So, I just got a Christmas job at The Body Shop and had training in the city today... and I'm so excited!
Mostly it was great to hear about the history and values of the company, how it first started and a bit about Anita Roddick. I have been wanting to read a biography on her for quite a while because I'm interested to find out more about the company and how she did it, so it was really inspiring to hear more about it today.
Anita considered herself an activist and wanted to set up a store selling beauty products that stood for values that basically opposed the beauty industry. Of course she needed to make money from that but she didn't see herself as a retailer, it was just so she had a platform from which to do the work she really wanted to do. It was just so exciting to hear about the changes she worked hard for and you can't help but catch some of her passion and enthusiasm!
The core values of the company are:
-Against animal testing
-Support community trade
-Activate self esteem
-Defend human rights
-Protect our planet
Oh, and they are a totally vegetarian company! Which means they have no products that involve the killing of animals.
It is also great to hear that they won't accept something to do with the company if it disagrees with or compromises those values. Like they have discontinued products before if the supplier has changed and they can no longer guarantee one of the ingredients isn't tested on animals. They have also decided not to use any advertising in Australia because they don't want to help support the beauty industry in that way.
I really love the community trade aspect of the company, I don't know about much of this so I won't say much, but I love that due to this fair trade the money is going back into these communities and actually making a difference. They have community trade Shea butter and Cocoa butter which I think are in most of the Body Butters. If you have never tried a Body Butter, oh my gosh get to a Body Shop and try one! My fav is Brazil nut (which is being discontinued, boo), but they all just smell delicious and feel beautiful. Can you tell I'm going to spend quite a bit of my earnings this Summer?
Also one of the girls I met at training today is planning to travel overseas next year with her boyfriend and do some community work in South Africa I think, like helping rebuild the community, which sounds like hard work but really exciting and I'm sure it would be extremely satisfying!
So one of my big plans is to move out next year... I won't say any more about that because I really don't know how it will work out, but I do love the idea of having more of my own space and especially taking the time to prepare food and eat better. I don't really have the space or energy to prepare my own food here at home but I think I'm going to start planning recipes! I am tempted to go vegetarian, to be healthy, but I figure I don't have to make that commitment, I'll just commit to being more sensible and balanced with my food, meat or no meat.
I freaked out tonight when I thought Max had died right in front of me... he is great and when I walk over to his bowl he always swims over to me, ready to be fed. But tonight I put the blood worms in and then all of a sudden he went spastic and swam around the bowl crazy fast and was hitting the glass and the pebbles, and then was kind of shaking for a sec and then went super still... I thought that was it and he just had his crazy death throes! He's looked a bit unhealthy lately, I think because he is cold, but luckily he is alive and eating and swimming again. But gosh that would've been sad. He's a good little fishy but I'm kind of mad at him for scaring me like that.
Plans for future posts:
-Beach photos
-Brief reviews of books I'm currently reading or have recently read
-A list of links I love
-Photos of my crochet work (sounds fancy but I'm just a beginner, ha!)
-More random photos
xo
Also just wanted to post my favourite Christmas present, this beautiful belcher chain at just the right length! Our Christmas was pretty quiet and uneventful and I can't believe it's over already. I'm just looking forward to things settling back to normal after working so much and not having enough time to do everything!
