Pocket Change: Pitching in for a Better World

Gr 4–7—Part condemnation of conspicuous consumption and part call for change, this selection aims to motivate readers to modify their buying habits and seek out alternative modes of energy and production. Students will be all riled up at the waste and harm current consumer culture has caused after reading about the exploitation of developing countries by Western companies. Luckily, the majority of the work focuses on ways that students can give back and even undo some of the devastation caused by mass production. Examples include joining Habitat for Humanity, petitioning for libraries to lend out additional items like tools, organizing a "freecycle" (a garage sale where everything is free), and starting a garden. Nongovernmental organizations such as the Grameen Foundation are highlighted in favorable terms. The recurring sidebar "My Two Cents Worth" offers personal stories from Mulder, which are often tangential to the main text (a tale about biking across Canada appears amid a discussion of the Great Depression). Reevaluating our idea of wealth—what it means to be wealthy and how this impacts other people—is a genuine launching point for discussion.