I remember my first Earth Day celebration. A little late to the dance (the first Earth Day was celebrated in 1970), it was April 22, 1975 and it pretty much centered around skipping our college classes and laying out on the HUB lawn. I’m sure there were some glass bottles and cans not being recycled[…]
A popular T-shirt of returned Peace Corps volunteers says “Some see the glass half full, others half empty. A PCV sees a shower.” It’s safe to say this unusual outlook on the world helps explain why RPCVs are often drawn to Fair Trade. You might not be able to pick them out at the Fair[…]
“Zooties®.” Is it just me or is the word almost as fun to say as these cute baby booties must be to wear? Artisans and craftspeople in Kyrgyzstan have a talent for producing felt from wool and turning it into much-coveted carpets – why not make something else that takes up the space between one’s[…]
While we might send a valentine to our grandmother, we all know that not just the state of Virginia but Valentine’s Day is for lovers. If you don’t want to center your store display around hearts (and there are a lot of fair trade heart-shaped products out there!), here are some products you may want to[…]
So many of our fair trade wholesaler friends are deep into “the season.” I’m not sure if the leaves change colors, the flowers bloom, or the kids are out of school but I do know that many fair traders will be flying to exotic locales (New York, San Francisco, Atlanta, Chicago) in search of capturing[…]
The artisans of Tecalpulco, Mexico have long been known for their silver and stone jewelry. Art Camp, short for Artesanas Campesinas (or rural female artisans), is a women-owned cooperative that continues this tradition. The group constantly introduces new methods, materials, and machinery to compete in the highly competitive jewelry market, even surviving a collapse in[…]
Welcome to the first of our Think Thursday posts. Even though Kevin insists that statistically I’m wrong, it always seems like the day-to-day tasks are less on Thursday, so I have time to look at the bigger picture of our business and just, well, think. We’d like to invite you to join us in taking a breath on Thursday[…]