Valentine's Day is coming!

Chocolate, flowers, jewelry, cards, stuffed animals... all popular items for Valentine's Day and all available by businesses that also empower people around the world. If you are planning to buy Valentine's Day gifts, consider shopping the stores we promote here. You'll be giving a token of love that goes many directions.  check out our new Valentine's section with class pack of Valentine's Day cards with fair trade chocolate and chocolate hearts by Divine or Equal Exchange.
More love to you!

Trade As One Boutique coming to Fresno!

Trade As One Boutique
Sat. Oct. 13 from 4:00 to 7:30 p.m. and Sun., October 14 from 10:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
hosted by Clovis Hills Community Church
10590 North Willow Avenue, Clovis, CA 93619
Products from Trade As One will be avialable for purchase. Items include food, accessories, housewares, apparel, books, gifts, and more!
For more information, call Clovis Hills at 559-297-2600.
Trade As One is a non-profit organization bring fair trade business to the public.
For more information about Trade As One, including how to host a boutique, visit their website.

Fair Pages- Shop Freely!

I apologize for the silence, but I DO have good news of a great resource I discovered: The Fair Pages. One of the missions of my blog is to make it easier for people to choose products that are made and sold under fair, empowering, and human working conditions. I have scoured the web for great companies to promote, including those that made not necessarily be fair trade certified, but are certainly functioning under those principles.
The Fair Pages is the yellow pages with this purpose. Search for a particular product and get listings of businesses that provide such products. Those of you with a fair trade business can add their own listing.
I still encourage you to check out the listings on this page, but I also encourage you to bookmark, use, and promote The Fair Pages.
Think: buying fair and promoting freedom in the upcoming holiday season.
Together we are taking more steps towards ending slavery!

Featured Store: Made By Survivors

Black and rose striped rug by Made By Survivors

These guys are my heroes... the artisans and the people who started this business.

All the products at Made By Survivors are created by people who were formerly slaves and now have been empowered with a new, creative income source. How cool is that? Made By Survivors is a business of Emancipation Network, whose mission is to improve the lives of slavery survivors through empowerment and education, assist rescue shelters by offering job programs and funding, improve rehabilitation and reintegration, and prevent trafficking in high risk communities.

They believe that by addressing poverty and lack of skills and opportunities among survivors and high risk people is the key to ending slavery. So, after rescue and after care, Emancipation Network  provides survivors with training, education, and fair-wage employment.

 Their work is beautiful. I especially love the designs of the rugs. 

They also have a catalog party kit (perfect for the holidays!)

Made by Survivors inspired me to start this site, because... well, people are going to buy things for Christmas and I've love for them to buy from MBS... and I knew that if people discovered this site, they'd want to buy from them.

Enjoy!

Pretty Hot Stuff (Welcome)

Consider this your new favorite "mall."
Within this site are a wide array of well-made, stylish, and often handcrafted products. It's good stuff. But on top of that, these items are empowering people around the world. Around the world, people are being set free from slavery and other forms of oppression... and being given the opportunity to support themselves and their families through their talents and abilities with legitimate work. Many others as well are being given that opportunity through cooperatives, businesses, and supported self-employment that ensures each worker is benefitting from ethical treatment and fair labor practices.
Many of these businesses have adopted practices that are responsible to all of creation.
This website is dedicated to promoting the products of such businesses and organizations and providing you with a wide selection of ethical options for gift giving and shopping.

I believe how we shop can help end slavery.

Please feel free to email with recommendations of things you'd like to see here and store suggestions
Enjoy!