As real estate agent, I have the opportunity to go into many homes and get great design and decorating ideas. My current home was a home that needed a lot of work on it. Every year is a project on it.

This year I was thinking of tackling the kitchen. The kiddos are old enough, I think, to deal with eating off the grill for three months during the remodel. As such I started to look at what to do about my counters.

The kitchen was last remodeled in 1970. Need I say more?

Despite my rust colored countertops and 1970′s cabinets, it has been a good kitchen for many an art and playdough project, and many fresh breads, pies, cookies, and pizza’s with my kids. I am an avid cook, so what goes into my kitchen is really important to me. I had thought that I had settled on granite. As I was doing more research online, I came across this article by the BBC.

Real cost of India’s cheap stone
By Tom Heap BBC News, Bangalore

In the article, Tom was quoted as saying:

The following day we travelled south of Bangalore and walked into a granite
quarry where old women and children were breaking rocks. We spoke to one family, all nestled under a windbreak in a dusty bowl. It emerged that the father had taken a loan at the beginning of the year from the quarry’s owners and had
to work until it was paid off. This is what is known as bonded labour and leaves
the family tied to the job. The father told me he would be returned by force if
he tried to quit. Once again, despite the harsh conditions, the family showed
great dignity and resilience. They do not like living in a quarry but they
have to eat.

Now, my kitchen is really important to me. I spend a lot of time there with my kids. I had to sit and think if I wanted to look at my gorgeous countertops knowing that another small child, maybe the age of my son, was sitting a quarry somewhere mining that granite for me. My kitchen is a place of relaxation and family bonding. I found myself, quickly repulsed by the thought of having granite in my kitchen. I’m not sure I want a child mining this for me to enjoy with my kids just so they can EAT.

I understand why home owners like granite. It really is beautiful. It’s one of those things, out of sight, out of mind. Me…I’m going to keep looking.

(c) 2008. Melina Tomson. All rights reserved. DO NOT copy or duplicate any part of this post without express written permission of the author.

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