SHOPPING CART BEAT >>>

Megan Barney, an University of Washington-Tacoma student/detective - who made the Dean's list (woo hoo!) - sent us a lovely letter:

Dear Editor,

A few weeks ago I noticed an interesting sticker affixed to a post in front of the University of Washington-Tacoma campus. The sticker was yellow and depicted a shopping cart with the words "Don't Buy It". I was curious, but didn't think much of it. That is, I didn't think much of it until these carts started popping up all over town--on McDonald's billboards, the old Hell's Kitchen sign, painted on a support column of the 705, on Schuster shortly before Old Town, near the Safeway on Pearl, etc. The more I saw the more curious I became, and I was not alone. No one that I talked to had a clue what the message was behind the carts. Did it have something to do with the ever-present rumors about a downtown grocery? Was it related to recent talk about food carts? Even local graffiti artists were in the dark. Seeing no mention of the carts in the Volcano, I did some digging. It turns out that the carts have nothing to do with being anti-grocery or anti-food cart. They are the product of Don't Buy It Clothing, a few locals who are anti-commercial and selling t-shirts to prove it. Their website, complete with mission statement and shop, can be found at www.dontbuyitclothing.com. I thought other confused Tacomans might appreciate having this mystery explained.

Thanks for the awesome detective work Megan. Your discovery forces the Weekly Volcano to rethink our "T-town Troubled Sweater Vest" line that we intend to market to distressed jeans owners.