Like No Impact Man before him, Brooklyn resident Scott Ballum embarked last month on a year long mission to radically examine his own patterns of consumption. He’s calling it the Consume®econnection Project, and his plan sounds simple yet exhausting:
The Mission: A year-long effort to meet the laborers and craftsmen who build what I buy – and put a human face on consumption. For every transaction, there must be a personal connection with someone along the production chain.To that end, he road-tripped to the Maker’s Mark Distillery in Kentucky and sneaked away from the guided tour so he could personally shake hands with Jude, one of eighteen barrel-rollers at the distillery. Now Ballum can suck down unlimited Maker’s for the year with a clean conscience. He also toured the Brooklyn Brewery to meet the folks and learn more about their process – turns out only 1/3 of their beer is made in Williamsburg; the rest is brewed in Utica. (A Sixpoint tour is definitely in order.)
