Fair-Trade Shopping

African recycled crafts are made out of 'nothing', discarded junk, cans, wire and plastics -the things people throw away and abandon. Ethical Gifts is proud to sell the work of these artists, people with hardly any resources - they pick up the junk around them and fashion waste into exquisite sculptures, passionate representations of African culture and life.

These recycled crafts help us to see our world from a different perspective, that through creativity we can tackle some of our world problems - we have left them with nothing and from nothing they produce bright beautiful art alive with invention and love.

Wonderful jewellery made from an amazing assortment of recycled items is being made by crafts people all over the world. The pieces of jewellery range from elegant recycled gold and silver to delightful pieces made from recycled tin and wire Unlike mass produced products each piece of recycled and fairtrade jewellery that is being sold is unique. The purchase of recycled and fair-trade jewellery not only is good for the planet but the jewellery is made by crafts people in developing countries who make the jewellery in the hope of securing for themselves and their children a dignified and liveable income and a better future. The spirit and ingenuity of the men and women who make these delightful pieces of jewellery is impressive. Things we would see as trash are gathered and made into beautiful and useful objects. Earrings made from bottle tops , necklaces made from the brass of old bomb shells or beads acquired from melting glass bottles are just a few of the items that are available Our support of these artisans not only allows us to own and enjoy unique handmade jewellery, it is environmentally friendly and helps others to build for themselves and their communities better lives.

Sturdy yet light these fun computer bags are ingeniously made from recycled fish feed bags. Every upcycled lap top bag is different with different Cambodian lettering and fish-related pictures. They are made by a group of disabled artisans who have been injured by land mines or have become disabled through contracting polio. Through the sale of these ecofriendly bags they are being given dignified employment and a hope for a better future.

There is an enormous range to chose from when it comes to finding a toy to buy for a child but when it comes to choosing good quality, safe and ethical toys for your children handmade toys are definitely the best. There have been many unpleasant stories recently about the dangers to kids from the plastics in toys. The toxic chemicals that are contained within the plastic can be absorbed by young children causing serious illness in later life. Handmade toys are not only cleaner and safer for children but are usually more environmentally friendly because they are not produced in energy guzzling factories The sale of handmade and fair-trade toys also often helps to support women and their children in less developed countries. Everybody wins!- children, the environment and the artisans who make the toys. Handmade toys may be a little dearer than mass-produced toys from China but they will last longer, will do no harm to children or the environment and can be passed on for generations.
The handmade and fair-trade toys that are now available are also some of the highest quality, the most beautiful and loveable of toys . They are made superbly and filled with their own individual charm which only comes when each item is made with care, by hand and not mass-produced from toxic chemicals by exploited workers in a factory.

These necklaces are made from beads made from the glossy pages of old calendars and magazines and accented with hand blown glass beads Each of the paper beads is carefully hand rolled then varnished to a high-gloss The result! - each paper bead looks like a polished stone or wood. Paper that would normally be discarded is used to make this fair-trade jewellery. The process results in an almost endless variety of different coloured beads making each and every necklace a one of a kind necklace. Through this and other crafts, the women are able to provide for their families and raise their standard of living.

Another impressive project helping young women gain economic security for themselves and their families by earning fair wages for their work.

Most people think slavery ended centuries ago. The fact is however; there are more slaves today than all of those enslaved in the past - combined!!! Moselle Clothing is not just an ordinary company; their employees are all women who have been rescued from slavery. Moselle exists to make a difference in women's lives; they train women to sew, help them realize bigger dreams and let them have a job where they are not being abused. Moselle is not just another brand, behind every t-shirt is the story of a woman that has been given a chance at a life with dignity.Women rescued from the harsh and ugly conditions of forced labour make the clothing and bags in Moselle's range. By providing a market for these t-shirts and bags, sustainable employment is now provided for a highly vulnerable and marginalized group of women

This project is about sustainable economic empowerment and restoring hope in people's lives. Little Travellers are cute little hand beaded pins that have made a big difference to the lives of many South African women living with HIV and AIDs.
The first Little Travellers were made in 2003 and sold locally to provide an income for crafters and to raise money for programs designed to help families affected by HIV and AIDS. Now far more than 40,000 Little Travellers have been sold around the world, raising more than $200,000.
The money raised from the sale of these endearing little beaded pins is used by Hillcrest's Woza Moya project and provides clients with skills training and income-generating opportunities. Little Travellers now even have their own blog - www.littletraveller.org.za- where people who have bought the little beaded pins can upload stories and pictures from around the world.

. Gone Rural, a member of the World Fair Trade Organisation, is fast becoming a globally recognized model of socially responsible business that promotes understanding and respect of cultural heritage and tradition
Gone Rural products are all handmade from natural and sustainable materials which are made into beautiful home accessories. The producer groups live in the mountainous areas of Swaziland where the Lutindzi grass they use in the basket making is found. The women work from home where they have the freedom to work producing these stunning African baskets and taking care of their children. These African baskets that combine traditional skills with high end design are offering employment and a support system for many women in Swaziland while at the same time adding an uncommonly beautiful object to the lives of those lucky enough to own one

The idea behind Fair-Trade is basic. Treat all people with respect- pay a dignified wage so that workers earn enough to pay for food, housing, education and medical care. If all business and governments adhered to these basic standards there would be substantial improvement in the quality of so very many people's lives.

Fair trade is a system of exchange that seeks to create greater equity and partnership in international trading by ensuring safe working conditions and prompt, fair wages for workers

We all want do the right thing by others and supporting Fair-trade is probably something you have thought about but sometimes breaking habits and making changes is difficult Here are 4 really easy ways to make small changes that make a big difference.

Buy fair trade coffee or tea- Most people drink quite a bit of one or the other. What if your daily hot beverage of choice was fair trade? This is probably the simplest way to support fair trade and you'll be impressed the quality and flavour of your new brew. There is no need to pay more for your daily caffeine hit as Fair-trade coffee now is available in supermarkets at very competitive prices

Buy one fair trade item every time you go to the Supermarket. This is now a lot easier than it used to be. Major chocolate manufacturers are starting to go fair trade with some of their range. When you make your list, just make a conscious effort to get at least on fair trade item - this is an easy habit to get into and as more people adopt it the difference it will make will be huge

Make your next pair of shoes or T- shirt or even underwear fair trade! There are styles and designs to suit all tastes. Check it out!

Buy fair trade gifts for birthdays, Christmas anniversaries, weddings and other special occasions. The people you are giving to will appreciate that your gift gives in more ways than one and the range available is just fantastic

These eye-catching necklaces, earrings and bracelets are hand crafted from brass bombshell and bullet casings by Cambodian artisans. This gorgeous jewellery turns the painful legacy and ugliness of war into a beautiful item and at the same time offers a more positive future for the artisans who make the jewellery as well as the direct victims of landmines. The Cambodian landscape is littered with unexploded ordinances and bomb casings, many of which are still being uncovered. Today, artisans use the brass from these bombshells to create fashion statements that symbolise peace. In one special necklace doves are hand cut from brass casings using a jeweller's saw and then stamped with the word peace on each wing in Khmer and in English.
The jewellery shows a creative and positivity in human nature that is inspiring and it is a way of reminding us of the impressive strength that lies within so many.

http://www.nelsonmandela.org

1. Make a new friend. Get to know someone from a different cultural background. Only through mutual understanding can we rid our communities of intolerance and xenophobia.
2. Read to someone who can't. Visit a local home for the blind and open up a new world for someone else.
3. Fix the potholes in your street or neighbourhood.
4. Help out at the local animal shelter. Dogs without homes still need a walk and a bit of love.
5. Find out from your local library if it has a story hour and offer to read during it.
6. Offer to take an elderly neighbour who can't drive to do their shopping/chores.
7. Organise a litter cleanup day in your area.
8. Get a group of people to each knit a square and make a blanket for someone in need.
9. Volunteer at your police station or local faith-based organisation.
10. Donate your skills!
11. If you're a builder, help build or improve someone's home.
12. Help someone to get his/her business off the ground.
13. Build a website for someone who needs one, or for a cause you think needs the support.
14. Help someone get a job. Put together and print a CV for them, or help them with their interview skills.
15. If you're a lawyer, do some pro bono work for a worthwhile cause or person.
16. Write to your area councillor about a problem in the area that requires attention, which you, in your personal capacity, are unable to attend to.
17. Sponsor a group of learners to go to the theatre/zoo.
Help out for good health
18. Get in touch with your local HIV organisations and find out how you can help.
19. Help out at your local hospice, as staff members often need as much support as the patients.
20. Many terminally ill people have no one to speak to. Take a little time to have a chat and bring some sunshine into their lives.
21. Talk to your friends and family about HIV.
22. Get tested for HIV and encourage your partner to do so too.
23. Take a bag full of toys to a local hospital that has a children's ward.
24. Take younger members of your family for a walk in the park.
25. Donate some medical supplies to a local community clinic.
26. Take someone you know, who can't afford it, to get their eyes tested or their teeth checked.
27. Bake something for a support group of your choice.
28. Start a community garden to encourage healthy eating in your community.
29. Donate a wheelchair or guide dog, to someone in need.
30. Create a food parcel and give it to someone in need.
Become an educator
31. Offer to help out at your local school.
32. Mentor a school leaver or student in your field of expertise.
33. Coach one of the extramural activities the school offers. You can also volunteer to coach an extramural activity the school doesn't offer.
34. Offer to provide tutoring in a school subject you are good at.
35. Donate your old computer.
36. Help maintain the sports fields.
37. Fix up a classroom by replacing broken windows, doors and light bulbs.
38. Donate a bag of art supplies.
39. Teach an adult literacy class.
40. Paint classrooms and school buildings.
41. Donate your old textbooks, or any other good books, to a school library.
Help those living in poverty
42. Buy a few blankets, or grab the ones you no longer need from home and give them to someone in need.
43. Clean out your cupboard and donate the clothes you no longer wear to someone who needs them.
44. Put together food parcels for a needy family.
45. Organise a bake sale, car wash or garage sale for charity and donate the proceeds.
46. To the poorest of the poor, shoes can be a luxury. Don't hoard them if you don't wear them. Pass them on!
47. Volunteer at your local soup kitchen.
Care for the youth
48. Help at a local children's home or orphanage.
49. Help the kids with their studies.
50. Organise a friendly game of soccer, or sponsor the kids to watch a game at the local stadium.
51. Coach a sports team and make new friends.
52. Donate sporting equipment to a children's shelter.
53. Donate educational toys and books to a children's home.
54. Paint, or repair, infrastructure at an orphanage or youth centre.
55. Mentor someone. Make time to listen to what the kids have to say and give them good advice.
Treasure the elderly
56. If you play an instrument, visit your local old-age home and spend an hour playing for the residents and staff.
57. Learn the story of someone older than you. Too often people forget that the elderly have a wealth of experience and wisdom and, more often than not, an interesting story to tell.
58. Take an elderly person grocery shopping; they will appreciate your company and assistance.
59. Take someone's dog for a walk if they are too frail to do so themselves.
60. Mow someone's lawn and help them to fix things around their house.
Look after your environment
61. If there are no recycling centres in your area, petition your area councillor to provide one.
62. Donate indigenous trees to beautify neighbourhoods in poorer areas.
63. Collect old newspapers from a school/community centre/hospital and take them to a recycling centre.
64. Identify open manhole covers or drains in your area and report them to the local authorities.
65. Organise the company/school/organisation that you work with to switch off all unnecessary lights and power supplies at night and on weekends.
66. Engage with people who litter and see if you can convince them of the value of clean surroundings.
67. Organise to clean up your local park, river, beach, street, town square or sports grounds with a few friends. Our children deserve to grow up in a clean and healthy environment

http://www.nelsonmandela.org

Christmas is the perfect time to try to be a bit kinder to the planet and to the people who live in parts of the world where life is a constant battle. Here are some ideas for a greener and kinder Christmas.

Reuse, reduce and recycle: Look at things creatively many items can be used for other purposes or reused. Cut up last year's Christmas cards to make gift tags , send e Christams cards or for the nicest touch, make your own.

Buy good quality and ethically made gifts one way to protect the environment is to make sure that every item that is produced is wanted, needed and fully used and one way to protect the vulnerable is to refuse to buy goods that have been made by exploiting the labour and lives of others.

Avoid commercially produced gift wrapping paper So much paper, and therefore trees and energy, is wasted every year just to end up thrown in the bin. Use ecofriendly recycled paper and decorate it. Get the kids to help it is great for an afternoons fun. Use fabric ribbons and coloured string which can be reused Decorate old boxes with paint, cut out pictures or fabric scraps Sew reusable gift bags, some very pretty material can be bought from op shops. Gift bags look terrific and can be reused

Plan Christmas. That way you will avoid impulse buying those last minute gifts which are often unwanted and discarded after a few days.

Ethical Gift Ideas. A soft toy like the ones in the Barefoot collection helps provide families in Sri Lanka with a dignified income. Fair-Trade Pebble soft toys will not only provide hours of fun and bed time comfort but these delightful toys generate an income that helps other women to feed and care for their children. Bags and wallets made of recycled materials are another great ethical gift idea they not only look terrific but are durable enough to be used for many years.Many of these are made in under developed countries.

Buy Local- Christmas is the perfect time of the year to discover your local farmers market if you haven't already. The produce is fresh, there is more variety and it is usually produced locally. Besides saving on fuel miles you will also be supporting others, those who live in your local economy

These are just a few ideas for a greener, kinder and more ethical Christmas. We would love to hear yours.

An article I have seen posted on many different web sites and republish the article here for you to enjoy.I can't give credit to the author because Idon't know who has written the article originally. If you know, please tell .
1 Fair-Trade Means Fair Pay and Working Conditions For Farmers and Producers
By choosing Fair Trade, consumers can ensure that the products they consume and enjoy were made in safe and healthy working conditions and the farmers and producers who made the items were paid a fair wage for their work.
2 Fair-Trade Is Better For the Environment
By using eco-friendly farming practices or raw materials found in nature or recycled, Fair Trade supports sustainable practices that minimize our environmental footprint.
3 Fair-Trade Means Better Quality
Since items are made in smaller quantities and by hand, artisans take pride in their work and produce items with great detail and quality.
4 Fair-Trade Tastes Better
Farmers are involved in their farms and invested in the entire production process. Crops are grown and harvested in smaller quantities so the result is fresher and tastier food.
5 Fair-Trade Is Safe
Fair Trade actively promotes integrated farm management systems that improve soil fertility and preserve valuable eco-systems and limits the use of harmful agrochemicals that present dangers to farmers' health. That means food that's safer for you and the farmers who grow it!
6 Fair-Trade Supports Communities
By working through cooperative structures, Fair Trade artisans and small farmers are able to invest Fair Trade earnings in their communities, improving housing, healthcare and schools.
7 Fair-Trade Is Trade Farmers Can Count On
Fair Trade is committed to strengthening direct partnerships between buyers and producers. These partnerships provide an avenue for buyers to purchase quality products from people they trust and offer a sustainable and reliable way for farmers, artisans and their families to improve their livelihoods.
8 Fair-Trade Connects You With Other Cultures
Fair Trade products are unique to the places they come from and the people who make them. Farmers and artisans are involved in the entire process and Fair Trade products reflect the people and cultures they come from.
9 Fair-Trade Means Sustainable Local Economies
Fair Trade gives farmers and artisans control of their own future. They can build their own businesses, rather than work for a middleman, and the profits stay in their communities and go back into their businesses.
10 Fair-Trade Means What You Buy Matters
By choosing Fair Trade products, you are not only accessing high quality products, you are making a difference in the lives of the people who grow the food you eat and the goods you use.

You don't need to change any of your purchasing habits to become a participant. Keep on buying coffee, tea, chocolate, clothing, footwear, and craft items same as you've always done. The only adjustment that you will make to engage in Fair-Trade practices is to purchase Fair Trade products.
Fairtrade is just what it sounds like. It is when everybody involved in a product makes a fair, sustainable living from the product.
This includes the craftsmen and growers. For far too long craftsmen and farmers from developing nations have been taken advantage of by the global marketplace. Fair-Trade guarantees these workers, who are usually struggling financially, a reasonable living from their life's work. When you buy Fair- Trade products, you are purchasing products that pay a fair price to the growers and craftsmen.
The majority of Fairtrade producers are small business people who create their products and grow their crops traditionally. Such traditional values are more often in tune withgreen livingthan bigger producers. In this way, fair-trade often goes hand-in-hand with environmentally aware practices and sustainable standards.

It is true that, in your shopping, you may find Fair-Trade products to be a little more expensive than their counterparts. This is where your conscience comes into play. The greatest power you have over corporate policies of greed is the power of your wallet. By deciding your priorities in favor of the growers and producers, and paying a little more to do so, you send the message that the marketplace should be equitable. You help to change that very marketplace with your resolve to buy Fair Trade. This is your part in global commerce.
Small farmers and inventive craftspeople are being pushed out of commerce by large business concerns all over the planet. This is mainly true in developing nations, where corporations have a tight hold on the marketplace. By purchasing Fair-Trade products, you are allowing the small enterprises to stay in business in spite of the corporations and helping to protect generations of traditional farming and crafts.
Don't undervalue the fact that by purchasing Fair-Trade products, you are making a real difference to the lives of others

Out of a small workshop in Cape Town, South Africa, a group of women gather each day, to embroider their life stories. On French cotton embroidered with fine colourful thread the small teddy bears hold the stories of their often complex and challenging lives. Each little bear is completely unique and a one of a kind. Detailed hand-embroidery is a labour intensive process. It takes several weeks to make a tiny bear. Through this creative outlet, small teddy bears are changed into whimsical, magical creatures and a group of women in South Africa have the opportunity to earn a dignified income.