More Reasons To Join the Fair Trade Consumer Movement
You could easily live your life without thinking about the things you use and how they are made. In many cases, big companies use foreign labor because they do not have to pay as much as they would for domestic labor and they do not have to follow such strict labor laws. This means the supplier has to rely on supply and demand to make an income. The Fair Trade campaign is designed to help people who care about where their products come from become more aware.
Even though a variety of laws exist that relate to Fair Trade issues, it is essentially a social campaign that fights for improved trading conditions in 3rd world nations. The fair trade movement creates policies against prison labor, child labor and the use of workers who are being forced to work against their will. At the same time the fair trade movement seeks to encourage environmentally responsible and sustainable production as well as fair pay to workers. With the help of the Fair Trade movement many workers overseas are getting better wages for the work they do. When those workers get better wages, their families live better and the communities they live in prosper.
More and more items are becoming available under the Fair Trade movement thanks to better awareness and increased desire for products that have been ethically manufactured. The major products that are currently manufactured include alcoholic beverages, tea, coffee, grocery products, and cotton-based products such as shirts and sheets. Even though the economy throughout the world is slumping, Fair Trade items are actually improving in sales. They are up by approximately 20% over the past 12 months. This is incredible considering they are not mass produced items.
Purchasing a fair trade t shirt, for example, is going to be a bit more expensive, but they are of superior quality, which makes them extremely durable. They are completely opposite of the cheap, mass-produced shirts that must be replaced on a regular basis. The positives of buying Fair Trade produces are far grater than any drawbacks.
When buyers purchase fair trade goods, the goal is to protect the producers in developing countries against the instability of market costs. A portion of profits generated from production is employed to construct services for nearby communities like medical, educational, and environmental projects with the hope of breaking the cycle of poverty in these areas.
In addition, the motion is committed to promoting environmentally friendly items, utilizing organic materials and sustainable textiles. Conventional cotton manufacturing wastes huge amounts of natural resources, relies on the heavy use of harmful chemicals, and has a negative impact on the health of the workers and the nearby environment. Fair Trade production is working in the direction of far more sustainable practices that enhance the environment.
As shoppers, we can make much better socially conscious choices by purchasing merchandise built with fair trade principles. As this movement towards ethical commerce grows, everybody wins.