The Olympic Torch lit a path around the world- from the hip streets of San Francisco, exhilarating cafes of Paris, all the way to the exotic outskirts of Beijing. The Olympics have opened our eyes to the differences in culture, sociology and economy of countless countries. Unfortunately, our eyes have also been opened to unbelievable and sometimes brutal differences in how workers are treated.

Perhaps we can understand the differences in worker’s rights between Western society and Eastern society. In the United States, we have a relatively short modern social history (only a few hundred years). Worker’s rights were born from the Industrial Era when workers began to rise up against oppressive factory supervisors.

The sociology of this era is founded in Western individualism and self-reliance. Today, Western attitude and social expectations are cut from this same fabric. There’s no sense of social “castes” that one cannot break from. Instead there are classes, which can be overcome (even though more and more this proves difficult). Western individualism calls for assertiveness and questioning, even when peers disapprove.

In Eastern culture, there still exists a sense of a caste-like society, rooted in poverty and fear. Unlike current Western culture, the East has thousands of years of social development. This sociology is heavily rooted in social interconnection (rather than rugged individualism). As a result, many people of this social background are willing to withstand the unthinkable, if it means their families and societies will benefit and find their actions acceptable.

This social construction has led to deplorable situations where desperately impoverished people have given into working at factories and sweatshops to benefit their families. This social construction has also led to an inherent disrespect between large global companies that use desperation as a tool for hiring and supplying product.

This year, the Olympics made an outcry against these conditions that Eastern men, women and children have tolerated just to survive. We saw children barely old enough to read and write working 18 hour days, alongside parents just to live. We also saw harsh working conditions where workers weren’t given breaks and mercy was unheard of. And all of this benefitted China and global corporations to the tune of over $100 million dollars!

It may seem an insurmountable task to demand Fair Trade for these producers and impoverished people. I believe where there’s a mind, there’s always a way. After all, thousands, if not millions, of impoverished employees in China, India and Pakistan are counting on us. Each North American and European that buys Olympic gear must consciously make a choice to buy Fair Trade, and spread awareness about what really goes on behind the scenes.

How can we get involved even more? We need to rally behind the Play Fair 2008 campaign, and demand producers to become Fair Trade-centric. The first step is awareness. A friend of mine heard a gentleman complaining that the Olympics were about sports, and shouldn’t have politics involved. Particularly, he wasn’t happy that protests were being held for such a memorable event as the torch passing.

My buddy couldn’t help but stop him, and ask him if really understood what the protests were about. Did he realize it was more than just politics, that it was human rights? Did he understand that the balls, shirts, shorts and bathing suits were manufactured by children half his age, working in dirty and unforgivable conditions?

After awareness, we need to pressure Adidas, Nike, Puma and the other multinational corporations to come up with solution-centric programs to address how they can become Fair Trade producers. Their profits have reached record amounts. World-wide pressure to reform the sports trade can edge them closer to reinvesting a more significant portion of their profits back into the producers and employees. In the long run companies like Adidas and Nike both need to understand that happy employees make better products.

The Olympic Torch alone may not be enough to change the world, but it can definitely open our eyes to the reality that so many have forgotten. With renewed sense and drive, let's convince one of the Top 5 sports brands to become certified Fair Trade by the Olympics of 2010!

I did a guest-post on the CRS blog this week on the Olympics (Catholic Relief Services). Given that I'm not Catholic, I thought that was a big deal (turns out that it is not). They wanted to know my take on the Olympics as I view it through a "Fair Trade" lens.

Head on over to check it out when you have a chance...

"Green" is in, especially at auctions this year. Auctioning off our eco-friendly sports balls is a great and easy way to make a lot of money for your organization.  If you purchase a regular priced Fair Trade Sports soccer ball at $45, have one of your organization's VIPs sign it with a Sharpie marker, then auction off the soccer ball for $1,000. You've made $955 for your organization! We've had a number of folks do items like this. Today I'd like to draw your attention to one of them.

The Washington Health Foundation was founded in 1992; their mission has been to improve the health of the people in Washington State.  Their goal today is to make Washington the Healthiest State in the Nation.  Their Healthiest State in the Nation Campaign is the largest civic engagement project for health in Washington's history, with more than 1,0000 businesses, over 350 schools, and more than 35,000 individuals involved.

In recent years, the Washington Health Foundation has lost the funding that kept them going for their first ten years.  They've had to seek alternative means of funding their programs.  One way they've done that is by holding auctions, where they've auctioned off Fair Trade Sports' "green" soccer balls.  Pictured in the photograph above, from right to left, are Heather Pitre, Gina Legaz, Nhi Eklund, Sandy Duncan, and Rose Baz from one of their 2008 "Heroes of Health" galas.  I quite happy to say that our soccer balls are helping to make Washington one of the Healthiest States in the Nation.

Kicka Witte, eco-fashion photographer and mom, knew that she didn't want to buy a toxic soccer ball for her toddler son, so she spent time researching environmentally-friendly soccer balls...and found us.  We even made it into her blog.

I happen to think that Kicka Witte is pretty inspiring herself.  She is truly living the "less is more" philosophy.  She believes that it's better to have just a few things you really enjoy than it is to have many things, just because they're pretty.  For example, Kicka only owns about seven dresses, one for each day.  She is very aware that everything she does can have an impact not only on her son's future, but the future of the planet as well. 

You can read more about Kicka in this Miami Herald article.

Recently I did a short interview with Sarah from Green Families. 

We found each other through Unclutterer, a great blog we're both fans of that gives daily tips on how to get rid of clutter in your life and stay organized.

For people who are a bit retentive when it comes to being organized (what, me retentive?!?), blogs like Unclutterer, 43 Folders, and Zen Habits are like magnets.

The Green Families blog gives some cool advice on all things eco, from tips on how to make your backyard barbecue less wasteful to how to get your kids involved in the environmental movement.  Thankfully, they also like our environmentally friendly sports gear, like our Fair Trade mini-balls for soccer and rugby/football and our RESPECT tagline.

(Interesting sidenote for those of you in marketing or intellectual property: FA referees are also digging our RESPECT tagline).

You can read the Green Families interview here.

Roxi Suger, the founder of the eco and Fair Trade friendly fashion line Angel Rox, recently ordered some Fair Trade Mini-Soccer Balls.

Her son Cotton ended up with one of them, which now makes him our youngest fan, I believe.  Roxi says he giggles when she tosses it to him. You can't get better than a baby giggling.

Angel Rox is a company committed to producing sustainable fashion using local suppliers whenever possible, and fair trade practices when local suppliers aren't feasible.  They are also, like Fair Trade Sports, committed to philanthropy and donate to several different charities. In short, they rock. Check them out here.

The folks over at Play It Green had some kind words to say about our green eco-basketballs and the excellent role model Steve Nash of the Phoenix Suns recently. 

Play It Green is Brita Belli's blog and it deals with all things green and sports related.  Brita writes about everything from athletes' activism to how to make golf a greener sport.

Brita is also the editor of E-The Environmental Magazine.  E is in its 19th year and is published bimonthly by the non-profit Earth Action Network Inc.  E reports on a range of current environmental issues and has plenty of information on how you can make your own life a little greener.  When you visit the site, you can sign up for their free weekly newsletter and read some articles.

Be sure and check out both of these great websites.