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.