I have a soul, and a conscience, so the thought of buying things made by near-starving children who get paid $3 a day in developing countries is hard for me to stomach. Hence, I’m draw to the idea of fair trade goods.
Unfortunately, it seems like the only fair trade products I ever run into are potato-sack skirts decorated excessively with beads, wood-carvings of elephants and a wide variety of products made from hemp. Plus, these products are inevitably sold by a store with “Earth” or “Mother” in it’s name — so if I’m even thinking about buying something, I have to put up with patchouli stench, world music, and all that other irritating new age stuff.
Fortunately, there’s hope. The UK’s Guardian newspaper has put together a photo essay called “Ethical bling,” that’s comprised entirely of fair trade jewelery. Some of it’s a little hippy-dippy, but for the most part, these are all cute pieces that you can wear without looking like you work at your local leftist coffee shop.
Not that there’s anything wrong with hippies, coffee shops, or world music — I’m just happy there’s something out there for the rest of us.
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