Venice Santos Blog #1

Be Green Challenge

            When the Be Green Challenge concept was first introduced to me, I thought, No Big Deal, but after more details and requirements were given, I became a bit worried.

            My tactic is usually online shop for things and put items in my cart that catch my eye. After I’m done looking for that night I go into my cart and remove items that I don’t want anymore. Usually I don’t buy anything right then and there. I tend to just leave items in my cart and have my eye on them for weeks on end because I like to save my money and wait for the right moment to spoil myself. For example, I’ve had the same two hats in my Zumiez.com cart for the past I don’t know how many weeks and haven’t bought them yet. I just haven’t had the funds to enjoy their company atop my head. The fact that I DON’T have a plentiful amount of money in the Bank of Venice, the first week of the Be Green Challenge has been easier. Not any less agonizing, but much easier.

            To be honest, last week’s documentary, Made in L.A., really struck a nerve in me. All I could think about was how fortunate I was that my parents didn’t have to go through what the factory workers had to go through. At the same time though, I could relate. While reading “Santa’s Sweatshop” I thought about my dad and the fact that his corrupt boss doesn’t seem to care about his workers. Although he doesn’t put my dad and other employees in as harsh conditions as those illustrated in the reading, I still know that it isn’t right for my dad to work for this man. I know my dad has no choice but to work with little benefits because at the end of the day his family gets fed and the bills are paid.

            Maybe this month long challenge will do me some good. I’ll hopefully be able to save more money so that I have enough to support myself more and my parents won’t have to worry about giving me more money on top of rent. I guess only time will tell, but for now my two hats (pictured below) will have to stay in my cart.

Citations:

Holstein, Palmer, Ur-Rehman and Ito. “Santa’s Sweatshop: In a Global Economy, it’s Hard to Know Who Made Your Gift – and Under What Conditions.”

Made in L.A. Dir. Almudena Carracedo. Independent Television Service, 2007. DVD.

Pictures from Zumiez.com