Shop Consciously and Child Labor Free This Black Friday

Now that you have managed to make it through the Thanksgiving holiday, your mind has begun to drift away from thoughts of turkey and stuffing, not to mention pumpkin pie, to thoughts of holiday giving.  Today the Christmas shopping season officially begins, as Black Friday consumes shoppers across the country.  It’s the American way to look for a deal and a bargain, but does your bargain gift come with a price?

Global March Against Child Labor estimates that one in every eight children from 5 to 17 years old, some 179 million, work in the worst forms of child labor. Slavery taints many of our consumer products such as clothing, jewelry, cosmetics, electronics, sports equipment, rugs, agricultural produce, sugar, tea, coffee, chocolate, and many others. Often products, like clothing, may even be tainted at multiple points in the supply chain. For example, children may have been used to pick the cotton of a shirt, while workers were held in situations of slavery and forced to sew the clothing.

Why not make your holiday shopping list one that not only brings joy to your friends and family, but is free from slavery and gives back to individuals and communities in need? Slavery touches each one of us as a consumer, therefore take a stand against child and slave labor and work toward being a more conscious consumer by keeping slavery tainted products out of your home today in just a few easy steps:

1. Donate to local organizations that help empower people out of poverty & slavery, many can be found here; Fair Trade and Slave Free Links, Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Links, and Child Soldiers Links
2. Educate yourself about the companies that use slavery in the making of their products. Green America has a sweatshop free guide.  Sweatfree Communities: Sweatfree Communities has a great shopping guide with a number of places to buy sweatshop-free apparel for men, women, and children.  Fair Trade Federation: You can search their online directory for Fair Trade vendors in your area.
3. Become a more conscious consumer and buy products made by survivors of trafficking or Fair Trade products.  Amanda Kloer summed it up nicely with her list of 7 Ways to Fight Slavery at the Grocery Store and her post on where to find gifts that help human trafficking survivors, over the last two years. You can also see the Fair Trade and Slave Free Links list, which has a number of resources and sites where you can learn more about, and purchase Fair Trade or slave free goods.
4. Here is a quick list to get your Black Friday Shopping Started:
• Fair Trade the White House Holiday Gift Guide a full color catalog with gift ideas for everyone on your list!
• Fair Trade Federation has an online directory, which will list Fair Trade vendors in your town.
• Free2Work Watch List is the leading community of citizen investigators that monitors, reports and investigates companies around the world the use slave labor in producing their products.
• Global Exchange – a membership-based international human rights organization dedicated to promoting social, economic and environmental justice around the world.  Purchase clothing, jewelry, handbags, coffee, chocolate, and bath & beauty.
• Sweatfree Communities provides a great shopping guide on where to buy sweatshop-free apparel for men, women, and children.
• Nightlight International offers intervention to sexually exploited women and children, to provide a program of holistic transformation, empowering them to live and make jewelry in their community.
• Wonderfully Made Jewelry is designed to create hope for the victims of sex trafficking by providing sustainable jobs producing high quality handicrafts and jewelry.
• Ten Thousand Villages is one of the world’s oldest and largest fair trade organizations representing the diverse cultures of artisans in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East.  Buy jewelry, home decor, baskets, stationary, toys & games, and musical instruments.
• Free the Slaves liberates slaves around the world, helps them rebuild their lives and researches real world solutions to eradicate slavery forever.  Buy  clothing, jewelry, handbags, books, and paper.
• Made by Survivors/The Emancipation Network offers handicraft programs to survivors and provides a job that enables them to support themselves and live a meaningful, independent life. Purchase jewelry, bags and wallets,  handmade paper, holiday,  home & gifts, clothing, and scarves
• Stop Traffick Fashion is a boutique about restoration and change. Each purchase from Stop Traffick Fashion directly helps the survivors and organizations rescuing and providing rehabilitation to survivors.  Buy handbags, jewelry, and body & bath
• Equal Exchange Organic’s mission is to build long-term trade partnerships between farmers and consumers and to demonstrate the contribution of worker co-operatives and Fair Trade to a more equitable, democratic and sustainable world.  Purchase coffee,  tea, chocolate,  and snacks
• Rishi -Tea sets the standard for quality & expands the awareness of tea and its rich, inspirational tradition. Buy  tea, tea sets, tokonami, and clothing
• RIJI Green provides economic opportunities for survivors and at risk people of trafficking. Your purchases offer hope for people who were once oppressed and abused for profit.  Purchase purses, felt products,  journals, jute bags
• Goodweave works to end illegal child labor in the carpet industry and to offer educational opportunities to children in South Asia.  Buy your next rug today!
• Nomi Network is a non-profit organization bridging the private, public, and non-profit sectors through enterprise and education to end human trafficking. ‘Buy Her Bag Not Her Body” survivor made tote bag
• *Please note this is only a small list of organizations and retailers.

By supporting companies who do not profit from labor servitude, you not only ensure that you are purchasing free and fair goods, but are one step closer to helping end modern slavery. By purchasing Fair Trade, slavery free and survivor made products you are not only doing the ‘right thing’, but you can also use it as an opportunity to educate others, especially children, about human rights issues, such as child labor and modern slavery.  You can also increase your knowledge by checking out some of the following resources:

• Fair Trade and Slave Free Links
• Fair Trade Book List
• Slavery and Trafficking Related Books
• Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Links
• Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery Reports and Publications
• Human Trafficking and Slavery Related Movies and Documentaries
• Human Trafficking Conventions and Laws

Shopping consciously is also a bit about thinking outside the box, so to speak.  There are a number of other ways you can seek to shop slave free, fair trade, green, etc.

1. Make your own gifts or support local artisans, you can also search online for handmade items; Artfire.com has artists from around the globe selling their crafts and art supplies, Etsy features handmade and vintage items, Ebay has a number of used, one of a kind and vintage items and even has a specifically designed sight World of Good, as does Craigslist.
2. Remember to recycle and reuse as much as possible, for not only does it help us reduce waste and maintain fight global warming, you can also help reduce the consumption of slavery tainted goods.  Shop your local vintage and charity shops.  See How to Go Green: Gift Giving
3. Before running off to the store for holiday shopping this year, take a minute to download the free GoodGuide™ application. The GoodGuide™ app is a simple and credible way to get information on a products environmental, health and social impacts by merely scanning the item’s barcode with your smart phone.