Why Fair Trade matters...and how your dollars make a difference today!

Visiting our artisans in Thailand

Visiting our artisans in Thailand

You may know that I helped found a fair trade company when I was just 17 years old. If you didn't know, click here for more info. But today, I am feeling especially grateful because it's Giving Tuesday.....or what we like to call, 'Fair Trade Tuesday.' Today is a day, after all of the crazy consumerism of Black Friday, that we can take a second, reassess, and give back.

A day when we should remind ourselves that we vote with our dollars and our dollars can make a difference for the kind of world we want. 

I have always been passionate about fair trade, one of the very reasons I started Trades of Hope eight years ago. But I love that we can stand with other companies today and remind the world what we are all about. People. 

Trades of Hope is a member of the Fair Trade Federation, a trade association that promotes North American organizations fully committed to fair trade. We love working with them to promote fair wages, fair trade principles, and transparency. Below we’ve outlined the fair trade principles we abide by.

• We Create Opportunities for economically and socially-marginalized artisans.
• We Develop Transparent and Accountable Relationships with artisans to ensure that relationships are open, fair, consistent, and respectful.
• We Build Capacity of artisans and their communities.  We invest time and resources to help artisans build their businesses.
• We Promote Fair Trade by raising awareness about fair trade, educating customers and artisans, and inspiring other businesses to adopt fair trade practices.
• We pay Promptly and Fairly.
• We Support Safe and Empowering Working Conditions that are free of discrimination and forced labor. Healthy workplaces empower artisans to participate in decision making.
• We cultivate Environmental Stewardship by encouraging responsible use of resources and eco-friendly production.  We reduce, reuse, reclaim, and recycle materials whenever possible.
• We Ensure the Rights of Children by never using exploitative child labor.  We support children’s right to security, education, and play.
• We Respect the Cultural Identity of artisans and celebrating their diversity. Fair trade products and production methods respect the traditions of the local communities.

Our Ugandan artisans

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​Putting people first is not common place in the business world. Working with different cultures is a challenge that typical business finds hard and expensive to keep up with. And yes, it requires sacrifice to promote people first. But by following this value, we see communities and cultures flourish in over 16 different countries, seeing over 13,000 individual artisans lives completely changed.

We work with these artisans to find creative solutions to some of our cultural differences, we help develop them as leaders, we work to understand and communicate better, and make sure that they win at the end of the day.

We meet our artisans where they're at and help them thrive in the way their culture and personality would love. (Because honestly, the goal should never be to make other cultures look like us).

​Here's some examples of how we work to put people first.
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• Sometimes we partner with artisan groups inexperienced in business.  But we choose to come alongside and train them up, knowing they deserve opportunities they may not otherwise get.
• Sometimes that means we may not receive a shipment of high-demand items on time. Why? Well, once our artisans couldn't access the post office because there was a festival with hundreds of cows blocking the road! We let our customers know and encouraged our artisans to enjoy the festival and that the shipment could wait.  (true story!)
• Sometimes communication is an issue when working with artisans in areas with limited internet access. Or when dealing with those who have never used the internet before. We patiently adjust and guide them through new processes.
• Sometimes our artisans may have limited resources available to them and the colors or beads may vary from what we ordered. One holiday season, one group thought the red bag we ordered “looked prettier” in pink and shipped us tons of pink bags! We had already photographed it for our catalog in red. So what did we do? We chose to get creative and sell pink bags instead, knowing WHO made them and why. (Also a true story!)
• Sometimes the cultural norms are such that our artisans are caring for their entire family and therefore can only work limited hours in order to do so, and we honor their commitment and dedication to their values.
• Sometimes people want to know more about our artisans and their stories than what we can share. Many of our groups are dealing with various types of trauma, abuse, enslavement or heartbreak, and we must help them grow while also being sensitive to their pasts and what they’ve been through.  We choose to honor them and their stories above all else, allowing them time to heal and grow. 
• Sometimes a natural disaster happens and we must give our artisans the time and resources they need to help them rebuild, knowing the products can wait, lives cannot.

                                           
                                           We choose these differences.
                     Because we love people and we put our artisans first. 

This is why shopping fair trade is important. We are not product first, but people first. And that will always come with challenges. But we choose this. We choose slow fashion. Because at the end of the day, it is the people that matter.

So, whatever you do today, support a business that is putting people first. Perhaps even my company, Trades of Hope!

(You can even join as a compassionate entrepreneur and make an income WHILE empowering other women to keep their babies. Check out how here>)

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Join Amelia and me below as we talk about
our special United Ornament, marked at 50% off today!