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.

Actually, we always have (ahem, some of us are less fluent than others and you may not make fun of my pronunciation), but now our website speaks Spanish, too.

You'll find the links to switch languages in the upper right portion of our blog and ecommerce store. We've also got the blog in French for our Canadian neighbors. For those of you who are bilingual, please give the translated pages a try and let us know your feedback.

Espero que disfrute de nuestro blog y la tienda de comercio electrónico...

It's finally that time of year again!

We are starting the countdown to the start of the regular Major League Soccer Season which kicks off (sorry, couldn't resist the pun) on March 29th at 4 pm E.S.T. featuring the Toronto FC vs. the Columbus Crew. Here in Seattle, we are also counting down to the addition of a pro team in our town coming in 2009.

While the MLS doesn’t use our Fair Trade soccer balls (yet), you can order all your soccer gear for your season from our online store any time. Wholesale discounts start at quantities of 10 balls per order.

My son is writing this blog post with me from my office (he's out of school today).

He studied "The Peacemakers" in school this year - including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. - whose quote I have posted on my wall.

"An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity."

What a brilliant, powerful, wise person. 

The photo here is of Dr. King with Father Hesburgh of the University of Notre Dame.

We were recently the guest Sports Blogger at the Grist blog, aka the Gristmill, hosted by Sarah Kraybill Burkhalter.

Grist is the best source for poignent (and often hilarious) news and commentary on the environment, from a neighboring Seattle-based crew.

Should you find yourself already on Amazon.com doing some online shopping, now you can now throw your favorite Fair Trade Sports soccer ball into that magical shopping cart as well.

Same great price. Same great service. Now with the convenience of 1 Click ordering. Add us to your Amazon Wish List today and be sure to check out the Amazon Reviews on our fairly traded sports balls!

Another international gift fair featuring Fair Trade items was a great success this past weekend. The event - organized by Casey Romanick and Jason Simmons from the South Jersey Fair Trade Alliance - was a community-wide event to educate area residents about Fair Trade and alternative gift giving.

They made a great splash in the New Jersey news, including TV coverage from NBC Atlantic City on fairly traded gifts. Well done, team!

Do you have a Fair Trade Gift Fair happening near you? Contact us to bring our Fair Trade sports balls to your venue.

We’ve been asked how we can provide a competitive product to you at the same time as we provide a living wage to the folks hand-stitching these high quality sports balls.

Quite simply, we market direct to consumers, relying primarily on Internet sales for distribution and positive word-of-mouth for advertising. By not paying huge sums of money for advertising, we’re able to give you a great product at a great price, while still paying Fair Trade wages to our stitchers.

Help us spread the word and make a difference with your purchasing power. Buy a ball or tee shirt today, and receive a free set of cards that transform you into an Ambassador of Respect!

Or order the cards by themselves; they are free and there is no charge for shipping. Put a few in your wallet to keep them ready to hand out to people you think might be interested in Fair Trade products.

We just got confirmation that our Fair Trade sports ball inventory is arriving next week, just in time for your holiday shopping!

Please consider giving a present with a purpose this year.

Wow, it’s getting cold outside. Perfect weather to play soccer in!

Here’s what we’re listening to this week as we watch the thermometer outside drop:

• Rich Mullins: Ragamuffin…
• Presidents of the United States of America: self-titled
• POD: Satellite
• Love Coma: Language of Fools
• George Winston: Linus & Lucy (classic “Great Pumpkin” music)