Some time during my studio class a year ago we got on the subject of thrift shopping and how we as Americans just throw away our money like it's nothing.

It really struck a chord with me and then I got to thinking about it earlier tonight. If everyone sacrificed fashion every now and then, and donated the money saved or bought canned foods for the needy, we really could make a difference.

So here's my challenge, to everyone who has ever felt offended or agreed when someone from a foreign nation or even our own land has called you a greedy, selfish American: Anytime you feel the urge to spend $100 (I'm exaggerating a bit, but even $50) on a pair of shoes, go to Payless or Wal-Mart or a thrift store or somewhere cheaper and find something you like. Now take the money you saved and put it in an account or a safe or somewhere you can watch it grow. By the end of one year (assuming you are faithful to this) you will have saved a fat wad of cash. Donate it, all of it, half of it, whatever to some good cause. Give it to the American Cancer Society or buy food to send over seas, help the tsunami relief, something. Think about it: If you see a pair of shoes for $60 you can probably find something almost exact at Payless or Wal-Mart for $15-$20. That's $40-$45 you're saving. You could go to McDonald's and buy 40 double cheeseburgers from the dollar menu and feed 40 hungry people. (Not including tax, but still)

And Don't just save on shoes either. Clothing, bags, etc. We (as a whole nation) spend Millions upon Millions more than we should just so we can fit in. It's ridiculous. It's sad that we feel the need to spend more money on something we'll wear a few times just so people will accept us. Screw that. I'm not saying buy and wear old, dirty, ripped clothing, but you can find some nice stuff at thrift stores and Wal-Mart, etc. Shop around, be a better consumer. Save your money and other people at the same time.

Even go DIY. We are in a rebirth of art and fashion, a prime time for do it yourself design. You want to be individual? Go to a thrift store, buy some cheap clothes for the material, and make your own clothing. I took my old CVS work shirt and screenprinted my logo on it. It's me with a badass mohawk. I'll put it up later with instructions on how to screen print. So you can't wear JLO brand panties? Boo hoo. Who needs 'em? You like Calvin Klein boxers? So what. Go to K-Mart and buy a rack of cotton boxers for $5 instead of $5 a pair. The "cheapo's" do the same thing as the expensive brand. It's like getting an education at VCU versus Harvard. You pay at least $20,000 more to go to Harvard and for what...? A NAME. A name. Excuse me, but I didn't know that Harvard had somehow acquired more knowledge than VCU. Somewhere along the line Harvard knows more numbers, more scientists, more writers, more/better works of art, more events in history than VCU. And so much more in fact that you have to pay $20,000 more a year to go to Harvard. Pssh, BULLSHIT. They all know the same thing, all the same things happened in History that you'd learn about in a VCU history class as a Harvard history class. The only thing you are paying for is a name. How dumb is that?

So, greedy, selfish American; Are you up to the challenge? Spread this around. The more who know, the more can help.

One last figure before I go based on my dollar menu theory:

Let's say you save $500 in one year based on the ideas I've presented you with. You keep $250 for yourself (understandably) and with the other half you buy 200 double cheeseburgers. Now let's pretend that 1 million americans also participate and experience your same success. That's 200 million double cheeseburgers. 2/3 of the United States. It doesn't stop there though. Instead of buying cheeseburgers, let's buy chicken noodle soup (Campbells- prices based on last time I was at Food Lion which was about a month ago, I don't shop. The price was .69 cents a can.) Rounded down that's about 362 cans of soup. (Assuming my math is correct: 250 divided by .69= 362.1??) 362 cans of food that can be shipped all over the world from ONE PERSON. Say 1 million people do this. 362 MILLION CANS of SOUP go out worldwide. Say 5 million people do this. 1.81 BILLION cans of soup go out world wide. Almost 1/3 of the WORLD's POPULATION!!!!! Now say 20 million people participate (1/15 of the US population): YOU GET 7.24 BILLION CANS OF SOUP, MORE THAN THE WORLD's POPULATION, according to the last census I read. Granted, the people participating won't need the food, and some of those who don't participate also won't need the food. The hungry is now fed because instead of buying the $60 reeboks, you went to Payless and bought the cheapo's for $20. Small price to pay for feeding the needy.

Also, every time you feel the urge to splurge when shopping, and you want to buy something you don’t need; really think about your purchase. Do you absolutely have to have it? Would you die without it? I’ll be the first one to admit I have a problem when it comes to DVD’s. It’s okay to splurge now and then, but every time you shop is excessive. I’ll do better if you guys do better.

So please, consider this. Pass it along, copy and paste it and post more bulletins. We can make a difference. Whatever you do, don't disregard this.

Thanks, much love and peace, RR5