I don't know where that saying came from, I associate it with my time in Cairo. I don't know if it was us saying it joking or someone saying it to us but it always pops into my head when I think about Lúnasa.
Since I opened the shop I have always tried to stick to my principles of why I opened the business in the first place. I want to showcase the power of handmade and to promote local and ethical brands.
In doing this I spend lots of time looking for new products and for makers that are Irish or Fair Trade. And I find some gorgeous stuff....and then sometimes another shop gets something similar. However, it might look the same, but my stuff really is different. What Chinese manufactures have built their economy on is imitating and producing at a low price....but at what cost.
Fair-trade is a way to help people out of poverty and to keep them standing on their own. They get fair wages for the work that they do that allows them to live above the poverty line while suppling us with gorgeous, handmade products. They source their material ethically and allow us to walk a bit gentler on the earth.
As consumers we have the power in our purse. We can make some simple changes to the way we shop by switching especially in certain product lines that are notorious for not paying fair wages to their producers. Chocolate is one of the biggest problems where cocoa farmers are very under paid and buy switching to fair trade chocolate those farmers and are able to earn a living income
The best waste is reducing new purchases where possible but if we can buy from a company that is doing their bit to ensure we have a planet to live on and making that choice better use your power to do good.
So for Fairtrade Fortnight make a few small changes that you can sustain. Pick up the fair trade bananas and know that in making a small switch you are making a difference to someone on the other side of the planet...so we can live a bit lighter because after all, we are in this together.
