Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Fair trade clothing

You may be aware of fair trade coffee, but now some products clothing manufactures are ensuring fair wages and development help for growers of cotton. Transfair, a leader in fair trade certification; is now going to certify clothing products. A couple of companies products have already received the label at Tompkins Point Apparel, and HaeNow.

From Triple Pundit, writer Leon Kaye tells us what the certification does for the suppliers.

Farmers: Cotton farmers in countries including Mali and India can earn up to 30 percent more on Fair Trade sales while collecting a premium for needs such as schools and medical centers. Farmers also must follow stringent environmental standards, and cannot raise genetically modified plants or use toxic chemicals during production

Workers: Garment workers earn a premium of up to 10 percent of the cost of the garment for community investment or a cash bonus. Factories must meet strict workplace requirements based on the International Labor Organization’s conventions.

Companies: Transfair’s label certification process motivates firms to invest in the farmers and workers from which they source, and to communicate their commitment to environmental and social responsibility to consumers at the point of purchase.

Consumers: For each Fair Trade purchase, farmers and factory workers earn a percentage that allows them to fund social development projects while solving poverty in their communities.

Read more: http://www.triplepundit.com/2010/07/fair-trade-certified-clothing-arrives-in-the-usa/#ixzz0uJLceODa

1 comment:

WK said...

This whole topic of “fair trade” is so important. At the very least, fair trade offers real hope for helping to alleviate poverty for so many people around the globe.

A great way to learn more about fair trade is by participating in The Fair Trade Futures Conference being held September 10 to 12 in Quincy, MA. Not only is this the largest fair trade conference in the U.S., I am told it will be the largest Fair Trade event in North American history.

There’s a lot of information at the conference web site, http://fairtradeconference.ning.com/

I plan to attend to find out more about how to advance the fair trade cause right in my hometown. There will be lots of workshops, and something like 50 different fair trade vendors exhibiting.

Does something like this make sense to you?