Fairtrade

What You Need To Know About Red Roses For Valentine's Day

Red roses are popular year round but take on special importance at Valentine's Day. Suddenly they are everywhere. Bouquets of roses are sold by the side of the road and by salespeople hovering around restaurants. This, combined with the overflowing buckets at the grocery store, saturate a market that is deserving of a richness equivalent to its history. Favored mostly for its beauty and durability, combined with fragrance, the rose's popularity has caused an outbreak of ecologically harmful and trade-wide problems.

Many roses are raised in Ecuador and Colombia, and there is an ongoing concern of heavy pesticide use, unfair wage and labor conditions and the possibility that the rose tips themselves may have been treated with anti-fungal chemicals that are harmful to human beings.

Flower arranger and horticulture expert Betty Miles explains the importance of careful-sourcing and following care that will result in a longer life and a clear conscience. She notes that, due to favorable climate conditions as well as cheaper labor, most long stem roses (the most popular in America) are grown in greenhouses around the world, and generally in Colombia, Ecuador and parts of Africa. There can be a big difference between the white-bucketed variety amongst conventional locations and the fresher and perhaps more local available at a credible florist. Betty goes on to say:

When sourcing flowers in person, check underneath the bud to see if petals will have been removed. This will prove the flower to be old or not as fresh, diminishing their cut-life. 'Hardening-off' is a common flower arrangement term- taking a cut flower from a garden or, later, florist, and diagonally cutting an inch off the tip of the stem then immediately placing it in water (or cutting while the stem is submerged in water). Doing these steps, along with removing the lower leaves and stems will avoid rotting and water-contamination thus, shortening the life. If not removed, the most distal part of the stem will get dried, killing the cells within the stem, rendering it inactive, and killing the flower. This can and should be repeated by the distributor, the florist and finally, the customer. Though the packet of "flower-extender" that comes with your flowers appears artificial, it is an inert and biodegradable substance (typically a formula including dextrose and bacteria-inhibitors) that will extend the life of your cut flowers.

Tags: alternative, bush, columbia, day, decor-pedia, domestic, eco, ecuador, fairtrade, florist, friendly, grow, hybrid, hybridization, long, luxist-awards, main-pedia, red, roses, stem, US, valentines

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Emma Watson Designs Ethical Fashion Collection

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Apparel, Green, Celebrity Design

Actress Emma Watson may model for Burberry but she also has been doing a bit of designing too. The Harry Potter star has created a line of fair trade clothing for People Tree, an ethical fashion company. The People Tree, Love Emma line includes jackets, t-shirts, accessories and more for both men and women. The items are fair trade and use organic cotton. People Tree works with 50 fair trade groups in 15 countries and all clothes are dyed using safe and natural dyes. Products are available online and in a variety of stockists around London.

[via Vogue UK]

Tags: celebrity fashion, CelebrityFashion, emma watson, EmmaWatson, fair trade, fair trade fashion, FairTrade, FairTradeFashion, organic cotton, OrganicCotton, people tree, PeopleTree

Sam's Club Launches Fair Trade Wine Label

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine

Sam's Club members will soon have a new choice in the wine aisle. The chain is launching their first fair trade certified wine, the charmingly titled Neu Direction. The wine is a 100 percent Malbec from the winegrowing region of Lujan de Cuyo near Mendoza, Argentina. The wine is one of the first to receive this status in the inaugural year of the groundbreaking Fair Trade Wine certification program in the U.S. Neu Direction is produced by Vina de la Solidaridad (vines of solidarity), a co-op representing 20 small farms, which grow and hand pick the grapes and Bodega Furlotti the winery, a century's old family owned business. The London Independent picked it as the best Fair Trade Certified red wine in the world in February 2008. Fair Trade Certified programs guarantee a fair price for goods and services and help to fund the development of schools, medical clinics and other basic necessities. This process is administered in the U.S. by TransFair, a non-profit organization. Neu Direction will sell for about $10 a bottle in more than 450 Sam's Club locations that are authorized to offer wine.

Source

Tags: argentina, fair trade, FairTrade, malbec, wine

Monique P�an Designs for a Cause

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Jewelry, Charity

The world is becoming ever more conscious of fair trade goods and ethically responsible indulgences like gems and jewelry, and Monique Péan is making that effort all the more beautiful with her nature inspired designs. And not only are many of her creations beautiful and made of rare ancient ivory (the necklace pictured here is made with 12,000 year old mammoth ivory and sells for $25,000) but 50% of her C:W (Charity: Water) collection goes towards providing water and sanitation to disadvantaged people.

[via JC Report]

Gallery: Monique Pean Jewelry

Source

Tags: diamonds, fair trade, FairTrade, ivory, jewelry, mammoth, mammoth ivory, MammothIvory, monique pean, monique-pean, MoniquePean, pean, walrus ivory, WalrusIvory

Reporting on the Fair Trade Jewelry Conference

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Jewelry

The Fair Trade Jewelry Conference at the JCK Jewelry Show in Las Vegas last Monday was so profound for me that it honestly has taken me over a week to process it. I was familiar with some of the issues discussed but learned a great many things about the various movements in ethical, fair trade, fair made and green jewelry and why they should matter to everyone who gives, receives and enjoys fine jewelry.

While most people have heard of the controversies regarding blood diamonds they may not have investigated the issue deeply enough to know that diamonds from Africa are not universally bad. As Russell Simmons stated in his keynote at the JCK Show, diamonds have done a lot of good in some countries. Botswana earns the bulk of its export revenue from the diamond trade. But it is important that workers receive a fair price for their labor, worker health is protected, and steps are taken to minimize the environmental havoc caused by diamond mining. Right now, the Kimberley Process exists to ensure that diamonds are conflict-free. The multi-nation agreement monitors the $38 billion in rough diamond trade. The question remains whether this collaborative organization should be doing more to protect the workers and the environment.

The conference was moderated by Martin Rapaport, the kingpin of diamonds, who is also deeply interested in fair trade and in jewelry processes that are of greatest benefit to the miners and producers. Rapaport showed a video of his trip to Sierra Leone in which he met with the diamond diggers about what they wanted. The diggers expressed frustration that they do not receive a fair price from the dealers. Even when they find a stone they know is good, a dealer will tell them it is black or cloudy and in that situation the digger has few options and has to take the price he is offered. For the people of Sierra Leone, who have no factories they can work in, and a limited tourism trade, the backbreaking work of searching for diamonds is one of the few opportunities to make any kind of money.

Tags: ethical jewelry, fair trade, FairTrade

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The Top 10 Fairtrade Wines

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine

Fairtrade wines are becoming more and more popular, which means they're getting better and better. There are 30 Fairtrade certified wineries worldwide in South Africa, Argentina, and Chile, with the majority of their product shipping to the UK. Fairtrade wines have had a rough start as far as quality is concerned, but in recent years have been making leaps and bounds to gain a better reputation. Whether you're looking to try Fairtrade wines for the first time or are a seasoned connoisseur there are all kinds of good options out there.

Gallery: The Top 10 Fair Trade Wines