Co-op America recently published their online Guide to Ending Sweatshops.

The Guide focuses on clothing and shoes to make it easy for consumers to find companies with the best labor practices and avoid purchasing products from the worst offenders.

On page 13, check out the feature on our sister company, The Autonomie Project, who received an A+ from the editors for making great shoes from FSC-certified all-natural latex (the same we use for our sports balls) and paying Fair Trade wages to sole stitchers in Pakistan.

The Guide is free to download here.

World Fair Trade Day is an international celebration of Fair Trade with events happening all over the globe on the same day...today!

On the second Saturday of May, organizations and businesses spread the word about fair trade by hosting everything from fair trade coffee tastings, to fashion shows, to product sales.

Now in it’s seventh year, "World Fair Trade Day" was initiated by Safia Minney, founder of People Tree, and adopted by IFAT and its members at the 2001 Full Meeting, to promote stronger global awareness of Fair Trade. This year’s theme is Fair Trade + Ecology, which highlights one of the principles of fair trade that is sometimes overlooked.

Fair Trade principles protect the environment while promoting sustainable development for stakeholders. Because Fair Trade is committed to paying workers a living wage and works in long-term partnerships, it enables workers, farmers, and artisans invest in environmentally friendly production methods. Learn more about Fair Trade Sports' environmental impact in our previous posts.

We'd love to hear how you celebrate today. If you'd like to share, drop us a line (and we love pictures too!)

Mother’s Day is right around the corner on Sunday, May 11th.

The greatest green gift we can think of is spending some quality time outdoors with mom this year, telling her how special she is and what she really means to you.

While we advocate for less consumption, not more - we have found a few cool new eco-gifts this year that can help you plan your day celebrating mom.

1. A Biodegradable umbrella. The Brelli (pictured) is sustainably made from bamboo that has a biodegradable clear canopy that protects you from the elements. According to the Brelli website, it can withstand heavy downpours and high winds and when discarded will completely breakdown in a landfill in less than five years!

2. The World’s First Solar powered Bluetooth headset. For the mom on the go who needs to be hands-free, Iqua has made the world’s first solar powered Bluetooth headset. The Iqua 603 SUN has all the features of a standard Bluetooth headset and also has a small photovoltaic cell that charges the set from indoor and outdoor light sources.

3. VeriFlora Flowers. If your mom like more traditional gifts, try sending Fair Trade Organic flowers from OrganicBouquet.com. These flowers have been VeriFlora certified, a third party verification program that establishes healthy environmental and fair labor procedures for agricultural production and handling practices, from soil preparation and seed planting through production, harvest, and post-harvest distribution.

4. Redefine what it means to be a soccer mom. Wikipedia says “The term [soccer mom] has been extended in popular culture to include mothers anxiously running their children errands in oversized SUV vehicles while chatting on their cell phone. To some extent the phrase has begun taken on a negative stigma.” Help redefine what it means to be a soccer mom – perhaps with a kids vs. parents soccer showdown in the backyard? We can supply the necessary gear…

5. Chocolate. Sometimes the classics are the best. Equal Exchange offers a great variety of Fair Trade organic chocolate bars available online and in stores nationwide including some great new flavors like Organic Chocolate Espresso Bean and Organic Dark Chocolate with Pure Cocoa Nibs. Yum.

...it would be hard not to after watching Radiohead's "All I Need" video that they did with MTV's EXIT initiative (End eXploitation and Trafficking).

The video (shown to the right) shows a split screen, depicting a day in the life of a well-off child from a Western country versus a day in the life of a poor child who is forced to work in a shoe factory sweatshop.

Ed O’Brien said Radiohead became interested in the issue in part because of author Naomi Klein’s book No Logo which highlighted the production-to-retail practices of companies. Klein's book also ranks as one of my favorites.

The Hollywood Reporter reports that lead singer Thom Yorke lauded MTV for taking on such issues, given the fact that the network's hands aren't exactly clean.

Yorke said the band had linked with MTV to highlight such issues as child slavery, enforced servitude and sex trafficking because it was "about exploiting a situation while you have the chance."

"All power to MTV for taking this on because its obviously going to be difficult for them in terms of the advertisers," he said. "If you talk about slave labour, then the issue of cheap goods from the East is all about that.

With the [All I Need] video their lawyers had to beg to make sure there wasn't a single white [sneaker] with a logo on it because the implication would be a little too close. But the implication is still there," he concluded.

I spend a good portion of my working hours with the Not For Sale Campaign, fighting against slave labor in a way that my skill set allows (ecommerce, marketing, biz dev, that kind of thing). It is a logical tie-in to my other company, Fair Trade Sports, with our certified Fair Trade sports balls (read: adult workers paid a fair wage and ensured healthy working conditions).

If you are so inclined, we'd love to have your help with the Not For Sale Campaign. We've got lots of volunteer opportunities. You can make a direct, positive impact on this global problem...

Plenty Magazine recently featured our sports balls in a lineup of cool (and useful) green gear for this Spring on a New York morning TV show. Check out the article and the video.

A new online magazine has launched recently out of Colorado called eCo Times.

They report the latest on sustainable lifestyle choices and the new green economy, including an eCo Times piece yesterday on Fair Trade Sports. Their objective is to bring readers like you and me the best in cutting edge green media, organic and Fair Trade product reviews, and insights into viable planetary solutions. This is the same crew behind the eConscious Market.

The eCo Times mantra statement - "We’re putting the logic back into ecological." - resonates with me as well!

It seems that I’m not the only one anxious to get outside to play soccer with my son the minute it stops raining (pictured here in his kids tee shirt).

Fair Trade Sports has been cropping up quite a bit in the blogosphere this spring as parents prepare to toss the kids outside. Here are a couple of our favorites:

From Mamanista – Fabulously Chic, Irresistibly Practical. “Although I never took to sports, my husband is athletic and my little girl is already enjoying soccer. Sports teach discipline, teamwork, and coordination and keep children healthy. We have a small Fair Trade Sports soccer ball for baby to kick around with her friends.

Children have a right to be children–to play, learn, and explore. There is something dreadfully wrong children forced to work in unhealthy conditions, and it is even more disturbing to think that less economically privileged children might be making toys for children in more developed countries. Every kid has a right to a childhood.”

From Cool Mom Picks – We Find It, You Flaunt It. “Thanks to the toy recalls, I am much more concerned about where and how the toys I'm purchasing for my kids are made. But it's not always as easy to get the backstory on your playthings as Fair Trade Sports makes it.

Perhaps it doesn't seem like having a certified fair trade soccer ball or basketball or rugby ball is such a big deal--but don't you think a ball should make more of an impact on the child playing with than the child who is forced to hand stitch it for 4 cents an hour?”

Fair Trade Sports wants to thank all the parents who continue to teach their children about Fair Trade ethical purchasing and to the people who help share our mission with their readers through the blogosphere.

I'd like to introduce you to a crew of folks at a new startup called EVO from Santa Monica, California.

People everywhere are actively looking for ways to do their part to address the climate changes that are impacting our planet.

Unfortunately being an environmentally conscious consumer is not as easy as it should be – good information is disaggregated and hard to find. EVO provides a huge selection of green products, services, and information all in one place.

So far they’ve handpicked 400 companies - like Fair Trade Sports - representing more than 20,000 green products and services. From hybrid vehicles to home furnishings to sports balls, their goal is to make it easy for you to make greener choices every day.

While government and big business have major roles to play in the rapid shift necessary to bring our delicate ecosystem back into balance, each person’s daily choices multiplied by 300 million people in the U.S. (and billions worldwide) can add up to a major collective impact. EVO’s goal is to make it easy for individuals to make greener choices every day.

If each of us chose locally grown organic produce, changed at least a single light bulb, made sure our next car got more than 40mpg - we would go a long way toward decreasing the demand for wasteful, harmful products and increasing our quality of life now and for our children. Check out EVO.

When in doubt, I like to encourage less consumption, not more. But if you cannot find a good used version of what you are looking for, check out this video of cool green products from Green Festival Seattle, just in time for Earth Day.

LifeGoggles has launched what might turn out to be the world's biggest green competition on the web!

The contest is simple: There are five different actions you can perform which each earn you entries to the contest such as blogging about the contest on your own site and leaving feedback about recently reviewed green products on LifeGoggles.com.

Obviously the more actions you complete, the more times you can enter and the greater your chances of winning one of 72 (and counting) eco prizes, including a "Right to Education" Soccer Ball from us.

The contest runs through April 30th. For entry details, visit the LifeGoggles Great Green Giveaway page.