It's been way too long since I've posted, but I haven't been truly inspired with something to write about. Maybe it's because I had to give up my weekly shift. I miss volunteering. I don't know who makes these decisions but whoever you are, let me know when One Fair World starts opening on Sundays again :)
Now, to the focus of this post. Most of you have probably heard about the "Kony 2012" campaign to make Joseph Kony, a wanted Ugandan war criminal, famous (or infamous). If not, you can find the video created by Invisible Children here. If you've been following the story, you've heard the controversy over Invisible Children's tactics, United States military involvement, and the recent mental breakdown of Jason Russel, the head of the Kony 2012 campaign.
Let me start off by saying that I'm not taking a side on any of the aforementioned issues. The point of this article isn't to preach my opinion on whether Invisible Children is corrupt, or whether the United States government should get involved in Uganda's affairs, or anything like that.
What's my point then? It's that people are so focused on the wrong parts of the issue that they completely forget what the issue is even about in the first place. It can generally be agreed upon that killing thousands of people and forcing children into the military is morally wrong, right? But instead of a unanimous voice against these crimes, there are people arguing over the legitimacy of the organization trying to bring attention to the issue and even whether or not these crimes were "misrepresented."
I realize the situation is way more complicated than "let's just send some troops into Uganda, capture Kony and then everything will be good again," but let's not get our differences in opinions distract us from what's really important - keeping Joesph Kony and others like him from exploiting and murdering innocent people.
Fair trade is all about preventing these same people from from being taken advantage of in the workplace and providing a way from them to live a good life - let's support these same ideals regardless of the controversy surrounding the method of achieving them.
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Fair Trade IT in the future?
I stumbled across this article about incorporating the fair trade model into the production of IT (or information technology) such as computer hardware and software. The difference between this industry and other industries where fair trade has had successes is the scale of the operation; with IT production, the goods are being manufactured in a factory where there are thousands of workers as opposed to a small farming community.
Another obstacle for fair trade is economics. Implementing fair trade policies increases the cost of production (an increase many companies are unwilling to take) and ultamitely raises the price of goods. As Ang Kai Hsiang, an associate with Baker & McKenzie.Wong & Leow, noted, "It appears that consumer purchasing habits, especially in relation to IT products, are largely price-driven." Unlike other fair trades goods like coffee and apparel, the market of people willing to pay more for fair trade IT products is too small for a company to exist in such a competitive industry. "It is good to have models of responsible production, but unless there is a plan to turn those models into the norm, then you hit a dead end," as the executive director of the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC), Scott Nova, put it.
For the full article, click here.
What are your thoughts on this? Leave a comment below if you've got something to say :)
Another obstacle for fair trade is economics. Implementing fair trade policies increases the cost of production (an increase many companies are unwilling to take) and ultamitely raises the price of goods. As Ang Kai Hsiang, an associate with Baker & McKenzie.Wong & Leow, noted, "It appears that consumer purchasing habits, especially in relation to IT products, are largely price-driven." Unlike other fair trades goods like coffee and apparel, the market of people willing to pay more for fair trade IT products is too small for a company to exist in such a competitive industry. "It is good to have models of responsible production, but unless there is a plan to turn those models into the norm, then you hit a dead end," as the executive director of the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC), Scott Nova, put it.
For the full article, click here.
What are your thoughts on this? Leave a comment below if you've got something to say :)
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Mission Imposible Part 2
I finally found a company that sold "fair trade" fabric. The only problem was, they had no fair trade certifications so I sent them the following email:
Hi, my name is Gabby and I'm a senior in high school who lives in Oregon. I wanted to buy fabric from you for a prom dress, but I wanted to make sure it was fair trade. You say fair trade on your website, but I didn't see any certification. I was just wondering why that is.
Their response?
Gabby,
The third party certification process is very expensive for these small artisans, they just wouldn't be able to sell their products if they went through the process. If you are referring to the Cambodian and Vietnamese silks, the process of weaving is a long time tradition that they have passed on for many generations. Now with the global market, the villages are able to sell their products internationally but the "fair trade" certified label would make profitability impossible.
I personally know the importers, which is also a small company owned by a mother and daughter here in California. They go to the villages and pick out which fabrics to carry directly from the artisans. There is no large manufacturer who contracts the production, just real people doing what they have done for hundred's of years.
I hope that is enough for you to feel confidant that you would be buying a fair product.
Thank you, Erin
The only problem now as far as my dress goes is convincing my mom to allow me to have a hand-made dress for prom (she's a bit nervous).
There is a larger issue in this though, and it's the difficulty small fair trade businesses are facing in trying to certify themselves. Without certification from the Fair Trade Federation, these businesses face a definite disadvantage but obtaining certification is a challenge in itself. Currently, in order to get certification from the FTF, a wholesaler or retailer must be open a full year AND go through a screening process which costs $75 and can take up to nine weeks after all of their materials are received. A retailer can apply for membership after 180 days, but only if they only purchase goods directly from importers and reach $20,000 in sales.
There are also annual fees to maintain a membership:
While these figures may not seem like much, these fees can add up, especially for nonprofits and small businesses, who often only receive a small profit margin to keep their prices competitive and affordable with other local non-fair trade businesses. For the mid-range businesses, the $1.25/ $1,000 is taken out of their gross sales, meaning that it is proportional to how much is SOLD, not how much profit is made. This makes it especially hard for nonprofits like us, who the FTF should be supporting. While One Fair World is a certified fair trade retailer, many businesses simply cannot afford to be.
So what are the ramifications of this? One, for the individual business owner, is the skepticism they face from not being certified; they could likely lose business, like the company I contacted, from people who only choose to buy fair trade and don't trust businesses who can't prove that they are in fact fair trade. The second is on a much larger scale - the exclusivity of fair trade membership allows for more fair trade impostors. With many businesses unable to get membership because of the fees and regulations, it's become acceptable for businesses to go without the certification and still claim they are fair trade, and in many cases they are. However, there's nothing stopping non-fair trade businesses from advertising that they are fair trade and there's nothing to distinguish them from the legitimate fair trade businesses.
By preventing many smaller fair trade businesses from receiving certification, the Fair Trade Federation is causing less credibility in the "fair trade" name. If they made membership less expensive and more accessible to small local businesses, they would not only allow for an expansion of the fair trade market, but also decrease the amount of businesses that claim to be fair trade but don't follow its practices.
Hi, my name is Gabby and I'm a senior in high school who lives in Oregon. I wanted to buy fabric from you for a prom dress, but I wanted to make sure it was fair trade. You say fair trade on your website, but I didn't see any certification. I was just wondering why that is.
Their response?
Gabby,
The third party certification process is very expensive for these small artisans, they just wouldn't be able to sell their products if they went through the process. If you are referring to the Cambodian and Vietnamese silks, the process of weaving is a long time tradition that they have passed on for many generations. Now with the global market, the villages are able to sell their products internationally but the "fair trade" certified label would make profitability impossible.
I personally know the importers, which is also a small company owned by a mother and daughter here in California. They go to the villages and pick out which fabrics to carry directly from the artisans. There is no large manufacturer who contracts the production, just real people doing what they have done for hundred's of years.
I hope that is enough for you to feel confidant that you would be buying a fair product.
Thank you, Erin
The only problem now as far as my dress goes is convincing my mom to allow me to have a hand-made dress for prom (she's a bit nervous).
There is a larger issue in this though, and it's the difficulty small fair trade businesses are facing in trying to certify themselves. Without certification from the Fair Trade Federation, these businesses face a definite disadvantage but obtaining certification is a challenge in itself. Currently, in order to get certification from the FTF, a wholesaler or retailer must be open a full year AND go through a screening process which costs $75 and can take up to nine weeks after all of their materials are received. A retailer can apply for membership after 180 days, but only if they only purchase goods directly from importers and reach $20,000 in sales.
There are also annual fees to maintain a membership:
| Gross Sales | Dues |
| $74,999 and under | $200 annual flat rate |
| $75,000 - $1,999,999 | $200 + $1.25 / $1,000 in sales |
| $2 million and over | $2,500 + $.10 / $1,000 in sales over $2 million |
While these figures may not seem like much, these fees can add up, especially for nonprofits and small businesses, who often only receive a small profit margin to keep their prices competitive and affordable with other local non-fair trade businesses. For the mid-range businesses, the $1.25/ $1,000 is taken out of their gross sales, meaning that it is proportional to how much is SOLD, not how much profit is made. This makes it especially hard for nonprofits like us, who the FTF should be supporting. While One Fair World is a certified fair trade retailer, many businesses simply cannot afford to be.
So what are the ramifications of this? One, for the individual business owner, is the skepticism they face from not being certified; they could likely lose business, like the company I contacted, from people who only choose to buy fair trade and don't trust businesses who can't prove that they are in fact fair trade. The second is on a much larger scale - the exclusivity of fair trade membership allows for more fair trade impostors. With many businesses unable to get membership because of the fees and regulations, it's become acceptable for businesses to go without the certification and still claim they are fair trade, and in many cases they are. However, there's nothing stopping non-fair trade businesses from advertising that they are fair trade and there's nothing to distinguish them from the legitimate fair trade businesses.
By preventing many smaller fair trade businesses from receiving certification, the Fair Trade Federation is causing less credibility in the "fair trade" name. If they made membership less expensive and more accessible to small local businesses, they would not only allow for an expansion of the fair trade market, but also decrease the amount of businesses that claim to be fair trade but don't follow its practices.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Mission Impossible
This year I decided I wanted a fair trade prom dress. I figured it would be easy to find one- surely a ton of designers out there were selling adorable fair trade silk dresses, right? Well after hours of Googling "fair trade prom dress" and "fair trade formal," I had come up with nothing except cute, but definitely not prom appropriate, cotton dresses and wedding gowns.
On a side note, http://www.peopletree.co.uk/ is a great site for fair trade and organic clothing and it's pretty affordable :)
Still, I wanted a fair trade prom dress. I talked to a friend of mine in class who asked me why I didn't just make a dress. My response: I can't sew to save my life, let alone create a dress worthy of wearing to prom. That's when she offered to create the dress for me.
So now it looks like I'm going to be ordering fair trade fabric and having her create a dress. While it's still been difficult finding the fabrics I want, I think I'm getting closer to having a gorgeous, fair trade dress for the prom.
This experience really got me thinking about how difficult it is to commit to shopping fair trade. In Salem, we're lucky to have One Fair World as a place to buy jewelry and gifts and even some food, but in a lot of places, the only source of fair trade goods is the internet. As I've found out, it's extremely hard to find what you're looking for, and it's even harder to tell if a source is legitimite.
As with anything, the more active demand for certified fair trade goods, the more industires will begin to listen and change to more ethical practices, which means more choices for us. And who knows, maybe some day soon there will be a whole collection of designer dresses for girls wanting to go fair trade for their prom.
On a side note, http://www.peopletree.co.uk/ is a great site for fair trade and organic clothing and it's pretty affordable :)
Still, I wanted a fair trade prom dress. I talked to a friend of mine in class who asked me why I didn't just make a dress. My response: I can't sew to save my life, let alone create a dress worthy of wearing to prom. That's when she offered to create the dress for me.
So now it looks like I'm going to be ordering fair trade fabric and having her create a dress. While it's still been difficult finding the fabrics I want, I think I'm getting closer to having a gorgeous, fair trade dress for the prom.
This experience really got me thinking about how difficult it is to commit to shopping fair trade. In Salem, we're lucky to have One Fair World as a place to buy jewelry and gifts and even some food, but in a lot of places, the only source of fair trade goods is the internet. As I've found out, it's extremely hard to find what you're looking for, and it's even harder to tell if a source is legitimite.
As with anything, the more active demand for certified fair trade goods, the more industires will begin to listen and change to more ethical practices, which means more choices for us. And who knows, maybe some day soon there will be a whole collection of designer dresses for girls wanting to go fair trade for their prom.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Valentine's Day Favorites
As promised, here are some photos of our favorite love-themed items, just in time for Valentine's Day.
Silver Leaf Pendant
Glass Heart Necklace
Divine Chocolates
Love Birds Cinnamon Box
Super Tiny Hearts
$2 -- Kenya
Silver Leaf Pendant
$49 -- Nepal
Red Vine Heart Box
$8.95 -- Vietnam
Kisii Stone Heart Couple
$11.95 -- Kenya
Glass Heart Necklace
$8 -- Chile
Divine Chocolates
$4.50 to $5.50 -- Ghana
Love Birds Cinnamon Box
$10.95 -- Vietnam
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Valentine's Day is only a Week Away
Here at One Fair World, we have tons of Valentine's gifts for that special someone from chocolate to jewelry to beautiful handmade cards. One of our most popular items, our super tiny hearts, beautifully painted and imported from Kenya, are only $2. Photos coming soon :)
Friday, January 27, 2012
Top 10 Reasons YOU Should be a One Fair World Volunteer
We're always looking for new volunteers to help our in our store. Here's a list of the top 10 greatest things about being a volunteer at One Fair World.
1. You get to work with a lot of great people.
2. You expand your cultural knowledge by learning about the products you sell and the people who make them.
3. It's do-able commitment and works around your schedule.
4. It makes you feel good knowing you're helping other people in need.
5. Being able to shop for cool, unique gifts at work.
6. It looks great on a resume or college application.
7. Can you say 20% volunteer discount?
8. You gain appreciation for other cultures.
9. We have the greatest customers.
10. You become an advocate for a phenomenal cause.
If these reasons have you convinced to be a part of our team, come down to our store and pick up a volunteer application at the front desk. We'd be happy to have you on board :)
1. You get to work with a lot of great people.
2. You expand your cultural knowledge by learning about the products you sell and the people who make them.
3. It's do-able commitment and works around your schedule.
4. It makes you feel good knowing you're helping other people in need.
5. Being able to shop for cool, unique gifts at work.
6. It looks great on a resume or college application.
7. Can you say 20% volunteer discount?
8. You gain appreciation for other cultures.
9. We have the greatest customers.
10. You become an advocate for a phenomenal cause.
If these reasons have you convinced to be a part of our team, come down to our store and pick up a volunteer application at the front desk. We'd be happy to have you on board :)
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