Friends of MadSilence know that we are proponents of the fair trade movement and devotees of such retailers as Ten Thousand Villages® that sell fair trade jewelry, home decor, gifts and more from around the world. And while Ten Thousand Villages® is “one of the world’s oldest and largest fair trade organizations,” World of Good is a “rising star in the fair trade movement”.
The philosophy behind fair trade is devastatingly simple: Artisans in poor countries should receive just compensation from consumers in rich countries. It’s both a social movement and a market-based approach to alleviating global poverty and promoting sustainability. The fair trade movement seeks to empower the individual, encouraging economic independence and self-sufficiency, while achieving greater equity in international trade.
World of Good connects artisans—mostly women—in 32 countries with trendy consumers in the West and brings beautifully handcrafted jewelry, scarves, house-wares and other items to a Western audience. There are ruffled silk bags made by disabled artisans from Cambodia, sparkling placemats from Vietnam woven with discarded candy wrappers and dazzling glass bead bracelets from India. American mainstream retailers such as Whole Foods, Wegmans, campus bookstores, natural food stores, and even eBay, participate. By the end of 2008 World of Good will employ 15,000 women around the world. Ten percent of the company’s profits go to World of Good’s nonprofit development organization, Project Good, which strengthens standards for handcrafts in the fair trade industry.
This Off the Hook Bowl from World of Good is made entirely from recycled telephone wire:
Related links:
The Village Beat newsletter from Ten Thousand Villages®
Making my list…checking it twice from MadSilence
She’s Crafty: World of Good brings female artisans’ wares to global markets from the Stanford Social Innovation Review
Doing a ‘World of Good’ from ABC News Videos
~TAB
