Fair Trade - On Multiple Levels - A Thoughtful Way to Give

Perhaps you've been considering shopping Fair Trade merchandise for the holidays or just a friend's birthday but are still on the fence about it. Sure the prices on the long list of gift items are very reasonable but they can never beat prices at some of the bigger shopping outlets like there's a reason for that.

We'll explore those reasons towards the end of this article but first there are some points that also should be examined. For instance, the fact that Fair Trade gift items are all hand crafted in far flung part of the globe by people who actually care about what they are making. People who are working to share their indigenous designs color schemes, etc. with the rest of the planet.

Hand crafted works like these just make a better gift. Also along the same lines, there are more choices than ever before in the Fair Trade gift lineup. Incredibly clever gift choices that you just can't find on sale in larger mall based shopping outlets and hand crafted bags and totes made from used rice bags are a stellar example. Incredibly beautiful art deco bags that feature the original colors and designs that came on the rice bags themselves.

Fair Trade gift cards are just the icing on the cake if you're gift shopping today. These cards come in a wide selection of amazing designs and they are all made from 100% recycled paper. Not just any recycled paper though. But rather, recycled paper that's been reprocessed in an ecologically sound manner. So now you can give the 'complete package'. A Fair Trade gift and an accompanying Fair Trade gift card.

When you shop and give Fair Trade gift items you aren't just doing your part for the planets environment and social inequities. You are also helping to spread the word that it's not OK to simply turn a blind eye to the poverty and injustices that so many disadvantaged third world peoples are forced to endure. You're letting whoever it is that you're giving to know that you care enough to go out of your way to shop Fair Trade.

Ok, so now back to Wall-Mart and I single out this mega-store even though there are others that are similar, for one good reason. That reason is that they are the single largest employer in the entire USA. Yet even though they employ so many, the wages that they pay their employees are consistently lower than the averages for the areas that they employ people in.

They have also been sued numerous times for things like forcing their employees to work off the clock. Forcing them to perform work related tasks after they have clocked out for instance. In one of the more recent court actions brought against them, they were found guilty of denying over 100,000 employees a lunch break that they were lawfully entitled to.