Fair Trade Gives Twice
One of the great things about Fair Trade is that when you give fairly traded gifts for the holidays, you are really giving twice. Your friends and family get beautiful handmade gifts from the far corners of the globe and you give to the artisans, workers, and growers with a living wage and sustainable work environment.
Last week, I mentioned the Arghand soap from Afghanistan that we offer. Well, it’s a prime example. Many people have stopped by to pick out beautiful packages of soap to give as gifts. The stone-shaped pieces of soap, made from local materials including mountain herbs and flowers and local oils from almonds and pomegranates, are a great gift for anybody, but those purchases also sustain men and women in that war-torn country.
Each piece of soap represents hope for the future as they struggle to overcome decades of war and civil strife. The people of Afghanistan are in desperate need of alternatives to poppy growing. Unfortunately, the drug trade has taken center stage once again with record poppy crops under cultivation.
Your fair trade gifts do have the potential to change the world. Arghand soap is but a small part of the growing alternative of fairly traded products. We have jewelry that gives living wages to artisans in Ecuador, furniture from salvaged hardwoods that save trees, coffee that sustains families in Ethiopia — and that’s just a small sample.
So give fair trade for the holidays and give twice.
Keep shopping your good values!
Kile