Six years ago on New Year’s Eve’s, I made a resolution to myself and it has lead me down a road that has been painful, liberating, horrific and rewarding.  I haven’t looked back since… I promised myself I would be vocal about the things going on around me that really upset and concerned me.  The year that followed I decided to choose one thing I care about it could have been a human rights issue, animal rights issue or environmental issue it didn’t (and still doesn’t) matter what it was.  The goal was to research the issue, educate myself as to why it was happening, who it was that behind it and who was benefiting from it, AND then most importantly stop giving putting my consumer dollars into their pockets because I wanted to remove myself from the problem.  It’s harder than it seems with big umbrella corporations linking so many products together and mainstream media again leading back to only a few people connected to the corporate world, assisting with hiding or at least providing bias opinion regarding the facts, at times.  I am still trying this and it can be overwhelming at times and sometimes seem so simple.  An example of where it can really get complicated would the Palm Oil industy, with the lack of information and transparency on the products we buy and a diverse range of human, animal and environmental issues all coming into play.  Then there is the simple, for example the captive marine mammal industry where one action, choose not to buy a ticket to a dolphin theme park or swim with dolphins program is the key.

Why do I use Palm Oil and dolphin captivity as the examples well in the first two years of caring that my dollars were speaking for my ethics, I revisited a few issues that I have cared about since my childhood.

I grew up in South East Asia and have always felt a strong connection to my childhood years in Indonesia.  With memories, of Sumatran Tigers and Orang-utans still vivid today.  I already knew the palm oil industry was a major player in the loss of habitat for both these endangered creatures.  What I didn’t realise was how many products contain palm oil and all the other issues facing these two amazing animals, not to forget or ignore the many other endangered animals suffering from loss of habitat as a direct result of the Palm Oil industry.

Around the time of my 40th brithday, my father told me that when I was really quite young child, at the end of the day, he would announce it was bath time and I would be very inquisitive as to if there would be a whale in my bath tub.  When I asked him if it was excitement or concern at that prospect he says I wasn’t excited, possibly a little concerned but more just interested.  My interested in the whales quickly grew from whales to dolphins, turtles, coral reefs, sharks and so on and so on, throughout my life.

This blog is a place, where I can put my research, thoughts and discoveries on a journey to match my dollars, my voice and my ethics.  And down the track I would like to encourage others to write blog posts for this page about the issues they care about that they have researched and found a way to make their dollars voice ethic.

Jackie Curtis