The Big Swap: Sports Balls
March 01, 2010 @ 02:07 PM
This entry continues our Big Swap series with sports balls. The Big Swap is a simple idea: for the next two weeks, swap out something you buy regularly for the Fair Trade alternative. Coffee, chocolate, cutting boards, bananas, and more. Learn more.
The Broken System
The sports ball industry has long been marred by child labor, meaning that our children are often playing with balls that were made by their counterparts in the developing world. The same toy that brings so much joy to a child here in America is the symbol of oppression and despair thousands of miles away.
Pakistan, which supplies around 70% of the world’s soccer balls, has been among the chief offenders. International pressure in the 1990s led to some legislation that made a dent in the problem, but stubborn vestiges of the problem remain, and children still stitch many of the sports balls we use here in America.
The problem stems from a lack of livable wages for their parents. The men and women – either without work, or working jobs whose wages leave them fighting a losing battle against the costs of surviving – are forced to send their children to work as well.
This problem is exacerbated by its cyclical nature. A child deprived of his/her education will likely end up working a job no better than his/her parents, forced to send the next generation of children to work in the factories as well. And the cycle of poverty continues.
There has to be a better way to play.
Fair Trade sports balls address the problem head on. Rather than set up shop in an area without the stigma of child labor, unfair working conditions, and bonded labor, our partners work right in the middle of the crisis, in Sialkot, Pakistan.
Their idea is simple: what if sports balls brought joy to everyone? What if the women and men stitching were paid fairly, treated like human beings, and given the chance to lift their families out of poverty? What if the balls were produced with eco-certified rubber that didn’t ravage our planet? And what if these balls were high-quality, and lasted long enough for years of enjoyment?
We think these sports balls are a great example of the breadth of Fair Trade. Whereas Fair Trade used to be just coffee and maybe chocolate, now you can incorporate Fair Trade into so many aspects of your life. The Big Swap is all about taking purchases you were going to make anyway, and diverting them into channels that directly benefit the poor. So if you were thinking about purchasing a sports ball, we’d love for you to consider the Fair Trade alternative. You won’t be disappointed.
Now What?
We want to hear what you’re Swapping, why you’re Swapping, where you’re Swapping, we want to know! So share your swapping story in the comments section of this post.
