This Essentials Star Mandala will help you visualize the various areas of your life that you shop for. It is our hope that you will use this chart to organize a gradual shift towards shopping more kindly (see Kind Shopping Action Mandala: here). Consider taking a week or a month to focus on just one area of your shopping. Alternately, you could try to make at least one Kind Shopping purchase in each category every week.

How To Use The Compassionate Shopping Essentials Mandala

The idea of our Compassionate Shopping Star Mandalas is to guide you towards shopping more compassionately.

The idea of this Essentials Mandala, is to organize your move to more compassionate shopping. First, use this Essentials Star Mandala to choose an area and/or item that you need to purchase. Next, look at the Action Star Mandala (which lists types of kind shopping, such as “fair trade”) to see how you could make that purchase more compassionately.

The Six Areas of Shopping Needs
(Each point of the star is a category. The middle is a category too — one which is the most needed, and yet not as necessary as the other items.)

1. Spirit: What do you buy for your spirituality, yoga or religious needs? What books and music do you buy? Consider purchasing items from an independent, union book shop such as Powells Books.
Suggested links:
For Your Reading Needs: Powells Books
For Your Music Needs: CD Baby

2. Food: Look for the word “organic”. Watch for ingredients such as high fructose corn syrup and artificial flavors which can harm your health. Consider moving towards a plant based diet, for your health, and for the sake of compassion towards animals.
Suggested link:
For some choices such as tea and chocolate:Tara Luna

3. Household: Household cleaners are a source of indoor air pollution. Consider moving towards more natural products, or use household tricks such as vinegar for disinfecting. Seek out places to buy items such as utensils, furniture, and home decor that are more natural, more sustainable, and/or use fair trade practices.
Suggested link:
Gaiam

4. Community: Consider items that you use for school, hobbies, work and play. Can you build something yourself to meet the need? Can you find items made out of more natural products? Do you know where to shop to find items that are locally made, union made, and/or fair trade?
Suggested links:
Greener Country (Includes office products, cleaning supplies, clothing and more)
Gaiam (Gaiam for fitness needs. Gaiam also has household products, clothing, yoga products and more.)

5. Clothing: Like the food you buy, the clothes you wear can affect your health and that of the planet. Use natural fabrics when possible. Seek out products that are union made and/or fair trade.
Suggested links:
Autonomie Project
Gaiam
Greener Country

6. Finance:There are many organizations which emphasize the importance of where you keep your money. Consider using a credit union or community bank for your savings account, checking out, mortgage, and other loans. See our post on banks v credit unions: here. Money is a powerful force. Direct your money with care and compassion.

Suggested links:
Green America

Below are some links to help you find a credit union near you:

USA: www.findacreditunion.com
Canada: www.locator.cucentral.com
UK: www.findyourcreditunion.co.uk

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Step Two: How To Shop More Kindly
Look for: local products, small business, organic products, fair trade, etc.
See Kind Shopping Star Mandala: here

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At this time, Peace Couple receives no advertising dollars for recommending products or suggested links. Though, we do have “partnership programs” with some companies, which allow us to receive credit or a percentage when our readers shop through our portal. Of course, there is no extra charge to you. Many thanks for supporting the work we do at Peace Couple.