activities. Those are good things and we should enjoy them. But they are not the only good things that exist.

Consuming isn't bad, but consumerism is. When the consumption of things drives us and dictates how we live, then we have a problem. Consumerism and materialism cause us to look at things before people and entice us to pay for a cheap item even when it might harm someone. Consuming doesn't have to equal consumerism any more than eating has to become gluttony (but that's another problem we face this time of year).

It's not realistic or helpful to try to eschew all consumption. We aren't made for that and we can't sustain it for long. Rather, we need to change our attitude towards consuming. Buy things that are produced locally. Buy from people you know, if possible. Find a local artist and commission a painting of your family. Attend the local craft market and buy handmade clothes or toys. Shop at a local, independent retailer instead of at a big-box store.

If we can shift just 10% of the holiday spending that will result in thousands of new jobs, in our towns with our neighbors. The reason is that locally spent money stays in the local economy. Every dollar spent at a local, independent retailer has 2 to 3 times the positive impact on the local economy as a dollar spent at a non-local retailer. The movement is known as Shift your Shopping. Are you willing to make a small shift to help your neighbors and your community?

How to Turn Black Friday into Green Friday

The day after Thanksgiving is often called Black Friday. The ostensible reason for this moniker is that many companies move from being in the red financially to being in the black. The start of the holiday shopping season is hailed as the salvation of many retailers. But with the recent Occupy movements and the earlier Tea Party protests, it's clear that there is wide dissatisfaction with the status quo.

So today and this holiday season, I challenge you to use your money ethically. Spend where you know the employees are being treated with respect. Buy items that don't damage the world. Purchase using financial institutions that aren't using bailout money to pay huge bonuses to executives. Do a bit of research before you decide to buy and discover what your money is funding.

If you don't want business that abuse people, don't give them your money. If you don't want banks that take bailouts, don't give them your money.

When the flashy ads come on your television and entice you to buy inexpensive gifts for your family, pause. Think about how the products are affecting not only your family, but the people who made them and the people who sold them to you. We're all in this together and we can make a difference together.

Here's a list of the most ethical companies in 2011 and you can use buying guides to evaluate the products you consume.

The Ethisphere list (linked above) is copied below:

2011 WORLD’S MOST ETHICAL COMPANIES:

Aerospace Indra Sistemas Rockwell Collins Inc. The Aerospace Corporation	Apparel Adidas Comme Il Faut Gap Patagonia Timberland
Auctions eBay	Automotive Cummins Denso Ford Motor Company Johnson Controls
Banking Australia and New Zealand Banking Group National Australia Bank Rabobank Standard Chartered Bank The Westpac Group	Business Services Accenture Dun & Bradstreet Noblis
Chemicals Ecolab JM Huber	Computer Hardware Hitachi Data Systems
Computer Software Adobe Systems Microsoft Salesforce.com Symantec Corporation Teradata Corporation	Construction and Engineering CRH Granite Construction Parsons Corporation
Consumer Electronics Electrolux Ricoh Xerox	Consumer Products Colgate-Palmolive Company Henkel AG Kao Corporation
Diversified Industries General Electric Co.	Electronics and Semiconductors Freescale Semiconductor Premier Farnell Texas Instruments
Energy and Utilities Encana Statoil NextEra Energy, Inc. Northumbrian Water Vestas Wind Wisconsin Energy Corporation	Engineering and Design AECOM Technology Corporation CH2M Hill Fluor Corporation
Environmental Services Waste Management	Financial Services American Express Housing Development Finance Corp NYSE Euronext The Hartford Financial Services Group
Food and Beverage General Mills PepsiCo Solae Stonyfield Farm	Food Stores Kesko The Co-Operative Group Wegmans Whole Food Market
Forestry, Paper and Packaging International Paper Stora Enso Oyj SCA	Health and Beauty Natura Cosmeticos
Healthcare Services Baptist Health South Florida Hospital Corporation of America Premier	Hotels, Travel and Hospitality Kimpton Hotels Marriott International The Rezidor Hotel Group Wyndham Worldwide
Industrial Manufacturing Caterpillar Deere & Company Eaton Corporation Milliken & Company Schneider Electric	Insurance Aflac Incorporated Sompo Japan Insurance Swiss Re Wisconsin Physicians Service Insurance Co.
Internet Zappos	Media, Publishing and Entertainment Thomson Reuters
Medical Devices Becton Dickinson Royal Phillips	Metals Umicore
Real Estate British Land plc Jones Lang LaSalle Unibail-Rodamco	Restaurants and Cafes Starbucks Coffee Company
Specialty Pharma Medicis	Specialty Retail Best Buy Co. Hennes & Mauritz Sonae Target Ten Thousand Villages
Staffing Manpower	Telecom Hardware Avaya Inc. Cisco Systems Juniper Networks
Telecom Services Singapore Telecom Swisscom T-Mobile USA	Transportation and Logistics Autoridad del Canal de Panama East Japan Railway Company Nippon Yusen Kabushi Kaisha UPS