Take Personal Action
Make your gifts Fair Trade this Valentine’s Day
Thinking of a sweet treat for that special someone? There are now more options than ever to give a carbon-less gift.
A good rule of thumb is look for the Fair Trade label on your purchases. Fair Trade items are grown and harvested sustainably, thus protecting the environment for years to come. Fair Trade ensures an honest, living wage for farmers and prohibits abusive labor and child labor policies. Some of the best known Fair Trade certified products are chocolates and coffee but it can cover a range of products.
Choosing local and organic products is also a good bet. Many cities have winter farmer’s markets where you can find these goodies year round. Local products don’t have to travel great distances to get to your table and without intensive farming and pesticide use, organic products use less carbon than traditional methods.
Check out these Fair Trade Resources
Fair Trade USA - Shop guilt-free and learn more about the benefits of purchasing Fair Trade items.
www.transfairusa.org/content/WhereToBuy/
Ten Thousand Villages - This collection of retail stores around the country focus on selling Fair Trade items.
www.tenthousandvillages.com/catalog/product.list.php?gift_idea_id=26
CO-OP America - Valentine’s Day Green Gift Guide
www.coopamerica.org/pubs/greengifts/
Green Heart and the Fair Trader - Two local Fair Trade shops in Chicago.
http://greenheartshop.org/ and www.thefairtraderchicago.com/
Chocolates and Flowers
Divine Chocolate
www.divinechocolateusa.com/
Dagoba’s
www.dagobachocolate.com/
Fair-Trade flowers
1800flowers.com
Organic Bouquet
www.organicbouquet.com/
The Sun Valley Group
www.thesunvalleygroup.com/
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