Vienna says “Nein to Shein”

This article was also published and shared by the Global2000 organization on their media here.

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Every time I plan a visit to Vienna, no matter the occasion, there is a good reason to it: I have a feeling that this will be the time when that one-time-in-life moment will occur: finally catching  the aura of the city. You know, that electric jolt one feels when the essence of things are becoming apparent. Jolt that will introduce me to the hidden meanings and whatnot of the city’s personality. That said, I understand that I will need 3 lives in order to get closer to barely scratch  the surface of a city such as Vienna is. Because the problem is not understanding today’s Vienna, no; the major issue is understanding what Vienna was and what it’s standing for .

Long story short, on my last trip to Vienna I was so very surprised to see one of the main commercial street in the city completely blocked out with mountains of refuse bags, filled with all sort of merchandise such as clothing, kitchen implements, electronics, etc. One of the organizers of this (to my shame, I cannot recall her name) was very helpful and told me the scope and actions of Global2000, which is an independent Austrian environmental organization and a member of Friends of the Earth, the largest international network of environmental organizations.

The guys here, all volunteers (my understanding), are working hard to show people the dangers of these products to those who buy them, to their health, to the environment and to Earth. They explained to me, a very beginner in German language, that “Der Schein is trügt” means something that does not appear dangerous but it is. Interesting play of words (schein, shein).

Changing tack, for the sake of a good story: a year or so ago, a good friend of mine, photographer as well, bought a few things off the Chinese online shop named Shein. For those who know what Shein is, I’ll not bother to waste words on the explanation. For those who don’t, well, consider yourself lucky.

Amongst the items my friend purchased were a few bits and bobs of photographic nature: a flash cord, an air blower for the camera, I believe a few other items as well. Personally, I never buy stuff for my photography from low or unknown quality purveyors of debatable or doubtful reputation, for the simple fact that photography is already costing a lot of money, so I do not want to ruin my films or camera by using some crappy and unverified item in the workflow.

My point? He almost ruined one of his most expensive camera, and only the lack of occasion spared him to incur such a damage. But this was luck, and who knows how many photographers out there had none? Buying cheap does not lessen your expenses; au contraire. There’s a saying: “I’m too poor to buy crappy stuff”. Ponder on that, will you?

So, yeah, I am totally against buying the sort of merchandise these shops are selling: smelly “genuine leather” (in fact, really bad PU leather), shoes made from some material that melts after the first rain, t-shirts that shrink beyond belief during the first wash, electronics that fail (and put your life in danger in the same time), coats that (generally) do not fit at all, and so forth. Last but not least, a lot of patent and copyright infringement happens: these online shops I am talking about here are rife with stealing designs, poorly copying trademarked goods, basically stealing the results of years and years of research from under the people and companies that out all the hard work behind a solid product, only to have these guys and steal their ideas.

And if you care about your cash, do the same as I do: just trust a good manufacturer with tens of years of experience and feedback and buy something that, well, will keep for years to come. At worst, you know where to ask for a refund. With these phantom producers, not a chance.

That is the main reason why I do approve and applaud the actions of Global2000. Good work, guys, keep it hot. From my personal point of view, you have my respect !

Readers may want to check their work and understand more about the impact of what they are doing by going onto their website www.global2000.at, and perhaps you can give them a helping hand, in whatever form that may be.