As I continue to write and think about the issue
of Fair Trade, it becomes more and more apparent to me that our economic system is a root cause for a wide array of our world’s woes. Instances of poverty, disease, wars (and the dehumanization that accompanies all three), and our quickly degrading environment occuring all over the world (but especially in the poorer Southern hemisphere) can all be traced back to an economic system that prizes pure economic profit above all else: above fairer distribution of the world’s wealth, above the health of the world’s poor, above the lives of those unfortunate enough to live in resource-rich regions targeted by corporations (and therefore governments and militaries) and even, amazingly, above nature and its delicate environment that produces these economically valuable resources. This economic system, very obviously, is unfair and unsustainable. We can do better.

Fair Trade is proving that an economic system that focuses on a triple-bottom line (considering people, planet and profit as equally important outcomes of business operation) can work, and work better, for everyone and everything involved. October is Fair Trade Month and Global Exchange’s Fair Trade Month page says it best: this is indeed "a great opportunity for people throughout the United States to support, promote and celebrate a socially responsible system of trade that prioritizes the needs of human beings and the environment over the drive for profits."

So this is the month to get involved and make some collective noise about economic justice and sustainability. One great way to shout out is to direct a video about Fair Trade for the Connect with Fair Trade Video Contest. Doing so could just end in your visiting a Peruvian Fair Trade farming co-operative courtesy of TransFair. If you make a great video and end up winning, I also suggest you write to GO editor Jeff McIntire-Strasburg and offer to do a write-up of your experience in Peru.

According to TransFair, 56% of people who are aware of Fair Trade make a point to purchase Fair Trade certified products whenever available. Help increase awareness and availability of Fair Trade products by encouraging your local grocery market to carry Fair Trade and participate in the Fair Trade month celebration. TransFair makes it easy with educational marketing materials and contest promotions to intrigue customers.

Perhaps my favorite Fair Trade month promotion joins activism and a great holiday, Halloween. Order your Fair Trade Trick or Treat action kit from Global Exchange, and you’ll have everything you need to tell others just how boo-tiful(!) trade can be: tasty chocolate from Equal Exchange, and knowledge of a better way to trade.

At the very least, talk to your friends and family about this idea, email this article around, whatever little bit you can do to just keep the Fair Trade buzz growing.

The Fair Trade movement operates under the basic market principle of supply and demand. In order to spread the ideas of economic sustainability and justice to others, we create demand for Fair Trade by spreading the word. But with demand for Fair Trade products repidly increasing (by more than 40% a year) around the world, we need to ensure that Fair Trade products are easily accessible in the marketplace. And just like we generate demand through educating consumers, we can help create supply by educating the retail shops that supply the goods we consume.

There are many excellent resources available online to help you organize and start an effort to educate the retailers in your community. Coffee shops and grocery stores are great places to start. Here are four actions you can take to start planting the seeds of Fair Trade in your community and then grow those seeds into a healthy Fair-Trade-supporting community.

1. Ask. Start planting the seeds by simply ask your local coffee shop and grocery store if they carry any Fair Trade products. With the rising popularity of Fair Trade, the chances that you can find Fair Trade coffee or bananas at the shops you frequent are getting better and better, especially if you live in the UK or Europe.

2. Send a letter to the manager. Global Exchange provides a good template for a letter about Fair Trade coffee to send to the manager of a store you frequent. Oke Bananas will send you request cards that friends, family and other interested consumers can sign and deliver to your grocery store to educate and encourage management to carry their Fair Trade bananas from Central America. Catholic Relief Services and Divine chocolate has a good one-sheet of talking points (PDF) that could form a good letter on why your grocer should carry Fair Trade chocolate.

3. Start a campaign to educate your supermarket. Co-op America and Ox-Fam America have teamed up to put together a great Super Market Campaign Kit. The Kit provides materials, information and practical tips to help you organize a campaign to pressure your supermarket to carry Fair Trade products whereever possible.

4. Nourish your town into a Fair Trade community. Gather a group to help you get your town or city council to pass a purchasing restriction that legally requires local government to use Fair Trade coffee. If you belong to a faith community, encourage the community to incorporate Fair Trade into the official budget (PDF). Finally, TransFair Canada has put together a great document to guide you through the Fair Trade Town (PDF) certification process.

Good luck, and keep us updated on any efforts you might take to help make Fair Trade products more easily accessible in the market!

Safe sex will soon be greener and more fair. The French Letter Condom Company, based in the UK, will open for business at the end of this month offering Fair Trade latex condoms. The latex used to make the condoms is sourced from rubber producers in India and Sri Lanka who have been working with FairDeal Trading, makers of fine Fair Trade sports equipment, for years.

FairDeal Trading is the only company in the world paying a Fair Trade premium for latex rubber. Shymala, a trade union leader at New Ambadi Rubber Estate in India, works with her co-workers to manage an education fund eastablished using the Fair Trade premium. The education fund makes it possible for New Ambadi employees to send their children to more expensive private schools that give the children a good chance to move up the socio-economic ladder. The Fair Trade premium has also allowed New Ambadi to maintain certification with the Forest Stewardship Council for sustainable production.

The French Letter (the name plays off an old British slang term for condoms) has found that 35 per cent of women buy condoms, and the company is convinced that both the feminine design and the ethical aspect of the condoms will appeal to women. Rebecca Taplin from The French Letter Condom Company says: "Our motto is ‘Fairplay’ - so we’re saying have fun, be ethical, be safe and do it with style."

Upon launch of the company at the end of the month you will find more information at www.frenchlettercondoms.co.uk.

via New Consumer

Many of us are working to green our home lives but it is important to bring that green initiative to the workplace as well. Offices generate tons and tons of waste everyday.

The often forgotten first step in any greening process is to reduce the amount of waste generated. Remember reduce, reuse, recycle? Recycling is the last step. Try this: gather up a few of your co-workers from different areas of your office and spend five minutes talking about paper usage habits. I gurantee that you’ll find dozens of ways to reduce paper use in those five glorious earth-saving minutes.

Quick n’ easy ideas to get the ball rolling are to save single-sided prints for note paper (you can even make little note pads using the paper cutter and stapler) and stop printing emails, you really don’t need to, I promise. In 2003, paper and paperboard accounted for 35 percent of the total materials discarded (PDF) in the United States. This is up from 29 percent in 2000. We’re actually discarding more paper than we did before the Web became available  to us civillians. Paper is a great place to start but this process can be applied to just about every office supply you use everyday.

Once you’ve considered how to reduce and resuse your office products more efficiently you can move on to the recycling part of the formula. Again, paper is a great place to start seeing a difference as more than 90 percent of the printing and writing paper made in the US is from virgin tree fiber. One fantastic resource I’ve found that makes it easy to switch to recycled office products is The Green Office, which Kelli mentioned in her great back to school article.

The website explicitly states the recycled content of any given product, even breaking down the post-consumer percentage. The Green Office also lets you know if a product is biodegradable, certified by a third party for some better-than-conventional aspect and if the product uses less chemicals than its conventional counterparts. The Green Office does sell conventionally produced products as a convenience to the consumer (so you don’t have to shop elsewhere) but offers green products wherever it can.

Be sure to place recycling bins in convenient spots all around the office (at the copier, the fax, in each cube, etc). Then, once you’ve used and reused those post-consumer recycled products find a recycler near you to pick up your recycling on a regular basis.

Once you get the ball rolling in your workplace and you make the boss realize the added PR value of going green you might mention that The Green Office also provides sustainability consulting and information about how your office can offset its carbon emissions.

A study conducted by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) of the UK determined that ethical consumption is limited more by a lack of accessibility and availability than a lack of awareness. Researchers held 12 focus groups representing different socio-economic classes throughout the city of Bristol, and found that, across the spectrum, consumers were aware of ethical consumption options, such as Fair Trade and organic goods. However, the participants cited lack of access to shops and goods as the central reason for not buying ethically sourced products.

One conventional wisdom among those pushing an ethical consumption agenda is that consumption is simply a choice, and with the right information, consumers will choose more ethical products. And while there is certainly truth in this idea, the study shows that, in the UK at least, efforts to educate consumers about Fair Trade and organic options have been thoroughly successful. It also goes on to indicate that consumption choices are influenced by more than just the consumer’s knowledge of ethical choices. Many consumption choices are based on relationships rather than a consumer’s individual choice. People acting as parents or sports fans or caring friends make choices influenced greatly by those relationships. A large portion of consumption is done from within political or private institutions as the background to these activities over which individuals have little influence as consumers. From the Science Daily:

"In order to successfully encourage people to adopt ethical consumption
activities, it is important to call on their specific identities, as
for example a member of the local community or faith group, rather than
just targeting them as ‘faceless’ and ‘placeless’ consumers. The most
successful initiatives are those that find ways of making changes to
the practical routines of consumption. For example, by changing how and
what people buy and from where through establishing initiatives such as
Fairtrade networks or achieving the status of a Fairtrade town or city."

The study highlights the success of the Fair Trade Town movement as an example of an effort that effectively alters the economic infrastructure of towns and cities so that access to ethical products is improved and ethical consumption is mandated for municipal institutions. The organic movement could adopt this model to help bring more organic choices to consumers in towns and cities. And, in any case, we can all learn from this study that attention needs to be given to the vast amount of consumption that happens without the influence of individual consumer choice.

Microfinancing, the loaning of small amounts of money to the asset-less poor, garnered worldwide attention last year when one of the leaders in this emerging field, Grameen Bank, and its founder Muhammad Yunus were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Microfinancing reaches out to a massive economic underclass that has been shunned by the international banking and lending system by providing necessary seed capital for small ventures.

It may seem intuitive for some to believe it foolish to loan money to a person with no assets and seemingly little prospect of converting that loan into a profit and repaying it. Grameen Bank has proven that belief to be very wrong indeed. Grameen sees a default rate of only 2% on its small loans to the poor. Compare that to the 4.5% default rate on student loans within two years of beginning repayment in the US. The low default rate vindicated Grameen’s simple founding principle, that “the poor will repay loans.” The reliability of the poor to repay has also helped to make microfinancing economically viable for lending institutions in a competitive free market. In short, microfinancing has been one of the huge successes of social-capitalism.

What has propelled Grameen beyond vindication and to the Nobel Prize is that the vast majority of loan recipients have used the financing to reliably generate assets. Many borrowers, for instance, have started businesses selling phone services in their remote villages. Take the story of Sophia Nalujja (photo reprinted with permission of Grameen Foundation) of Uganda. She
has been a successful borrower from the Grameen Foundation in Uganda for many years, has started a couple businesses and more than quadrupled her farmer’s income. Stories like Sophia’s abound as
microenterprises represent an estimated 80% of total enterprises and 50% of urban enterprises in developing countries, where they are the main source of jobs for poor people.

You, too, can become a microlender at Kiva.org. Kiva provides an easy way for you to connect directly with microenterprise entrepreneurs all over the world. Photographs and thorough descriptions of the loan’s purpose make it fun to just surf around and see what people are doing to improve their lot in life. A typical Kiva loan is for right around $1,000 give or take and you can contribute as little as $25 to any project you wish to fund. Re-payment typically takes one year and you’ll receive a little interest on your investment or you can choose to make your money a gift to the entrepreneur.

Update: Our sister site Planetsave makes micro-loans a part of how they do
business, GO founder and Planetsave publisher Shea Gunther explains the
details here.

The idea of socializing capitalism, an economic system that combines the idea of open market competition with consumer enforced social ends, has been responsible for the steady birth and growth of creative economic institutions that are realizing economic, social and environmental profits. One of the best examples of social-capitalism’s love-children are the social stock exchanges of Brazil, South Africa and one under development in Scotland.

Brazil’s Environmental and Social Investment Exchange (BOVESPA) was the first incarnation of this idea, and was then emulated by the South Africa Social Investment Exchange (SASIX). These organizations very simply list NGOs that are working toward bettering life for the poor and disadvantaged and the health of our environment. One can "invest" in a particular NGO, or give money to a fund that spreads money across NGO projects that are working toward one particular goal, say reducing air pollution. Although BOVESPA and SASIX are organized like a traditional stock market, they really amount to creative ways to raise money for non-profit projects. "Investors" will realize environmental and social profits on their money but no economic profit.

Scotland, however, is taking this idea a step further. The Cabinet Office of Scotland is working with the Royal Bank of Scotland and Credit Suisse, as well
as ethical bank Triodos, to research the feasibility of the first social stock
market, an exchange which would be restricted to for-profit companies with primarily social
and environmental objectives. The exchange would list companies like Fair Trade retailer Traidcraft and celebrity chef Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen restaurant run by disadvantaged young people in the east end of London. These are profitable businesses that represent a viable economic investment opportunity with social and environmental returns as well.

The establishment of a seperate exchange hosting businesses that pursue a triple bottome line would make it easy for socially-minded investors to find responsible businesses, but it would also help protect the integrity of the business’ mission. "The main concern of social businesses about listing on a mainstream exchange is having their social mission hijacked," said Whitni Thomas, an investment manager at Triodos bank, quoted in The Scotsman.

The economy and businesses are evolving from the narrow focus of basic capitalism toward being more sustainable and just, yet still profitable. The framework of this new economy is being built slowly but surely and Scotland’s new social stock exchange, when launched, will provide another piece of the foundation to be modeled around the world.

Sources: ‘Fair Exchange’ plan for ethical firms

Solar Roast Coffee, a company based in Pueblo, Colorado, is making some of the most ecologically friendly coffee in the world. In fact, Solar Roast has been roasting their Fair Trade organic beans with nothing but the power of the sun since October of 2004.

In the past three years these enterprising innovators have continued to improve their solar roasting technology, and are now using the third iteration of their invention, the Helios 3 (video). The Helios 3 lives completely off-grid and, using an array of focusing mirrors, is able to roast coffee in a drum roaster at up to 600 degerees Farenheit. The entire 10′ by 7′ array swivels and tilts to follow the arc of the sun across the sky. No fossil fuels are required to run the Helios’ fans or motors, and when combined with the use of Fair Trade organic coffee beans, roasts up some beans that are sustainably produced from crop to cup. You can purchase Solar Roast coffee online retail or wholesale and the first Solar Roast coffee shop just opened in Pueblo earlier this year.

The Solar Roaster is simply an improvement on the various working designs of solar ovens. Solar ovens are being used more and more (video) around the world to solve problems ranging from limited fuels to carbon emissions. Most humble solar oven designs can reliably reach tempratures of 300 to 350 degrees Farenheit in about 30 minutes by concentrating the sun’s rays. The larger the solar array the hotter the tempratures. You can use the links above to find low-cost easy-to-build home designs that will reach 450 degrees Farenheit, the minimum temprature to roast coffee.

Co-op America is a large member organization that works to harness the strength of consumers, investors, businesses and the
marketplace to create a socially just and environmentally sustainable
society. The Fair Trade cause was a perfect fit for Co-op Amierca’s mission and the organization serves as patron and parent to the Fair Trade Federation in the United States. Co-op America has recently released a "Guide to Fair Trade" (PDF) which is the best resource I’ve seen if you are just starting to learn about Fair Trade or you’re looking for a way to introduce family and friends to the idea of Fair Trade.

The guide begins with a thorough overview of the Fair Trade principles and how those principles are enforced and checked. It also includes vingettes on Fair Trade producer groups around the world. The guide gives the reader a glimpse at the widening array of Fair Trade produtcs now available which go beyond flagship products coffee and chocolate to include spices, fresh fruits, wine, sugar, vanilla and even sports balls. A directory is included so you will know to which shops you should begin shifting your consumption in support of Fair Trade.

If you are willing to contribute more to the cause of economic justice than your dollars the guide provides suggestions and steps on how you can take action. Co-op America’s current action focus is on opening the North American market for Fair Trade bananas which is logistically ripe for explosive growth. Fair Trade bananas have been available in North America since 2004 when market leader Oke Bananas opened for business (see the Guide to Fair Trade for a profile of this young company). In Europe, where Fair Trade fruit has been available since the mid-90s,
sales of Fair Trade bananas have been growing at a rate of about 50
percent a year.

U.S. trade policy can have huge impacts on the environment and on the general sustainability of the global and local economies. This congressional session has seen a lot of behind-the-scenes debate about trade policy. In early May some Democratic leaders including Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee Charlie Rangel, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Finance Committee Chariman Max Baucus announced they had reached a tentative deal in secret negotiations with the Bush administration on four pending Free Trade Agreements.

These Democrats claimed that the deal, the details of which have never been made public, includes Bush administration concessions on the environment and labor rights while the Democrats would agree to attempt to renew Bush's fast track negotiating authority. Under the Constitution, Congress has authority over international-trade agreements. But lawmakers have long delegated that authority to the executive branch, under a process designed to streamline consideration and avoid major fights over deals fraught with complexity and political controversy.

However, fast track only allows congress an up or down vote on trade deals restricting its ability to influence the details of trade deals while greatly empowering corporate interests and lobbyists to influence them. This method of establishing trade policy has wreaked havoc on the environment and long ignored the rights of laborers in disadvantaged economies, simply because it so empowers corporations which value short-term profits above sustainability and human rights.

The deal the Democrats announced a little over a month ago claims to have provisions for protecting the environment and laborers' rights. These provisions, as far as anyone can tell so far, amount to the ability for U.S.-based organizations to petition Congress on violations of international standards in these areas, but falls far short of allowing multinational environmental interests or labor unions to sue in international courts. Corporations have been allowed to sue in international courts any organization, including labor unions, who might impede profits. This double-standard is a by-product of undemocratic trade negotiations that give corporations far more power than citizens.

Fortunately, it appears that Pelosi's deal with the Bush administration is not catching on with many other Democrats. Some estimates have as many of three-quarters of House Dems voting against renewal of fast track authority and the various pending free trade agreements. The global economy, and, hence, U.S. Trade policy, has immeasurable impact on our environment and the integrity of life for every human. If we are going to realize the kind of change necessary to rerverse climate change and establish a global culture of human rights we will all need to start demanding a say in the development of our trade policy.

I'll keep an eye on the development of the pending trade agreements as they continue to progress.

Sources: WorkingForChange, Bush's Shrinking Global Trade Agenda (WSJ), EyesOnTrade, WashBlog.