a few reasons why i’m freeing myself from amazon

For my birthday this year, I freed myself from amazon. LIBERATION.

Here are my main reasons for taking a break:

1. the packaging: even though I re-use the bubble mailers for many things, they still are not recyclable and will wind up eventually in the earth or water. We have been on a kick to discontinue using “single-use” plastics for the past two years and this is one of my last sticking points.

2. Amazon is putting so many small businesses out of business and acquiring larger businesses. I have a personal aversion to monopolies because they tend to manipulate everyone’s experience in a particular realm and since the realm of Amazon is ever-expanding, their influence over producers and distributors and manufacturers and purchasers is now almost hard to imagine.

3. Personally, I’m trying to become even more “hyper-local” in my work and life. I’m striving to be deeply connected to my neighbors, my neighborhood, the people who grow the food and make the things. In work, I’ve always been on the path to have personal connections with each and every student (knowing that this isn’t always possible, but I hold each one that I know about in my third eye and heart), and this is the kind of consumer I want to be, too.

4. Free shipping isn’t free for the planet. I live in a city with one of the world’s greatest bookstores (Powell’s!) and lots of independent bookstores that I can ride my bike or walk to.

5. The space between impulse and purchase gets smaller and smaller online where credit cards are saved and web-cookies serve up the last items I’ve searched for on Amazon over and over. I want to be as thoughtful and intentional about purchases.

6. BILLIONAIRES. I’m over them. And I don’t want to give my money to them.