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Resisting McDonaldization

100 Things You Can Do to Resist McDonaldization

  1. Don't patronize McDonaldized establishments
  2. Organize a protest
  3. Attend a protest
  4. Make flyers about the dangers of McDonald's and McDonaldization
  5. Volunteer one hour a week for your favorite local charity
  6. Get to know your neighbors
  7. Talk to your friends and family about McDonaldization
  8. Cook a homemade meal for yourself and friends – buy the ingredients from local shops
  9. Start petitions
  10. Sign petitions
  11. Make it "uncool" with friends to support McDonaldization
  12. Make your own clothes
  13. Shop at thrift and secondhand stores
  14. Plant a garden – even if just on your windowsill
  15. Use a midwife
  16. Go camping in the rough
  17. Avoid prepackaged vacations
  18. Join Slow Food Movement
  19. Join Slow Cities Movement
  20. Recommend this book to your book club – if you are not a member of one, start one!
  21. Ask to go "behind the scenes" at a McDonald's and see how the food is actually prepared
  22. Get a job at McDonald's and try to "humanize" the experience
  23. Read The McDonaldization of Society
  24. Attend a local cultural performance rather than renting a movie from Blockbuster
  25. Avoid using dating websites
  26. Attend a local sporting event rather than watching one on television
  27. Write a letter to your doctor, HMO, and congressperson expressing concern about the McDonaldization of the health care industry
  28. Research politicians and their views before giving them your vote based on catchy sound bites
  29. Do not watch televangelists but visit the religious setting of your choice in person (if you are religious at all)
  30. Try to have non-scripted conversations with staff at McDonaldized places as well as telemarketers
  31. Make a grocery list rather than just wandering aisles – this will help avoid falling prey to strategic product placement
  32. Go fishing – catch your own dinner!
  33. Avoid partaking in false friendliness
  34. Buy crafts from the actual artisans rather than mass manufactured crafts
  35. Obtain a copy of the fact sheet that sparked McLibel – "What's Wrong with McDonald's: Everything They Didn't Want You to Know" – make copies, and distribute it.
  36. Join National Heart Savers Association
  37. Contact Sprawl-Busters and find out more about how to keep big box stores from entering your community
  38. Patronize local coffee shops rather than Starbucks
  39. Only purchase and drink Fair Trade coffee
  40. Educate yourself
  41. Educate others
  42. Avoid living in apartments or tract houses (if you must, humanize it)
  43. Avoid daily routine as much as possible
  44. Do as many things as you can for yourself
  45. Hire a local accountant rather than H&R Block
  46. Use a local doctor or dentist rather than a McDoctor of McDentist
  47. Use the local storefront optometrist rather than Pearle Vision
  48. Go to a local barber or hairdresser rather than Hair Cuttery
  49. Join a knitting society
  50. Organize a board game night for you and your friends
  51. Frequent local cafes and delis – support neighborhood small business
  52. Use cash rather than credit cards
  53. Send back to the post office all junk mail, especially that addressed to "occupant" or "resident"
  54. When dialing a business, always try to speak to a live person
  55. If a computer phones you, set the phone on the ground to keep the computer droning on so you will not be bothered by other such calls
  56. Put yourself on the federal Do Not Call list
  57. Never buy artificial products
  58. Use public transportation
  59. Seek out restaurants that use real china and metal utensils
  60. Avoid the use of Styrofoam and other environmentally damaging materials
  61. Read The New York Times rather than USA TODAY
  62. Watch as little television as possible
  63. Spend an afternoon in the park talking with friends
  64. Never enter a domed stadium or one with artificial glass
  65. Avoid classes with exams graded by a computer
  66. Seek out your professors – get to know them and let them get to know you
  67. Walk
  68. Go to no movies that have roman numerals after their names
  69. Hire an independent babysitter like a neighbor or local responsible high school student rather than leaving your child at a McChild center
  70. Lead efforts to keep McDonaldization out of the school system
  71. Attend smaller, less or non-McDonaldized educational institutions
  72. Do not take children to fast-food restaurants or on McDonaldized vacations – teach them to enjoy non-McDonaldized institutions and vacations
  73. Share this list with a friend
  74. Wear earth and worker friendly clothing and shoes
  75. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
  76. Start a savings account rather than spending money on non-necessary consumer items
  77. Try to humanize your relationship with your boss and co-workers
  78. If you do eat at a fast-food restaurant, avoid the drive-through window
  79. Be aware
  80. Never drive an SUV or other environmentally unfriendly vehicle
  81. Ride a bicycle or moped
  82. Never buy bottled water
  83. Always vote
  84. Use energy saving devices
  85. Landscape your yard with local plant species
  86. Only buy fruits and vegetables when they are in season
  87. Smile
  88. Avoid prepackaged foods
  89. Learn what other people are doing
  90. Become knowledgeable about world affairs
  91. Eat at "authentic" restaurants of ethnic cuisine rather than Americanized imitations
  92. Start small – do not try to change the world in a day
  93. Do not buy furniture at IKEA. If you do go, avoid using their pre-designated walkway
  94. Encourage others to resist McDonaldization
  95. Do not use ATM's – visit live tellers inside the bank
  96. Make your own health shakes at home rather than buying them from 7-11 or Starbucks
  97. Criticize McDonaldization – and do it loudly!
  98. Be aware of where your food is made, and how it is processed, packaged, and shipped
  99. Run for political office and, if you win, effect change
  100. Create your own list of ways to resist McDonaldization

To share your additional suggestions for resisting McDonaldization, email us at info.pineforge@sagepub.com or post them as comments on our Myspace page at http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=220802762 .