world fair trade day
This weekend we celebrate World Fair Trade Day it’s great to be celebrating World Fair Trade Day. This event has been promoted since 2001, and this year falls on the 8th May 2010. This year’s Big Day For The Planet will be recognised the world over, with events co-ordinated by the World Fair Trade Organisation - the global representative body of more than 350 organisations with a 100% commitment to Fair Trade. The WFTO touches the lives of 110 million farmers, artisans, retailers and supporters worldwide. It’s truly impressive work.
You can check out planned events on the World Fair Trade Day website, including the London Fair Trade Festival (running from the 7th-9th May), which promises to be an amazing event.
11 years of supporting fair trade
'Fair trade' is about being fair to the people we trade with to get our Green Baby products on the shelves. That means that everyone in the supply chain, from the cotton farmers to the pattern cutters and everyone in between can bank on the fact that we will support them, that they will be paid a fair wage, enjoy tea breaks, proper sanitation and work in pleasant and clean environments. It also means that we pay them the kind of prices for their products that enable them to plan for their families and future.
Green Baby partners
We produce all of our organic cotton children's clothing and organic cotton baby bedding at Assisi Garments, in association with sense-organics, in South India, a member of the World Fair Trade Organization.
This community project, managed by the Sisters of Assisi, runs a school for deaf girls and the organic clothing factory was set up to provide jobs for them when they finish their education. It now provides them with a place to live, all their meals and a fair wage.
In the eleven years we have been providing regular orders for our organic kid's clothing all year round, the factory has been able to expand from the original 12 girls to a team of 200. All of the cotton we use has been certified 100% organic by GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) which is an internationally recognised governing body working to guarantee the integrity of organic agriculture.
Our Merino knitwear is produced by a Women's Fair Trade cooperative in Uruguay.
MANOS' commitment to the environment is reflected in the use of luxurious natural merino fibres. They enforce the rational use of water and other resources and avoid using harmful chemicals during the kettle dyeing process.
MANOS was founded in 1968, looking for a way to help women in Uruguay's countryside to generate income opportunities. When defining their product they looked at the material they had at hand: wool, and the traditional skills they had inherited. They spin, dye, knit and weave the products by hand. Today, Manos is a cooperative of 400 women, but during peak export periods, they are working with as many as 1200 women.
Why choose organic?
When you choose to buy organic childrenswear, whether it's a babygrow, or a pair of organic pyjamas, you’re choosing to make a difference to your future, your children’s health and the future health of the planet we live on.
Decades of poor agricultural practice; the use of dangerous pesticides and fertilisers, GM crops and general soil mismanagement, can be reversed but only if we promise the farmers that we will support them. Your choice is vital in helping companies like ours sustain them as they change the world. Choosing organic cotton is healthy for farmers, healthy for plants, healthy for animals and healthy for kids!
Green Baby have been recently been featured loads, in the magazines and newspapers, read some of the articles here. If you are from the Press, here's where to come to keep up with the latest from Green Baby. Don't forget that you can request high-res images from info@greenbaby.co.uk
