Eco Fashion - Fair Trade Clothing and Accessories with Responsibility

The importance of eco-friendly products is globally recognized, not only for the health of the planet but to promote individual health as well.  Fair trade industries are making even more of a mark by combining the benefits of environmentally safe, chemical-free manufacturing and cultivation with social responsibility and concern.   Fair trade coffee and chocolate are already mainstream staples for a green lifestyle - fair trade fashion is becoming just as popular, beginning in Europe and finally making progress in North America as well.  

What is Fair Trade?

Lack of safety standards, ridiculously low labor wages, competitive markets, and strict trade policies have been reasons for many manufacturers to shift their productions to developing countries.  While some may argue that these jobs are beneficial to the developing world, the conditions, pay, and hours are usually extremely inhumane.  

Fair trade industries and organizations provide a solution to this problem.  Farmers, craftsmen, and artisans can work acceptable hours in a safe, clean environment.  Local cooperatives work directly with suppliers and workers to build the community and ensure that local needs are met by providing fair wages and conditions.  

Fair trade products are globally beneficial, providing consumers with beautiful - often handmade - wares at a reasonable price while boosting developing economies and improving the well-being of residents within those communities.  Fair trade is socially responsible, as well as environmentally responsible.  All fair trade products are cultivated or crafted using the most sustainable methods available, without chemicals and toxins.

Fair Trade Fashion Beauties

UK-based company, People Tree, is a pioneer of fair trade fashion.  People Tree works with 50 different fair trade groups in 15 countries and provides training and supervision to ensure fair wages, acceptable work and living conditions, and beautiful, sustainable clothing and accessories for the entire family.  

Organic, fair trade cotton is the foundation for most People Tree products.  Natural dyes and recycled or biodegradable materials are also incorporated as local artisans hand embroider, screen print, and weave unique fair trade products.  

Last month, People Tree founder Safia Minney and organic beauty princess Jo Wood launched the People Tree Foundation - a nonprofit organization offering even more support to the fair trade industry.  You can support the People Tree Foundation and their mission by purchasing the fair trade charm bracelet created by Bombolulu in Kenya.

In the United States, Fair Trade clothing is a new trend.  Fair trade certification is not yet available for cotton or apparel, but Fair Indigo is on the road to changing that.  The Wisconsin based company designs spectacular fair trade fashion for men and women, along with a tremendous selection of products for infants and children.  Fair Indigo partners with ethical producers around the world to provide sustainable clothing and accessories, while also improving the well-being of the local communities manufacturing the products.

Those in the Wisconsin area can shop in the Madison Fair Indigo store, while others can buy fair trade clothing directly through the Fair Indigo website.  Five-percent of every sale supports the Fair Indigo Foundation or you can purchase a Fair Indigo logo tee and all profits benefit growth of the fair trade industry.

Images: People Tree and Fair Indigo

Spill the Beans – An Eco-Friendly Coffee Approach

When you're looking for an eco-friendly jolt of java, don't become intimidated by the assortment of labels attached to the fresh scent of caffeine found at your local retailers and specialty shops. What exactly does Fair Trade mean? And, what makes a coffee bean organic? Hopefully, I can shed a bit of light on how to take an eco-friendly approach towards your next cup of coffee. Fair Trade Certified Have you ever come across the International Fairtrade Certification Mark when purchasing a product? Fair Trade products mean that the workers providing the beans for your next mocha chocolate latte have been paid a living wage of at least $1.26 per pound. You're probably wondering how fair pay is eco-friendly, but if workers are able to make sustainable wages, then farmers are not forced to follow practices that cause harm to the environment. If you don’t see a "Fair Trade Certified" logo, then you're more than likely not buying Fair Trade coffee beans. USDA-Certified Organic Thanks to the United States Department of Agriculture, the certifications of coffee beans under this category are monitored, as well as grown without the aid of chemical-ridden pesticides, fertilizers, and herbicides. When following organic farming practices, the local ecosystem benefits. Farmers, workers, and residents aren’t exposed to hazardous chemicals. Most importantly, you do not consume any chemicals when sipping on a fresh cup of organic coffee. Shade Grown Sadly, some coffee producers destroy rainforests and other pieces of land in order to provide direct sunlight for the growth of their beans. In the process, a great deal of natural habitat for many migratory birds and other native species is lost. To make matters worse, coffee crops suffer attacks from pests that enjoy the open invitation of shadeless plants. As a result, farmers resort to harmful fertilizers and pesticides. If you purchase shade-grown coffee beans, the surrounding forest was left intact, which does not threaten rainforest conservation or species preservation. Shade-grown coffee is also identified with certified seals and labels from the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center (SMBC) or the Rainforest Alliance. Rainforest Alliance Certified Purchasing coffee that carries the Rainforest Alliance seal of approval means that the coffee was grown in the shade with the use of low to zero pesticides. Workers were also cared for under the standards of the International Labor Organization. Sustainable practices are verified when farms meet requirements, including the presence and maintenance of diverse species. Where to Get Eco-Friendly Coffee? National chains, such as Safeway and Trader Joes, carry fair trade coffee. You can find organic and fair-trade selections at health food stores and specialty shops. If you still need help locating fair trade coffee in your neck of the woods, contact Transfair USA at 510-663-5260 or visit www.transfairusa.org. Mail order and online retailers are also excellent sources of eco-friendly coffee, including the following businesses:

• Peace Coffee – Organic and Shade Grown (888) 324-7872
• Organic Coffee Co. – Organic (800) 829-1300
• Sacred Grounds – Organic (800) 425-2532
• Green Mountain Coffee – Fair Trade and Organic (800) 223-6768
• Global Exchange – Fair Trade (800) 497-1994, ext. 237
• Café Mam – Organic & Fair Trade (888) 223-3626

Of Tea and Trade

Tea is both a luxury and a necessity.  A luxury since it cannot be grown anywhere near where I live (except for a small plantation in South Carolina).  A necessity because it carries me through the day, calms when I need calm and excites when I need energy.  

The venerable anthropologist Sidney Mintz, in his amazing book Sweetness and Power, charts the history and significance of sugar production since the Columbian Exchange, but he rightly suggests that we can't talk about sugar without talking about tea, the most important non-alcoholic beverage in the United Kingdom and many of its former colonial holdings.  Tea and sugar, produced through slave labor in the Caribbean, became the mainstays of the English working class, and yet they also represent the refined, the social, and the ceremonial.  In its history, though, controversies have always surrounded the labor used to produce tea.   Given that, it's actually no surprise to see a well-established fair trade movement for tea.  What is fair trade and what is organic, however, don't always connect.  

Convergences do happen: Zhena's Gypsy Tea, which has been at the forefront of the Fair Trade argument, just this week announced  that their new CEO would be Don Gaidano, who led Rachel's Organics and Horizon Foods in the last ten years.   This move comes at an important juncture in the fair trade and organic tea movement. While the acreage being dedicated to organic tea production has risen 44% in the last year, the issue of sustainable labor remains problematic.  Recent case studies and news from  a British Times investigative report suggest that workers on tea plantations in India, Sri Lanka,  Kenya, and Bangladesh are still working under colonial conditions with very little trickle-down of simple benefits like laundry baskets and gas cylinders for cooking.  

At the same time, Assam News in India reports that there is a growing international demand for certain teas, including the traditional Singpho tea, marketed as "Phalap" and grown in Guwahati, which is produced organically.  A joint venture by a local NGO and a private Canadian company, the goal of the project is also to get young workers involved in the overall production process.  It would be great to see that kind of initiative happening in the US market as well: the South Carolina plantation may have good labor conditions, but it is not organic.

One interesting fact about premium organic tea companies is that they are often run by young eco-entrepreneurs.  Two of my favorites, Ocean of Tea and Tea Guys, have energetic and enthusiastic owners who defy the image of staid English matrons or wizened Indian yogis sipping slowly.   While most of their items are well labeled (certified or not), feel free to ask about fair trade labor practices before you order.  Unlike the bigger companies, you will more than likely get an answer!

photo from the website: planet tea