Trade As One

One of the most encouraging things for the team at Trade as One is when individuals and organizations contact us because they want to educate others about fair trade. Even more exciting is when the next generation is leading the charge. In November, Youth Pastor Erik Strom and volunteer Kat Magnuson from Winnetka Covenant Church in Illinois contacted us with an idea their students had generated. After attending CHIC 2009 conference and learning about slavery around the world, the students wanted to get actively involved in fighting against it.

They chose a few projects including selling Fair Trade goods at church on Sunday morning and Wednesday nights. Most compelling, perhaps, is the fact that the students each contributed money to raise $400 to be able to start their own Trading Post featuring Trade as One products. We’re proud to be a small part of the big ideas coming out of these students. You can read more about how they partnered with other organizations and hosted an evening for their friends to educate about human slavery by clicking here.

This last year we were quite impressed with the creativity that so many of you showed in your efforts to spread Fair Trade to your communities, and to incorporate it into your daily lives. We often feel like it’s our job just to keep up with what our supporters are doing, and last year was no different. Here’s just a few of the ways that people got creative.

- A church in Phoenix distributed 8,000 Fair Trade cups made by our partners in India and asked their congregation to drink only water from those cups for a week, keeping in mind the scarcity of accessible clean water for so many in the world.

- A couple in Texas ordered a custom Fair Trade rug, and stood on it while they said their vows, sealing the pursuit of justice into their marriage.

- So many combined gifts of presence with Fair Trade gifts as a part of their participation in Advent Conspiracy.

- A group of high schoolers in Illinois pooled their money and started a Trading Post at their Youth Group.

- A group in Illinois used Halloween and a “Trunk or Treat” party to talk about injustice in the chocolate industry, and the Fair Trade alternative.

- So many turned Christmas into an opportunity to educate and inspire their friends and family, requesting more material to give away with their gifts.

Coming up this year:

- A family in Texas is doing a Fair Trade Bar Mitzvah (Fair Trade Yarmulkes!)

- A couple in Texas is using their marriage as a way to spread the word about Fair Trade, by raffling off Fair Trade items, and giving Fair Trade favors.

And it’s only January 8th.

So what about you? What did you do this last year? What ideas do you have for this year?