Walmart

Walmart: You either love 'em or hate 'em. I was directed to an excellent website that discusses the evils of Walmart. http://www.wakeupwalmart.com/ I will be the first to admit that being a conscious consumer is hard work. Making sure that you try to shop only with companies that treat their workers/manufacturers well, basically support human rights issues and are good fair companies, well its hard work. It is something my husband and I have been trying to do for the last year or so. Our journey mostly started out as just shopping for natural bath and body care, this led us to smaller mom and pop or Internet shops, which led us to where we are now. I had not shopped at Walmart in well over a year, and was proud of it. Then a Walmart opened in our town. We have been there 3 times. Its convenience and NO MORE! We are renewing our vow to shop at better stores. Like HyVee, they are "employee owned" the employees at our local HyVee are so nice and helpful. The produce manager told me the other day if there is ANY organic product they don't carry and i want to tell him and he will get it. Awesome!

Unfortunately, for some people it is almost not an option to not shop at Walmart. Take my mom for example, they live in a small town. She works in a slightly bigger town and they have Walmart. They also have a good priced grocery store and I believe she gets her groceries there. But what about other household items? The grocery store carries them but at a premium. Also what about Christmas and shopping? It is basically the only store that carries kids toys and games, kids clothes, etc.. I much prefer Target but that means a drive to St. Joseph 30-60 minutes away depending on if its coming from home or work. It is such a dilemma.

Those who do have a choice in the matter however, need to snap out of the Walmart coma and start shopping other places. You don't need all the crap thats in the store. If all the people in large cities would start shopping elsewhere it would have a huge impact on the company. As for myself, my dollars may not effect their bottom line, by I am proud of myself for knowing that I am shopping smart and supporting businesses who have earned it.