giving a hand up, not a handout

Mom had an idea.

I don't know exactly when, since I didn't have the insight at the time to write it down. I think it was about a year ago. In any case, we all agreed it was a great idea and then, like so many other great ideas, we put it aside.

This summer I had a few of those jobs which everyone has and nobody wants, so when Mom's great idea came up again, I could appreciate that it wasn't merely a great idea, it was an amazing idea. What, you are now asking yourself, is this idea so amazing it almost defies rational explanation? We're going to help.

I know it sounds shocking, but hear me out. We're all going to help. Not just Mom and I. You're going to help too. I know, I know, none of us have the time for save-the-world schemes. But that's what's so brilliant about this one. It won't take up any of your time. We're going to shop. Not special shopping, but the shopping we do all the time: summer clothes, winter clothes, work clothes, back-to-school clothes… We're starting with clothes, but we won't stop there.

So now I need to explain how shopping can be as much a humanitarian activity as a necessary or social one. The clothes will be labelled. Well, alright, I know clothes are already labelled, but these will be special labels.

These will be m*tac labels.

m*tac labels will tell you if the clothing you're about to buy was made in factories with reasonable health and safety standards, if the workers received a living wage, if they work a reasonable number of hours, if the company doesn't use child labour, if the products are made in an environmentally conscientious fashion… Choose your concern then look for the star.

That's it. Consumer-driven humanitarianism. m*tac, Mom's idea, stands for more than a consumer. Because that's what we are.

All of us are consumers.
And all of us are more than consumers.
I'm a third generation Albertan. I'm a daughter. I'm a university student.
I am. more than a consumer.
So are you.