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!

"Fair Holidays 2011" Shopping Campaign

So I hear that people are already starting their Christmas shopping. Impressive. I want to present an opportunity to make holiday shopping even more special. How? By empowering women and families around the world. By helping former slaves to provide for themselves and their families free of oppression and abuse. By helping end slavery and sweatshop labor one purchase at a time, by choosing products made by fair labor practices, and usually higher quality, and sending a message to companies that this matters.
Simply put, I am encouraging you to consider your shopping list this coming season and buy fair labor products for presents, decorations, food items, and other purposes this Christmas and encourage others to do the same.
With so many tools and options, participation is simple:
1. If you know any fair labor businesses locally and online, consider products they offer when shopping.
2. Click and bookmark these shopping guide websites:
globalloveshopping.blogspot.com, my online catalogue and guide for fair trade
fairpages.com, a fair trade version of the Yellow Pages
shoptostopslavery.com, a fair trade shopping guide site with an annual holiday catalogue.
Trade As One, a fair trade collaboration.
Check in on Fair Trade Federation's 2011 gift guide, coming soon, but in the meantime, see their 2010 guide: http://www.fairtradefederation.org/ht/a/GetDocumentAction/i/14387
Before you buy a product, check this pages to see if they are available fair labor.
3. For good deals, sign up to Roozt.com and Ecobunga.com and sign up for Global Love Shopping On facebook and twitter for promoted deals. Buying fair may mean spending a little more, but these help.
4.Promote the Campaign!!! Copy and share this list and the listed websites with people you know. Share with people about your finds and encourage others to shop fair this season.
5. If you are interested in other ways to promote these product, consider hosting a catalogue party. Some organizations, such as Madebysurvivors.com have catalogue party kits.

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!