One thing to consider about the boycott is that the people who supported the idea might well have a large overlap in the Zenn diagram of people who have already stopped patronizing the target businesses. Like me. I had no problem not shopping at those businesses that day because I had already decided to avoid them as much as I could. This is hard to do because they have been strategically obliterating their competition for many years. Sometimes you have to hold your nose and buy from them. Anyway, it's hard to measure the people who weren't buying from these mega chains to begin with. The biggest gain is raising awareness and getting people to think about whose pockets they want their money to line, as a well as a willingness to pay a little extra to more deserving companies. Also, we all need to think about quality, and be less tolerant of cheap quality merch that doesn't last and has to be replaced frequently. Additionally, an acknowledgement that the intellectual property used to create many items manufactured in China are being blatantly stolen from US industries. Even the molds used to form items are reused with the original name scratched out. Some of it is downright dangerous because of poor quality, and we have no recourse when it fails. We need to keep pushing to reeducate ourselves about being mindful consumers. Re: John Schwarz. Never heard of him. Will now avoid him. Old story, sadly. 50 years ago, when I was in college, I had a poster featuring a French-German activist, Daniel Cohn-Bendit. I was smug about the quote on it, basically, "We are all undesirables." Well, he turned out to be a pedophile. While I have no respect for him now, I still like that plucky statement--just not the dark truth of it. It's something to ponder.
Came to the comments to say this! I think we reached people who had already dumped Amazon and shifted habits. My hope is that we can keep growing the number of people making sustained change!
I am really enjoying not spending online, especially from Amazon and Target, two places we have spent tens of thousands of dollars over the years. I have completely rejected them and won’t even use Amazon as a search engine because I don’t want their app on my phone…. My husband and I have chosen to support local farms, businesses, organizations, food co-ops, artisans, and used clothing and book stores! And being very careful with purchasing other products looking up every one to find out who’s backing them and where they originate! We are also supporting Canada and Mexico and buying as many of their products that we can afford! I found a lovely shampoo and conditioner from Canada at our local food co-op, and I am a subscriber of clean people which is a company based in Canada that makes household cleaning products that are free and clear of harmful chemicals … it’s very rewarding not to spend money on useless things we don’t really need! We are eating only real food, meats eggs, meat, veggies, fruits, dairy, and some grains…as much local products as we can find including maple syrup and honey for sweeteners!
Last week I attended a local networking group in my town for freelancers, small businesses and solopreneurs. A couple of exercises we did (not the touch your toes kind all though I'm all for those exercises too) were 1. to take out our phones and write a google review for a small business we shop at and like. It was, and is, a great way to show support for local small businesses. 2. we had a conversation about what subscription service we could turn off. One person even boasted about ending her Netflix getting a DVR, and watching old movies instead. Now that's commitment! While these things may seem small, they can make an impact and where we spend our money matters.
Boycotts work if you really don't buy and they are very patriotic. The American colonists boycotted British goods in the 1760s and 1770s. Their action made British merchants petition Parliament to repeal the Stamp Act and the Townsend Acts (all except the Tea Act). Canada has the right idea. American consumer need to be "Elbows Up" with their purchasing.
I live in the central coast of California where I have seen visible proof of a boycott working. Field workers, although still not ideal, are paid close to a livable wage due to the work of the grape boycott in the 1970’s and early ‘80s.
Boycotts work and I’m doing all I can to spread the word and live more simply.
And that's the crux isn't it? Living more simply. How much stuff do we really need? I've never been an acquisition and as I approach 80 years on the planet I'm really glad I'm not surrounded by stuff that I don't need and would gave to get rid of. Lice on a small house with my dear husband..all we 'need' is here. Blessed!!
I love this boycott idea and as a matter of fact I have been doing this for a few years. I call it "don't feed the pigs" cause they don't deserve my money and they will never be satisfied. I prefer to spend my money with companies like COSTCO or my local small business. So I hope more people will decide to change their spending habits. Would love to see "the pigs" start loosing to the smaller business's and companies like COSTCO who care about their employees and customers.
I think it’s also about sending a message to companies that we are out here and willing to boycott their companies. This time it was 1 day. Perhaps the next boycott will be much longer and make a bigger impact on their bottom line.
I have deleted Amazon from my life. It's amazing how quickly I became addicted to it. I have found different places to buy my audiobooks. Still trying for e-books. An e-book I might find to buy still takes me to Amazon.🙄 I'll keep looking. I've left Facebook. I wasn't a big user, but I did keep track of former co-workers that way.
Since I'm retired and single, I don't need much more.
Are you familiar with and/or are digital library services available in your area? Many libraries offer e/audiobooks free via Libby and Hoopla. Thousands of books.
“Of course it would have been satisfying to see sales drop so far down into hell and then curve upward only to physically kick Jeff Bezos in the face and then drag him back down into a fiery pit and stuff, but it’s OK. “ I laughed out loud for the first time…great thoughts and insights and I think, like others, keep your elbows up and dig deeper, go longer & do any little thing you can.
One day is NOT enough!! Keep going, I haven’t set foot in Target, Walmart (that one is easy), Hobby Lobby, etc in weeks and it’s not that hard. Amazon, bye bye. I am also saving quite a bit of money too.
I'd like to see more and more, but feeling really grateful for all the citizens who understand the power of their dollars and are choosing to permanently starve the monsters by shopping small.
I need a definition of site traffic. Does it include folks who do not buy anything? Amazon sent me about 3 times as many push notifications of special deals that day. I answer by cutting my next "subscribe and save down to five items (skip, skip, skip) so I would get maximum discount but not buy anything for my stockpile. I bought less than nothing 2/28 (cancelled future orders), was I site traffic?
One of the things that it is important to remember in regard to ordering from Amazon. The cost doesn’t come out of your account until it’s shipped, so Amazon is best to boycott in larger periods of time or forever.
I am also on Month 3 of no Amazon purchases—virtual high five! But it must be acknowledged that I am currently roadtripping, so I don't have an address for that hard-to-quit overnight shipping nor a logical reason to accumulate stuff. Still! It feels good!
My household is doing #NoMerchMarch (our coined tag). We are buying groceries and gas. That is it. We write down something we think we need to purchase in April. I have an inkling that list won’t feel as urgent given some time. We are six days in and doing just fine.
One thing to consider about the boycott is that the people who supported the idea might well have a large overlap in the Zenn diagram of people who have already stopped patronizing the target businesses. Like me. I had no problem not shopping at those businesses that day because I had already decided to avoid them as much as I could. This is hard to do because they have been strategically obliterating their competition for many years. Sometimes you have to hold your nose and buy from them. Anyway, it's hard to measure the people who weren't buying from these mega chains to begin with. The biggest gain is raising awareness and getting people to think about whose pockets they want their money to line, as a well as a willingness to pay a little extra to more deserving companies. Also, we all need to think about quality, and be less tolerant of cheap quality merch that doesn't last and has to be replaced frequently. Additionally, an acknowledgement that the intellectual property used to create many items manufactured in China are being blatantly stolen from US industries. Even the molds used to form items are reused with the original name scratched out. Some of it is downright dangerous because of poor quality, and we have no recourse when it fails. We need to keep pushing to reeducate ourselves about being mindful consumers. Re: John Schwarz. Never heard of him. Will now avoid him. Old story, sadly. 50 years ago, when I was in college, I had a poster featuring a French-German activist, Daniel Cohn-Bendit. I was smug about the quote on it, basically, "We are all undesirables." Well, he turned out to be a pedophile. While I have no respect for him now, I still like that plucky statement--just not the dark truth of it. It's something to ponder.
Came to the comments to say this! I think we reached people who had already dumped Amazon and shifted habits. My hope is that we can keep growing the number of people making sustained change!
I am really enjoying not spending online, especially from Amazon and Target, two places we have spent tens of thousands of dollars over the years. I have completely rejected them and won’t even use Amazon as a search engine because I don’t want their app on my phone…. My husband and I have chosen to support local farms, businesses, organizations, food co-ops, artisans, and used clothing and book stores! And being very careful with purchasing other products looking up every one to find out who’s backing them and where they originate! We are also supporting Canada and Mexico and buying as many of their products that we can afford! I found a lovely shampoo and conditioner from Canada at our local food co-op, and I am a subscriber of clean people which is a company based in Canada that makes household cleaning products that are free and clear of harmful chemicals … it’s very rewarding not to spend money on useless things we don’t really need! We are eating only real food, meats eggs, meat, veggies, fruits, dairy, and some grains…as much local products as we can find including maple syrup and honey for sweeteners!
Thank you!
You are the ideal of Bioregional Based Eating and Economies.
Last week I attended a local networking group in my town for freelancers, small businesses and solopreneurs. A couple of exercises we did (not the touch your toes kind all though I'm all for those exercises too) were 1. to take out our phones and write a google review for a small business we shop at and like. It was, and is, a great way to show support for local small businesses. 2. we had a conversation about what subscription service we could turn off. One person even boasted about ending her Netflix getting a DVR, and watching old movies instead. Now that's commitment! While these things may seem small, they can make an impact and where we spend our money matters.
Boycotts work if you really don't buy and they are very patriotic. The American colonists boycotted British goods in the 1760s and 1770s. Their action made British merchants petition Parliament to repeal the Stamp Act and the Townsend Acts (all except the Tea Act). Canada has the right idea. American consumer need to be "Elbows Up" with their purchasing.
I live in the central coast of California where I have seen visible proof of a boycott working. Field workers, although still not ideal, are paid close to a livable wage due to the work of the grape boycott in the 1970’s and early ‘80s.
Boycotts work and I’m doing all I can to spread the word and live more simply.
And that's the crux isn't it? Living more simply. How much stuff do we really need? I've never been an acquisition and as I approach 80 years on the planet I'm really glad I'm not surrounded by stuff that I don't need and would gave to get rid of. Lice on a small house with my dear husband..all we 'need' is here. Blessed!!
Sorry several typos ( I hate Auto correct)...acquisitor not acquisition have not gave Live not lice....
I love this boycott idea and as a matter of fact I have been doing this for a few years. I call it "don't feed the pigs" cause they don't deserve my money and they will never be satisfied. I prefer to spend my money with companies like COSTCO or my local small business. So I hope more people will decide to change their spending habits. Would love to see "the pigs" start loosing to the smaller business's and companies like COSTCO who care about their employees and customers.
"don't feed the pigs"! I like it! 👏 ...and thank you for your choices.
(My request has been "don't feed the monsters".)
I think it’s also about sending a message to companies that we are out here and willing to boycott their companies. This time it was 1 day. Perhaps the next boycott will be much longer and make a bigger impact on their bottom line.
I have deleted Amazon from my life. It's amazing how quickly I became addicted to it. I have found different places to buy my audiobooks. Still trying for e-books. An e-book I might find to buy still takes me to Amazon.🙄 I'll keep looking. I've left Facebook. I wasn't a big user, but I did keep track of former co-workers that way.
Since I'm retired and single, I don't need much more.
Are you familiar with and/or are digital library services available in your area? Many libraries offer e/audiobooks free via Libby and Hoopla. Thousands of books.
Yes, I use them as well. But they don't have all the books. I do ask for them to get them as well. ☺️
I understand...and, despite being a valuable service, sometimes it's months upon months before a hold is available.
Thank you!
“Of course it would have been satisfying to see sales drop so far down into hell and then curve upward only to physically kick Jeff Bezos in the face and then drag him back down into a fiery pit and stuff, but it’s OK. “ I laughed out loud for the first time…great thoughts and insights and I think, like others, keep your elbows up and dig deeper, go longer & do any little thing you can.
One day is NOT enough!! Keep going, I haven’t set foot in Target, Walmart (that one is easy), Hobby Lobby, etc in weeks and it’s not that hard. Amazon, bye bye. I am also saving quite a bit of money too.
It was a good start.
I'd like to see more and more, but feeling really grateful for all the citizens who understand the power of their dollars and are choosing to permanently starve the monsters by shopping small.
I need a definition of site traffic. Does it include folks who do not buy anything? Amazon sent me about 3 times as many push notifications of special deals that day. I answer by cutting my next "subscribe and save down to five items (skip, skip, skip) so I would get maximum discount but not buy anything for my stockpile. I bought less than nothing 2/28 (cancelled future orders), was I site traffic?
One of the things that it is important to remember in regard to ordering from Amazon. The cost doesn’t come out of your account until it’s shipped, so Amazon is best to boycott in larger periods of time or forever.
I am also on Month 3 of no Amazon purchases—virtual high five! But it must be acknowledged that I am currently roadtripping, so I don't have an address for that hard-to-quit overnight shipping nor a logical reason to accumulate stuff. Still! It feels good!
Thank you for writing this! I was wondering how the boycott shook out but there's still good info and hope here!
My household is doing #NoMerchMarch (our coined tag). We are buying groceries and gas. That is it. We write down something we think we need to purchase in April. I have an inkling that list won’t feel as urgent given some time. We are six days in and doing just fine.