http://www.fairtradesports.com Fairly traded soccer balls, volleyballs, and more Sat, 10 May 2008 18:49:29 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en 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 ... http://www.fairtradesports.com/wftd-2008.htm 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 ... http://www.fairtradesports.com/mothers-day-2008.htm ...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 ... http://www.fairtradesports.com/radiohead-exit.htm 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. http://www.fairtradesports.com/plenty-ny-video.htm 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 ... http://www.fairtradesports.com/eco-times.htm 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 ... http://www.fairtradesports.com/outside-with-the-kids.htm 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 ... http://www.fairtradesports.com/evo.htm 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. http://www.fairtradesports.com/video-komo-earth-day.htm 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 ... http://www.fairtradesports.com/great-green-giveaway.htm I've never had such fun that included so little sleep and losing my voice. I believe that is my new litmus test for how successful a show is. Our team had a wonderful time seeing old friends from Guayaki and Grounds for Change, making new friends at Better World Books (Go ... http://www.fairtradesports.com/green-festival-seattle-2008-post.htm Join Fair Trade Sports for the first ever Seattle Green Festival this weekend (April 12-13) at the Convention Center downtown! Green Fest shows off the latest in sweatshop-free clothing, organic beer and wine, recycled products, Fair Trade, vegetarian cuisine, renewable energy and more. It will be a weekend full of speakers, ... http://www.fairtradesports.com/green-festival-seattle-2008.htm Waylon Lewis is a funny guy. Quite funny, in fact, but also a poignant speaker on current events. Take a glimpse into life in Boulder, Colorado in this short elephant magazine video clip of Waylon. Be sure to check out the rest of their video series as well. Props to Mathew Gerson at eConscious Market ... http://www.fairtradesports.com/elephant-magazine-video.htm We have several friends at OKé USA - the Fair Trade bananas folks - whose farmers need our help.  As you may know, coastal Ecuador has experienced devastating flooding caused by heavier-than-usual seasonal rains since late January. El Guabo, a cooperative of 500 small farms in that region, are OKé USA farmer partners.  One member’s son was killed, several farmers ... http://www.fairtradesports.com/oke-farmers-flooded.htm 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 ... http://www.fairtradesports.com/spanish-french.htm Check out this fun review of our Fair Trade Soccer Ball on YouTube posted last week by Joel at LifeGoggles. Joel, we agree that you have mad skillz! And we think you're right, the office probably isn't the best place for soccer. Next time, we suggest using our felt-covered Indoor ... http://www.fairtradesports.com/life-googles-video.htm 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 ... http://www.fairtradesports.com/mls-season.htm The Spring 2008 premier print edition of The Green Guide Magazine from National Geographic hit newsstands on March 4. In keeping with their green roots, The Green Guide is made of post-consumer recycled paper with new pulp from wood certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (yes, the same group that certifies ... http://www.fairtradesports.com/national-geographics-green-guide.htm I recently wrote a piece about guerrilla marketing tactics (read: you have little to no budget to spend) that small businesses and nonprofit organizations can use to increase sales or expand the reach of their causes. I've found guerrilla marketing for our Fair Trade soccer balls to be both fun ... http://www.fairtradesports.com/fair-trade-marketing.htm Sameena Nyaz is 18 years old, single, and lives in a village called Chak Gillan, near Sialkot, the world capital of soccer ball production in Pakistan. Her father runs the snack shop in the soccer ball stitching center 200 yards away, which was built by Talon Sports, our Fair Trade soccer ... http://www.fairtradesports.com/sameena.htm Warning: This is my blatant sales pitch for a hip new shoe company out on the East Coast. While I normally believe in controlling our consumerist tendencies, you really need a pair of these shoes! If you still lace up a beat-up, worn-down, just-plain-falling-apart pair of classic Chuck Taylor sneakers, then I've got ... http://www.fairtradesports.com/ethletic-kicks.htm