Fair Trade Blog

Spring.  Time for the new.  Time to clear out the not so new. 

Ten turns of beads and bangles!   These Kenyan bracelets wrap your wrist in color.

Bright and shiny.  Silver earrings made in Chile to add a little sparkle in just the right places!

Intriguing Haitian wall hangings.  Each time you look at the Voodoo art design, cut and shaped from reclaimed oil drums, you’ll see something slightly different. 

Clothing on sale.  All of our blouses are discounted!  Need something cool and breezy this season?  How about a colorful top from Ecuador? 

Keep shopping your good values!

Mother’s Day is upon us once again, so many of you are thinking about what to give your mother this weekend that will delight and honor her. Well, I ran across this from Maureen Mackey of the Portland Green Living Examiner.

Her list of ten ways to honor your mother and Mother Earth.

1. Give her that old standby, a bouquet of flowers, but look for the VeriFlora logo that indicates the flowers were sustainably grown. You can find VeriFlora blooms at flower shops and grocery stores, including New Seasons, Safeway, Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods.

2. Don’t forget that other time-tested Mom favorite, chocolate, but search for fair trade chocolate at your favorite chocolate shop or grocery store.

3. Give her house, or even one room, an eco-friendly Spring Cleaning with green cleaners.

4. Plant a tree in her honor.

5. Show Mother Earth you appreicate her beautiful nature by walking or bike riding.

6. Go see the movie Earth, which celebrates our planet and the creatures who live on it. Look for local theaters and showtimes here.

7.  Buy her fair-trade jewelry, so she knows her adornments were crafted sustainably and the artisans who created it were treated fairly.

8. Visit a Farmer’s Market to buy locally-produced food.

9. Buy your mother fruit or vegetable starts and offer to help her plant them.

10. Consider becoming a Zoo Patron to suppport wildlife conservation. 

Happy Mother’s Day!

Keep shopping your good values!

Working with artisans to create new designs for fresh products was one of the great opportunities I had while in Ecuador last January.

We met with many providers in their homes to work on new pieces. While in Otavalo, we treked up a hill on the edge of town to meet with a family that makes jewelry from tagua nut, seeds, and other natural materials.  Christopher, my host, calls their pieces Jungle Jewelry.   The pieces are bright and bold, and sometimes have sophisticated designs.

Both slight, with classic Otavalan features, the couple presented their latest samples for us to study.  After looking at the new designs, lively collaboration began to develop.  Mandy, a college student from Michigan, and Gabriele, one of our guides, graciously agreed to be our models and we began decorating them with piece after piece.

Sample pieces evolve into better designs for a variety of reasons.  Sometimes, slight changes can make a piece more comfortable or practical to wear.  Occasionally, a piece can be changed slightly to make it more exciting or attractive.  At that particular meeting, we began to play with the idea of using Tagua discs with varying cutout shapes as elements in necklaces and bracelets.  That discussion resulted in intriguing new designs for a whole matching set including earrings.

All this hard work benefits everyone involved.  As we were leaving the couple’s home, tired, but eager to see the new samples we had developed, Christopher, pointed out that they had added onto their modest home for their growing family.

Keep shopping your good values!

Watching tagua go from scruffy looking nuts to beautiful carved animals was one of the unforgettable experiences I had in Ecuador. 

In Washington’s workshop in a little village near Montecristi, I watched as a proud little elephant emerged from the single nut he picked from a loose pile against a cement block wall.  

In his shop, which employs several people and supports Washington’s family, there are several stations with grinding and polishing tools. At each station, the carvings are carefully shaped and manicured into beautiful, but unique, perfection.

First he cut the top and bottom off the nearly 3-inch traingular shaped nut.  The solid white flesh was exposed as he took the squared off nut to a grinding station.  Quickly and skillfully, Washington held the nut against the grinding wheel to begin to give it a shape.   The hump of the back emerged, then the head, followed by the legs.  Last, the beginnings of a trunk poked out of the head.  He held it up so that we could see, while explaining what he was doing.

Next he took the newborn tagua elephant to a polishing wheel. After grinding, the surface of the elephant was grainy and dull.  Achieving the glossy finish of the final product took several polishing steps.  Washington continued to work on the elephant by polishing away the rough edges and further refining the shape of our new little friend. 

After taking off the rough spots, Washington took out his portable drill and began scoring details into the surface.  Then he drilled small holed for the tusks. 

Finally, our little elephant went to the last station.  Here, one of Washington’s workers continued the polishing process.  The little elephant was polished several times with finer and finer sand paper on the wheel. 

At last, just as in real life, our elephant got little tusks which had been shined on the same wheel. 

It all took less than twenty minutes, but was certainly more involved than I would have imagined.  There is much more work required than we saw.  The nuts have to be collected by liberating them from massive fruit pods that look like a giant spiny clutch of eggs.  

Washington is one of the most skilled tagua carvers in Ecuador.  We’ll be featuring some of his work soon! 

Keep shopping your good values!

I’ve only seen one side of Fair Trade in action — the retail side.   It’s a narrow perspective, if you want to really understand Fair Trade, like I do. 

The starting point of Fair Trade is just as important as the end point.  So, I’m off to Ecuador at the end of the month to see Fair Trade from where it starts.  I’ll be traveling on an educational trip from Dec. 31 to Jan. 15 with Minga Fair Trade International, a Fair Trade wholesaler here in Wisconsin.  

Fair Trade products most often come from cooperatives.  I’m most excited about seeing a few of these cooperatives up close.  It will also be my first opportunity to talk to producers about their process and how Fair Trade operates in their lives. 

We have been carrying Minga’s handmade clothing, and other items for over 2 years now.  Their handmade wool sweaters, gloves, hats, mittens, and other warm apperal has been popular with you, our customers.  I’m hoping to see how Alpaca fur goes from the llama to the socks or the hat, before it ends up on your head or feet!   

We’ll be staying in Quito, the capital of Ecuador.  Quito rests at over 9,000 feet at the foot of Mount Pichincha, an active volcano.  The climate is very mild and stable because of it’s elevation and proximity to the equator.  (Ecuador means equator in spanish.)  The landscape alone will be like nothing I have ever see, the culture like nothing I have ever experienced. 

I’ll be writing about my trip and bringing you photos in this space.  I may even be able to update you while I’m there.  And when I come back, I’ll be wiser and better able to bring you the stories of Fair Trade.

Keep shopping your good values!

We’ve decided to move, but not far!

If I look to the left from our desk and register, I can see the great new space we are moving into in early January.  Retail stores don’t usually take such short hop when they move, but we couldn’t pass up the opportunity.  When the lobby space of the historic Hotel Fortney opened up, we jumped at the chance to move into the grand old rooms facing Main Street.

In the meantime, we’ve relocated some of our beautifully distinctive Tropical Salvage furniture and we’re dressing the place up with local arts and crafts until our official change of address in a few weeks.  We have jewelry, painted ornaments, paintings, woodcarving, and more clever work to offer through Christmas Eve.

Spreading into the new space before moving out of the old has been a challenge, but thanks to some volunteer efforts, we are displaying in the old and new just in time for our annual Friends and Family Sale Saturday, Dec. 6.  

Check out the photo of one of our new windows painted by local artist Sandra Berger.  You can see all her window paintings through the holidays. 

Peace Dove art in window of Hotel Fortney.

Our location is changing, but our mission is not.  We will continue to offer fairly traded goods that you can feel good about purchasing for yourself, or giving to others. Come and visit us while we make the transition.  

Keep shopping your good values!

I can’t remember a time when people did not complain about the stress and commercialism of the holidays.  For certain people, I suppose that the last minute rush is part of the fun.  You know the kind — with a twinkle in their eye, they share the adventures of their last minute rush– including all their gift shopping.  

American consumer culture has wrapped itself in the 30 odd days between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Any honest retail owner will tell you that the holidays make or break them every year. 

We are no different here at Driftless Fair Traders, but we do make a difference with our e-store.  Most of our shoppers know that they are not simply buying a present, they are choosing a gift with something special.  That’s why more and more people are doing nearly all their holiday shopping with us.  

Last Saturday I had the pleasure of helping one of our customers pick out gifts for everyone on her list.  It wasn’t a simple thing and she spent a good deal of time making her choices.  But when we were finished, she was beaming, not only because she had accomplished her goal, but because she loved the experience of shopping for gifts she felt good about giving.  “You have such beautiful things,” she said more than once.  

We want you to feel as good about where your gifts came from as you do about where they are going.  That’s why we shop as carefully as you do this time of year.  Everyone wants the act of giving to be special and we work hard to make it a more satisfying experience. 

We hope you will visit our e-store and keep shopping your good values!

It’s really simple.  Jeff wanted to follow his Bliss.  Jeff Strand says he started Natural Communities Magazine out of the blue, but we think there was a bit of destiny involved as well.  Jeff’s publication is published and distributed right here in Wisconsin and we regularly advertise in its pages.

Take a look at any issue of Natural Communities and the first thing that strikes you is the stunning photography that Jeff weaves through his publication.  He says he had to quickly learn how to use a camera to produce the magazine.  Since Natural Communities focuses on holistic lifestyle issues and information, Jeff has spent lots of time wandering the ridges, coulees, and lakes looking for inspiring scenes.

Whether it’s the intricate symmetry of a single dandelion head or the long view of a lake, Jeff captures the quietest parts of nature.  The centeredness of his photographs draw you inside each scene he’s captured.

Jeff has been working with us on advertising since he started his magazine.  We’re glad we convinced him to show his photography in our shop.

Born in Duluth, Minn., Jeff spent five years working as an engineer before changing careers.  His girlfriend turned him onto organic foods, creating a sustainable earth, and getting in touch with nature and spirit. In the summer of 2006, he got the idea to start a locally produced magazine dedicated to holistic living.

With nothing but his courage and money borrowed from a relative, Jeff quit his job and started his publishing business.  He admits that he had zero experience in anything to do with publishing a magazine, including photography.  But after two years of building a successful magazine, Jeff is still wandering the woods taking photographs so he can give nature back to people through the pages he publishes.

You can visit Jeff’s magazine at naturalcommunitiesmag.com.

It’s not always easy to become greener,  but we all recognize that it’s important to reuse, recycle, and restore in our personal environs as well as our businesses.  That, of course, is easier said then done. 

Businesess, as I have discovered, can be a huge consumer of all kinds of things from paper products to electricity and water.  In the shipping industry, for example, nearly every finished good you can think of is transported in a cardboard box.  Empty cardboard boxes can pile up at an astonishing rate.  

We keep a good number of the boxes we receive from wholesalers and use them to pack up customer’s purchases or ship orders we receive over the internet.  And they come in handy to store merchandize and supplies.  We do our best not to contribute to our local landfill. 

Even one of our wholesalers helped me out last week.  Minga Fair Trade Imports is in constant need of boxes for shipping.  So, after a visit, they were kind enough to take some of our largest boxes and bubble wrap off my hands.  Our back room is a little tidier and I feel better about not throwing away more boxes and packing.  

Almost exactly two years ago, when we were getting ready to open the store, we needed fixtures on a shoestring budget.   Mostly out of necessity, but also out of a desire to tackle waste, we went dumpster diving across the street behind a clothing store that was closing.

Dumpster diving is hard, dirty work, but we snagged some real finds.  Though you probably could not tell just by wandering around our store, many of the fixtures we use were saved from the landfill.   A little cleaning, imagination, and some paint worked wonders. 

An old vanity topped with discarded shutters became a jewelry display, while an abandoned tie rack is now a beautiful scarf display.  With a little care and creativity, a stack of dusty relics became valued display pieces. 

It takes constant effort.  This year I found great printed shopping bags made from recycled paper, but it required some thought and research.   But I’m happy to know that our customers will walk out of our store just as green as they came in. 

Keep shopping your good values! 

Sometimes when new and exciting items arrive here, it feels just like the holidays. Filled with anticipation, we open boxes and pull out delightful treasures. Just like giddy kids, we can’t wait to see what’s new and share it with others.

It was almost like December here again recently with the arrivel of more Tropical Salvage furniture and other distinctive items.

We have been offering beautiful Tropical Salvage hardwood furniture here in the shop for nearly a year now. It never fails to start conversation with our new customers. Each piece is made from salvaged wood in Indonesia — either from demolished buildings, or logs that are literally mined from where they fell and were buried by mud flows or ash falls. Some of the recovered wood is ancient and reveals the beginnings of mineralization.

Our pieces range from a practical wine cabinet to carved wooden boxes perfect for tabletop storage. We have tables, sideboards, chairs, occasional tables, and coffee tables on display in our store. For the first time, we will soon begin offering some of these items online.

From the moment we opened our shop nearly two years ago, Haitian metalwork has been a popular item in our store. Tough steel from discarded oil drums is cut and hammered into distinctive designs. Our stunning Sun Wall Hangers are made from this metal and then painted in striking colors to bring out the highlights of the shaped and embossed surface.

We’ve also added wonderful greeting cards with a story that fits our mission perfectly. The women of Original Tea Bag Designs collect used tea bags, dry them, then paint them for their fascinating cards. The cooperative gives work to previously unemployed women living near Cape Town, South Africa. I couldn’t agree more with their motto. “When life gives you tea bags… make art.”

Look for exciting new items here at Driftless Fair Traders through the Fall and Holiday season. Fair Trade has never been a better choice.

Keep shopping your good values!