klean kanteen and good buying practices

Phillip's Klean Kanteen arrived a few weeks ago, and he loves it. We do too, for that matter. We ordered it with the Avent sippy cup adapter. Phillip holds it and drinks from it all by himself!

I've been thinking about some more friendly ways to live lately, and thought I might explain a little bit about some of my purchasing choices. Quality over quantity is the idea. This translates to everything - time, material things, food, work. It's not about depriving myself in any way - quite the opposite. Rather than buying something at the dollar store which is made of questionable materials from questionable sources and almost certainly unfair and dangerous working conditions for the people producing the goods, I've decided to make the extra effort to find other sources for things we need. To make it practical and so you can all hold me accountable: I'm swearing off Dollarama.

Rather than leave it in that negative sounding light, here are some more positive thoughts:

Buy locally produced products when you can, and the more local the better. If you can't find it locally, try to find something produced at least in your country.

If you're looking for quality, handmade things for yourself or someone you like, check Etsy out! There are 105,000 shops within Etsy, and you can find everything from ceramics to jewelry to clothing to toys to art. Like anything, there's some junk and some stunning work. Take a peek at these sweet baby slippers and this bracelet. From the main page, you can click on 'shop local' and find shops in your area. One of my favourites is Sleeping Forest Studios in Bridgetown, not too far from here. They make beautiful pieces from wood.

I have a few other neat sources for wooden toys and such, but Mr P just woke up. I'll share more later - I hope you're inspired to think more about what you buy!