Fair Trade Concepts

Our aim is to:

educate and provide resources on the topics of Fair Trade and economic justice
promote sustainability for third world producers, the environment and local economies

Something must change and it is! Fair Trade is emerging as the way to do business. Not just with coffee but in numerous different commodities and industries that need economic transformation.

Whose to Blame?

Your Personal Choice

When you see destructive downsizing, underpaid workers, widespread poverty in areas where factories produce for multi-national companies and environmental devastation you may start pointing fingers and laying blame. There’s plenty of all the above atrocities taking place on our planet, and worse. However, don’t expect this site to help you become enraged so that you can lash out at corrupt governments, money hungry multi-nationals, filthy rich CEO’s, overpaid athletes who endorse products for millions or factory owners who devastate the environment. A premise upon which Fair Trade Concepts operates is that the injustice and exploitation going on in this world stems significantly from everyday consumers who ignorantly purchase products without being aware of the products’ history. So... in short you and I are to blame for what’s going on around us in our world.

Individual consumers need to make personal choices based on clearly defined moral convictions and common sense. Big companies become big because many people buy their products. If those masses of consumers don’t demand the companies to be responsible global citizens then we as consumers ‘dropped the ball’. Another premise of Fair Trade Concepts is that guilt is a poor motivator to effect long term positive change in people’s lives. So this site also won’t make any attempt to humiliate you for having been an uninformed or unconcerned consumer up till this time. Fair Trade is not the whole answer to the world’s woes but simply one more piece of the puzzle toward an equitable world where people are regarded with dignity and the planet is treated with respect.

If you want to become a better educated consumer who will make more ethical choices — you’re at the right site!

It takes a change in perspective for a consumer to become an advocate of Fair Trade. Some of the following statements may prove to be catalysts for you becoming a more ethical consumer!

I often expend much energy to earn money but spend little thought on the ethics of my buying choices — strategic earning but ignorant spending.
Purchasing a product from a company sends a message to them that I endorse their way of doing business — my money is my vote of support.
Often I buy a product with little or no knowledge of how the people who made it were paid or treated or how the environment was affected. The way I spend my money conflicts with what I say my moral convictions and beliefs are — unintentional injustice.

To help you on your way to becoming a more educated and ethical consumer — here’s some suggestions to maximize the usefulness of this site:

To find practical how to’s on shopping with your brain ‘in gear’ and your conscience sensitized take a look at how to shop. If you print out this info for quick reference while shopping you’ll likely be a changed, and very conscious, consumer

To help you investigate trade there’s a host of online and reading resources to equip you on your way to becoming a more ethical consumer. Also included is a host of statistics and facts about some negative effects of well-known multi-national companies which are manufacturing products in third world nations with seeming little regard for fairness. You’ll also find a list of all sorts of goods/services on which you regularly spend money but have perhaps never considered the ethical implications.

Fair Trade Concepts offers insightful and challenging presentations — with a special emphasis on school classes between grades 6-12. In our first year as a society presentations were made to more than 125 groups! Presentations will tell you what can be included and lists settings previously used for presentations. Virtually anything can be done to fit your schedule, budget and preferred focus.

Fair Trade Concepts has partnered with some great sponsors. We encourage you to check out these ethical alternatives for conscious consumers and give them your business.

You can check out Fair Trade Concepts’ director’s profile and see how he’s striving to live and consume in a way that harmonizes with his priorities and spiritual convictions.