We are all consumers if we eat, wear clothing, live in a house or apartment, travel across town, go to the movies. We can decide how to consume, whether as hapless victim of a predatory market system or as a conscientious person making real choices.

We can begin to use those daily decisions to regain some power in the equation. We can begin to use the one vote we have — how we use our money — to re-direct our purchases more toward local business, supporting neighbors we can get to know instead of impersonal market forces that are organized to take control of our lives.

We can make good choices: just ask, do I fight traffic to get to a crowded mall with chains that specialize in sweatshop goods or agribusiness-produced food? Or do I actively seek out a locally owned small business or a farmer’s market for many of my purchases?

I may not always be able to make such a clear-cut choice. Say I may wish to buy my granddaughter a birthday gift. Instead of a mega-mall we visit a struggling strip mall. We avoid fancy labels and I let her know why.

I’ll ask the salesperson, "Don’t you have anything that isn’t made in a sweatshop?" Or I take time to check the label. "Made in Bangladesh, no. Malaysia, no." I tell the clerk in a few words why. While I know that "made in USA" may not mean that workers are paid a living wage, at least there are laws to protect workers. I tell my legislator why we must enforce them.

Anti-sweatshop campaigns are meant to improve conditions in those overseas factories, but I find it hard to give my beloved a gift that provides huge profits to exploiters.

I see the clerk not as an adversary, but rather as probably underpaid too. I’ve often found them to be sympathetic. The important thing is to make clear your concern. If enough people did that, and backed it up with their purchases, the anti-sweatshop campaigns would succeed.

When buying a gift, try shopping at Ten Thousand Villages in Squirrel Hill where a good share of the profits goes to the poor craftspeople who made the goods. Or seek out local arts and crafts fairs, cooperatives or perhaps a local congregation’s auction or handcraft sale.

Of course the best way to get a bargain and do good is to shop at a thrift store such as our own East End Community Thrift. All the profits support our peace and justice work. Your purchase also helps sustain our voucher system so it can provide free clothing or household goods to those who can’t afford to pay.

Drink coffee? Café de Nicaragua is organically certified rustic shade grown coffee from El Porvenir. It’s available for $10 a pound from Building New Hope, 412/241-2542, or at the Merton Center. The Center also sells beautiful greeting cards and they’re cheaper than the brand name ones.

If you go to a coffee shop, try a locally owned one. Eat out? Support a local restaurant instead of a chain.

I’m not just talking feel good, oh so virtuous here. The fact is Wal-Mart is the largest and one of the fastest growing companies in the U.S. They specialize in sweatshop goods and low wages. They fire or buy off employees who want a union while those at the top are billionaires.

"Oh, but Sam’s Club is so cheap!’ you say. As they say, you don’t get sumpin’ for nuttin’.

Monopoly means putting small businesses into bankruptcy. Once the big boys control the market, forget competition from keeping prices low. You’re at their mercy.

Finally, if you use a bank or invest in stock, buy gas, use a service, buy a book, don’t give the big boys all your business. Make choices. Take back some control! It’s fun!! And it’s powerful.

Share some of your ideas with our readers. Send them to www.editor@verizon.net.

Some resources on how to use your power as a consumer:

Co-op America — building an economy for people and the planet, 1612 K St. NW, Washington, DC 20006, or www.coopamerica.org. They publish Co-op America Quarterly and the National Green Pages.

ALTERNATIVES for Simple Living — PO Box 2787, Sioux City, IA 51106, or www.SimpleLiving.org. They publish a quarterly resource guide. They also have a Christmas Campaign Kit with cards, flyers, booklets, bumper stickers for $10, a free planning guide and a Bulletin Insert Series for congregations.

East End Food Co-op, 7516 Meade St., Pittsburgh, PA 15208, is open daily. They sponsor a lecture series, a credit union and membership events. They offer local summer organic produce, a large selection of healthy foods and a cafe. The Co-operator, their newsletter , is published bi-monthly.