If you're not quite done yet, consider what you can buy locally. Is there a market where handmade goods are sold by the maker? How about a craft co-op nearby where you can buy unique items that will say "I picked this just for you". That's in contrast to the scenario where someone walks in with 27 identical gifts, without tags, and distributes them to each relative. One-size-fits-all is handy for the purchaser, but not the recipients . . . unless of course it's the new Fiskars scissors that do multiple things or that 5-in-1 tool from the paint store or . . . oh, sorry. I digress.
Uhm, what about Fair Trade?
What about profits going to the one who provided the idea, initiative and sweat? I know distribution is vital to commerce and should be rewarded, but when distributors make disproportionately more than producers then the balance of power has shifted and the production is likely to dry up.
Fair Trade is a system of exchange that honors
producers, communities, consumers, and the
environment. It is a model for the global economy
rooted in people-to-people connections, justice,
and sustainability.
producers, communities, consumers, and the
environment. It is a model for the global economy
rooted in people-to-people connections, justice,and sustainability.
In this economic season price matters, but ethics do too.
Shop ethically when at all possible.
Pay fair prices for items and do not reward modern day slavery of sweat shops where employees are sporadically paid and not free to change their situation. Many have had their passports confiscated and live in cramped squalor.
Fair trade is good. It makes the world a more equitable place.
Click to download a Fair Trade Finder App.
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