I was speaking with students at the University of Washington last week about this topic and realized I had not yet done a blog post summary on it. So here you go...

As suppliers of Fair Trade soccer balls, we've signed up to a pioneering initiative where soccer ball stitching is organized into small work units in the villages of Sialkot, Pakistan - with dedicated units for women, who - in an Islamic society - could not work in the same room as men.

As part of Fair Trade requirements for sports balls (PDF), the working conditions in these units (ventilation, lighting and access to safe drinking water) are being improved each year.

The key component of Fair Trade criteria, however, is that the workers in these centers receive a substantially increased wage for all soccer balls ordered under Fair Trade conditions. These wages are calculated - if it were applied for all their work - to meet the basic needs of a family, allowing the children to go to school instead of having to work.

Furthermore, a basic health care program is provided for all those involved in the production of Fair Trade sports balls - a first for this type of employment. And in order to reduce the workers' dependency on the ball-export production (which can be seasonal), micro-credit loans are offered to improve the village economy and to provide alternative or additional income opportunities to the workers.

To finance these changes, a Fair Trade premium is also placed on the price of each unit. And as with all other products that carry the Fair Trade certification, compliance with these criteria is subject to constant independent monitoring. The Fair Trade certification does indeed guarantee a better deal for all producers.

In the case of Fair Trade soccer balls, the price of every ball includes a premium that we pay (but not pass on to you the consumer), which contributes to the health care and micro-credit programs described above, the improvement of working conditions, and above all ensures that whoever stitched your ball has received a fair wage.

We believe this gives an entirely new meaning to the term, "customer satisfaction"!

...in anything. What was once a touted as a wonder substance is now proven to be poisoning ourselves and our planet.

Many low-end soccer balls are made with PVC - it's much cheaper to use than other materials - by companies who give no warning to the consumer. Our soccer balls are made of synthetic leather from polyurethane; more expensive but significantly safer than PVC. You can read more details on the environmental impact of our eco-certified soccer balls from this previous post.

You can learn more about ridding your own life of PVC from the folks at the Center for Health, Environment and Justice in New York. Here's what Mike Schade, their PVC Campaign Coordinator, had to say:

"Sports balls made from PVC pose an unnecessary and preventable threat to our health and environment. PVC is the poison plastic, using and releasing highly hazardous chemicals that foul our air, water, and soil. There's no safe way to make PVC. That's why many leading companies are phasing it out in favor of safer and healthier alternatives. We commend companies like Fair Trade Sports that are promoting and selling PVC-free sports balls."

Sign up for the PVC Action Network with their Be Safe program, and help protect our families and communities from dangerous chemicals in consumer products.

Green your tailgate party for the Big Weekend with our eco-certified football.

More more easy tips on guiltless ways to go green this season, check out the The Lazy Environmentalist.

Enjoy the game!

Shymala has high hopes for her granddaughter Roopa, and for her future. Roopa is 14 years old and is in the 9th grade, along with her best friend Mahalakshmi.

Shymala and Roopa live in one of the rooms of New Ambadi Rubber Estate, where we source our eco-certified Fair Trade rubber for our sports balls. These rooms are small, but quite comfortable. They have electricity, an individual water supply, separate toilets, and a small space for keeping chickens and growing vegetables. In fact, there is a waiting list for this type of accommodation. Most workers have to rent houses or flats in nearby villages.

Shymala works in the latex factory of New Ambadi. She is a trade union leader, not just representing the workers of the plantation, but also rubber workers throughout the district. She is also a member of the joint body, which was started when FairDeal Trading (our sister company in the U.K.) began buying rubber under Fair Trade conditions. Our group (FDT in the U.K. and Fair Trade Sports in North America) is the only company in the world that pays a Fair Trade premium for latex, which is then processed into components for soccer balls and other sports balls in Pakistan.

The joint body meets regularly and keeps meeting minutes. It has decided to save the Fair Trade premiums into a fund, which will be used to pay for the children of the plantation workers to go to college. Even though education in India is free, in principle, only children who can afford to go to private schools have a chance of getting a decent job after their schooling. The joint body told us that we need to buy at least 90 tons of rubber in order for the fund to have enough money in it to start paying out stipends.

Shymala hopes that her granddaughter will be one of the first to benefit. She would like her to train as a nurse. The three -year course costs quite a bit, which she could never afford out of her salary.

The second benefit of our buying is that we paid for the registration of New Ambadi into the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) initiative for responsible forest management, helping to make rubber production more sustainable.

The positive effects of Fair Trade (and your participation) just seem to multiply...thank you!

OK, so it's not entirely accurate (Transfair doesn't certify our sports balls, FLO does), but it is fast and funny. Check out this clip from the hipsters at ViroPOP featuring our new eco-certified Fair Trade basketball...

I'm going to find an empty water bottle and make my Flock of Seagulls sunglasses right now...

Coop America’s new Guide to Fair Trade (PDF) was recently released for both consumers and Fair Trade advocates.

The Guide features descriptions of national and international Fair Trade products (such as our Fair Trade soccer balls) with an extensive directory of businesses and organizations offering those products.

In addition to general information on Fair Trade, there are personal testimonials and suggestions how to involve yourself more as a consumer in the overall Fair Trade movement.  I liked the step-by-step plan of action for mobilizing consumers and local producers, such as hosting Fair Trade events and petitioning local supermarkets to carry more Fair Trade products.

This is a great tool to empower consumers! The more consumer demand for Fair Trade, the more people we help around the world!

Susan and I have been fans of the Gaiam catalog for years, especially when they purchased the Real Goods company (I dream about putting solar panels on my house).

Be sure to check your mailbox this week for the Fall 07 Gaiam catalog featuring our Fair Trade soccer ball, football, and basketball.

We launched Fair Trade soccer balls (along with footballs and basketballs) at Whole Foods yesterday.

On a gorgeous Fall day in Seattle, Whole Foods team members worked with Coach Shelley Patterson of the WNBA Seattle Storm and Fair Trade Sports to corral a truckload of rambunctious elementary students into healthy and educational games, supporting the 2007 Governor’s Health Bowl.

We used a modified version of this Oxfam soccer game (PDF) to get the students talking and thinking about the word “fair” in relation to a tangible item they can experience, like a soccer ball. The parents asked lots of questions about the Fair Trade and eco-friendly aspects of the soccer balls. My hope is that we spurred more dinner table conversation with these families last night about what is fair versus unfair when they think about the producers of the products we use every day.


Pictured here is Jenna Pool and Michele DeAnda from Whole Foods (foreground) awarding Fair Trade soccer balls as prizes to the students who correctly answered questions posed by Coach Patterson (background). She had some tough questions!

Be sure to look for the display of Fair Trade footballs, basketballs, and soccer balls next time you are in your area’s Whole Foods Market. Should that specific store not have any, hand the manager one of our Ambassador cards with a request to begin stocking the sports balls this Fall!

:)

The good folks at Equal Exchange have just updated their fundraising program to include a new incentive…an EE-branded Fair Trade soccer ball!

The largest worker-owned coffee roaster in the country, Equal Exchange offers tours to fundraising groups for coffee and chocolate tasting. In some areas (such as Portland, OR), they will also send a crew out to your school assembly to help launch the new program.

Contact them if you are interested, and be sure to tell Kelsie we said hello!

And if you need a Fair Trade soccer ball (or any of our other sports) branded with your organization’s colors and logos (minimum order 250 balls), just let us know! If you need less than 250 sports balls, just head over to our Gear Shop to see our volume pricing on all orders of 10+ balls.

Our friends at Fair Indigo just released their Autumn catalog.

They have a recycled, fair trade fleece jacket made from 50% recycled soda bottles by a fair trade cooperative in Costa Rica. How cool is that?!

They are also carrying our children’s Fair Trade soccer balls. Grab one to go with your Fair Indigo fleece jacket this Fall!