Today I went to a talk on Fair Trade where a lady from the World Village Trade Market explained what the initiative was and what we can do to support it. Well, it is buying products from companies that offer a fair wage for what is created, use sustainable methods, have acceptable health and safety conditions and do not have any child laborers. I fully support all of those aspects because there are millions of people overseas that make two bucks a day and that is not even close to being enough to live. I just got paid today and I make well more than $2 a day and I still am overly frugal and can barely support my lifestyle. However, I choose to live on one of the most expensive islands in the nation, so this is my own fault. I have choices though, these people do not.
So, today I went to hear what fair trade is all about and then I bought a few little trinkets from their table of goods. One thing was a turkey finger puppet that I plan on giving to Kaitlyn as a Thanksgiving gift and the other is an ornament from Thailand that is a symbol of courtship and marriage. A whole story came along with it. Those are the things I love to buy, so the World Trade Market has a great customer in me. I love arts & crafts and I love to purchase unique items that you can't buy just anywhere and I am supporting a group of women or men in a foreign country who create these things to make ends meet. Well send me a catalog because even though I won't be spending enough to send their kids to college, I do have some Christmas shopping to do...
