How Women Can Change the World

During a Peace Summit in Vancouver last year, the Dalai Lama made a stunning proclamation that “the world will be saved by the Western woman”. His Holiness went on to highlight the reality that 'awakening' women are emerging as the leaders of the global change movement. Women have never before held so much power to shape the future of our planet and the evolution of humanity. At this time a major economic shift is taking place where women now have more influence, money, control and resources to revolutionize how we do business on a global level.

According to the New York Times, there are more women controlling more wealth in the US than ever before. We make 85% of the consumer purchases. We can greatly improve the American economy by what we choose to buy – and don’t buy. It is very important to support US companies rather than products made in other countries – mainly to keep the currency within our country, also to reduce costs and pollution from shipping products from overseas. And whenever possible, it is good to support independently owned companies rather than large corporations to sustain your local community first and foremost.

Women naturally tend to be more conscious about what products they choose to buy for their families. We now have access to much more information about product safety, quality and manufacturing ethics. With numerous internet forums, blogs and social networking, product info is so widely available. Women are becoming much more health-conscious and environmentally aware, as they can better understand the cause and effects of each choice they make in how they spend money. When we can change our buying habits, we can literally change the world. It is all a matter of supply and demand.

This progressive eco-awareness has helped shape more informed buying decisions, as consumers are more prone to support more healthy and sustainable products and companies. Unfortunately, there is a lot of “greenwashing” going on with deceptive PR or marketing to promote the perception that a company’s policies or products are environmentally friendly. In many cases, they are not as ecologically conscious as they may appear to be. The truth is, many products and services are completely unnecessary – especially all the superfluous toys and latest gadgets, mass-produced overseas and over-packaged in layers of plastic and boxes.

There are so many little things that we can do to make a difference such as bring your own cloth bags to the grocery store rather than wasting dozens of plastic bags each week. Avoid buying plastic water bottles, as it is better for your health and the environment to utilize reusable containers and buy in bulk to reduce unnecessary packaging. Avoid excessive purchases of pointless possessions that may bring temporary contentment, yet may be quickly disregarded and end up in a Goodwill box or the landfill.

When we stop choosing to spend our hard-earned money on needless stuff, we find more gratification in having the financial resources for more experiential adventure. Rather than upgrading your perfectly fine 47” television for a bigger better one, use that money for a weekend get-away or a quality “staycation” with your sweetie-pie. Take the family out for an entertaining teppanyaki dinner, or attend a theatrical play to support the arts, or an enjoyable outdoors activity. It doesn’t matter what you do, as the point is to create unforgettable memories. In the end, that’s all we really have – memories of good times with our loved ones – NOT the latest electronic gadget that further disconnects us from human interaction.