Fairtrade Fortnight - UK News and Events - 25th of February to the 9th of March 2008

Well, it looks as though the Fairtrade fortnight is in full swing....

The Fairtrade Foundation is holding a series of events to promote Fairtrade products around the UK.

The events are taking place from the 25th of February to the 9th of March with coffee mornings, breakfast days featuring Fairtrade foods and opportunities to sample, taste, view and buy Fairtrade products. There are also a variety of events such as film screenings, raffles, stalls, treasure hunt, games, fashion shows, presentations and many more events with various Schools, Colleges, Universities, Churches and Faith Groups, Individuals and Groups and Organisations taking part.

Take a look at the events calendar to see what is going on in your area...


Related External Links

Fairtrade Events Calendar

The Fairtrade Foundation

Fairtrade Campaign New and urgent actions


Related Blog Links

The Co-operative Fairtrade Cotton Carrier Bag for Life

The Co-operative Fairtrade Cotton Carrier Bag For Life

I popped into the Co-operative supermarket yesterday to pick up a few bits and pieces and at the till I spotted a nice Fairtrade cloth carrier bag, it looks quite cute and neat so I thought I would grab one. It's a nice cream and black colour, it also holds a nice basket of shopping quite comfortably too. You can fold it into your bag or pocket, and you can also wash it. The best part is that it only costs 99p.....What a bargain!

My shopping

On their website, the Co-op have this to say about the bag....

"Fairtrade Bags for Life, made from unbleached, biodegradable cotton, which is hand washable to prolong life. We expect this will eventually replace the 3.5 million plastic Bags for Life we currently sell each year.

As well as being less harmful to the environment, the Fairtrade cotton bags guarantee a fair price and a better deal for disadvantaged Indian cotton growers.

The production of the bag has created 300 new jobs in India, and for every one sold a donation is made to children's charity The Wings of Hope."

One blogger added this comment:

I saw the thread and wanted to let you know about our campaign for reusable bags.

Buying one of our Re-usable Bags at Tesco, CO-OP Fairtrade, Debenhams or Boots does not only help the environment, but provides a profession and livelihood to thousands of workers.

As the UK’s leading producer of Fairtrade and Organic reusable bags, a lot of work has been created at our own textile factory in Pondicherry, South India.
In fact, we now directly employs over 1000 local workers and provides them with on-the-job training to become stitching and printing professionals.
This indirectly helps support around 5000 family members.

For more information on our ground breaking work see our website www.supreme-creations.co.uk

We were pioneers in introducing organic cotton bags and now are manufacturing Fairtrade certified cotton bags.
Our factory is Fairtrade accredited, ethically audited and Carbon neutral.

It has been independently audited for:-

Freedom of association and collective bargaining with employees having the right to join a union
Employment is freely chosen
A safe and hygienic working environment
All employees over 18years of age
Living wages paid
48 hour working maximum week
No discrimination

To encourage the use of reusable bags we have recently launched an online webshop and hope to introduce more new products. Your ideas welcome!



Related External Link

The Fairtrade Foundation UK

Supreme Creations - Bag for Life Producers

Planet Earth's new nemesis