It was just about one year ago that BuyBlue launched on December 1, 2004 with our Blue Christmas list of products and services AND the campaign contributions of the companies that make them. Thanks to the activism of the blogosphere – we showed that you can make a difference with your wallet – every day and especially at Christmas!
Thanks to the amazing work of volunteers – mostly from DailyKos in the beginning…we are now coming up on our first anniversary!
So thanks to the marvellous writing of our President, Raven Brooks (aka terminal3), I am excerpting part of our Blue Christmas blog – and teasing you with links to `blue shopping’! If you want to read the whole thing…click on Blue Christmas 2005 above!
Retailers make a significant portion of their yearly sales during the Christmas season. At the holidays we have the greatest opportunity to vote for our values with our wallets and have retailers take notice. Last year media and retailers definitely took notice.
This year we have put together a list of the companies most deserving of our patronage, based on all the factors we track on our site. The result is the Blue Christmas 2005 list, a sort of “Editor’s List” of products and services we recommend.
We’ve put together several print-friendly items to take along when you’re shopping this holiday season. You’ll find a one-page flyer in both color and black and white versions that you can take with you or share with friends and family. You’ll also find a wallet-sized list that you can print from home.
Here’s what you can do to participate:
- Vote with your wallets: If you plan to buy gifts for your friends and family this year then consider using Our Blue Christmas 2005 list to do your shopping.
- Spread the word: Help get the message out by spreading the word about BuyBlue and the campaign itself. You can find several printable flyers that talk about BuyBlue in general and printable versions of the list below. If you are involved in a local progressive or democratic organization or union, or you just have a blog or post in forums, you can spread the word there.
- Contact retailers: As you make your purchases this holiday season let retailers know why you have chosen to patronize them. For many of the retailers on our list we have contact information on file so you can send them an email from our “Take Action” page in each company profile.
With this list, we hope that you’ll be able to put your money where your values are, and vote with your wallets. Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or none of the above we hope you have a safe and enjoyable time with your friends and family this holiday season.
So – as you head out for this busiest of shopping weekends…take your blue list with you and “Vote with your Wallet”
Blue Christmas – Wallet Size (pdf)
SallyCat
Aka Sally Westgate
Treasurer / Board Member
BuyBlue.org
Come on over to the website….we have longer lists, more pdf printable lists for shopping….
Vote with your Wallet!
Cross posted at DailyKos
DailyKos Link
Recommended over there. This is fun!
I will do my patriotic duty by buying and consuming as many Lindt chocolate truffles as humanly possible. Not to mention chocolate mint, raspberry, white chocolate, hazelnut and peanut butter ones, too.
it’s tough being patriotic but some of us have to do it!
And when life gets tough on a budget – Snickers is patriotic too!
for the diary and as I said before, all the good work. Here’s hoping the next year sees lots of new blue listings.
2006 – yummy! <grins>
Campaign finance reports are quarterly! Should have some new info after the December 31 numbers are in for spring primaries. Then more reports as the year progresses!
Also we followed the special election here in CA with great interest and info. One group is starting a BuyBlue local in Colorado – see the site for more info – and we’ll be expanding this in the next year or so!
And excellent timing. Thank you Sally, and to the whole Buy Blue crew too!
PDF Downloaded, printed, loaded in wallet, and waiting for tomorrow’s shopping trip.
Thanks for your list. Talk about timely fashion. Was just sitting down at the computer to do some frivolous online Xmas shopping, and now I’ve got some purposeful shopping to do that will make me feel good about being a conspicuous consumer.
Happy Thanks-giving is now possible in another way.
Online shopping: big heads up – Amazon is really bad…
Two of my favorites
LL Bean is Good!
Powells is really Good!
stuff get made in China though? I used to really love them, but then I started noticing where everything was made. Must do more research, I suppose.
I made my list, called LL Bean, and they told me the country of origin for each item. If it was China – off the list it came. Several sweaters we ordered were from Mexico and Indonesia.
Interesting – I buy imported – just 90% not from China…probably because of the number of jobs going there.
As I wrote the above comment, I realized that both my sweater and my pants that I am currently wearing are from LL Bean… There is a trade-off involved sometimes it seems…
the wallet card to a Yahoo list serve but it was rejected because it was too many bytes. Well, I have my copy.
Someone on DailyKos is changing the pdf to an older version which is small in size.
Our programming guy is getting the smaller version by email…about 20 minutes ago (4:30 pst). So a smaller pdf should be up by say 6pm pst….
I totally bought blue last year, and this year’s Yule gifts will also be blue. I’m actually buying most of my gifts this year through Cafe Press. Fun stuff and not corporate at all, Flying Spaghetti Monster shirts for all! :>)
So complicated isn’t it?
I guess I just have a problem with big box and chain stores in general. Especially living in an area where they are preying on locally run and valued shops. I guess I am concerned that Buy Blue isn’t advocating for a higher degree of social responsibility. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I shop Old Navy and have been known to grab a Subway sandwich for lunch… But I don’t know that I’d recommend anyone else do it.
For me, I try to buy all my gifts from small businesses. I’m not 100% about it, but I at least try to make an honest effort before I break down and go to Borders (where friends with discounts work…)or whatever. But if I shop at independent places, at least then I can be relatively sure the gift will be unique, isn’t made in a sweatshop, is meaningfull, and I can feel good about investing in my community. And if I’m buying from a local shop, I can assume that if the owner is making political contributions, they are probably Dem, given the demographics here.
I realize not everyone lives in an area where this is an option. But if you can swing it, do. It is not only good for your community, it makes you appreciate the act of giving much more than going to the GAP and laying down your plastic card…
In July (IIRC) we launched new pages – where the community can become involved in rating large companies for their social, labor, environmental and other policies. On each of the company pages we are now starting to rate, based on verifiable news stories, the overall value of a company.
We ask Buy Blue participants to provide links to information, our research team confirms the data, then the information is added. It takes 3 separate sources on the topic to rank a company in a category. One of the big concerns we have is maintaining our independence at all times. So we set guidelines.
Small stores…local businesses:
As a general rule each of us knows which local business support which politicians. This is usually by campaign flyers during election years. If you are not sure – http://www.opensecrets.org is a good place to go check by owner / company name. The goal is promoting buying blue…anyplace…anytime. To make the biggest impact we need to get big money out of politics.
Personally – I buy local when I can…at home and when I travel. We go out of our way to find ‘downtowns’ that are generally hardest hit by the corporate giants and shop there. Do I pay more – probably – but I can afford to. A lot of people can’t afford to as you noted. We want to give them options.
Keep voting with your wallet and we’ll get there someday (okay I’m an optimist!)