How Workers Matter

Think about this. The United Nations estimated in 2007 that a person needs at least $4 a day (about $1,500 a year), to live a basic, decent life. By this measure, 4 billion of the 6.5 billion people in the world do not meet that mark. And of those 4 billion people, 1 billion live on less than a dollar a day.

At the same exact time, only 75 million people have at least $55 (about $20,000 a year) of purchasing power a day. That's where we come in. With that kind of global purchasing power, where and how we spend our money is starting to have true influence on the way corporations conduct themselves. Think of your dollar as an economic ballot. Each time you choose to spend money on a product that does not depend on the exploitation of disadvantaged workers or the environment, you are voting for the kind of world you'd like to live in.

You do have a choice. You can choose products that are produced fairly. Exercise your freedom.

Fair Price

Workers and farmers are paid a fair price for goods and services. Fair price is based on what a person should earn in order to meet the basic needs of a small family in their home economy. The true costs of production are respected throughout the entire supply chain.

Transparency and Accountability

All along the trade lines, partners and consumers deal honestly, openly and respectfully with one another.

Empowerment and Opportunity

Fair Labor is a means to help producers work toward independence. Long-term relationships are maintained, so that local communities can enjoy a sense of stability and to plan for the future. Many of the cooperatives we partner with are worker owned, and reinvest their profits to improve their local schools, health care clinics, and other social programs.

Sustainability

Fair Labor means that all along the way, farmers and artisans respect the natural habitat and are encouraged and supported in their use of sustainable, environmentally friendly production methods. And it really is working. Our new partner in fashion, Ideo, uses 100% certified organic cotton grown by small producers in India, according to the standards of Fair Labor. In four years, the factory has grown from 19 to 350 employees. A welfare system has been implemented and the factory is supporting a local school.

We recently met with a group in New Delhi that is producing fabulous handbags made, quite literally, from garbage. Plastic bags picked from the streets find new life while ragpickers and factory workers are paid a decent wage for work with a company that respects their health and their rights.

When we learn about other people living in poverty, people in the developed world want to help, and it is sometimes difficult to know how. The Fair Trade movement offers a simple and direct way for everyone to participate. Think about the things you buy. Seek out Fair Trade goods and Fair Labor apparel.

Why Buy Organic Cotton?

You may be surprised to know that cotton, that lovely white fluffy wholesome commodity, is the most polluting crop on the planet. In the production of cotton, 25% of all pesticides are used for only 2.5% of agricultural land. Think about how many T-shirts you own. Then think about this: according to the Organic Trade Association, it takes roughly 1/3 of a pound of harmful pesticides and fertilizers chemicals to grow enough cotton for just ONE of those shirts.

By choosing organic cotton you are supporting the health and livelihood of small, traditional farmers and their families. You are protecting the health of their children and your own.