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What is it?

6/19/2015

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I often tell people about some of our products and a lot of the store's focus being "Fair Trade".  But what does that mean?  Is it like Fair Trade Coffee or Chocolate?  Yes.  And no.  Nonfood products are not certified to be Fair Trade in the same manner as food products.  Fair Trade is a trendy term with sometimes a loose definition.  That scares me.  I'm a scientist. I like clear cut definitions and a solid understanding of what is what.  I like numbers.  Fair Trade, well, it is a bit more about trust.  There are several organizations which companies/crafters/importers can join to become "Fair Trade" members.  As we currently are, Green Springs will never become a "Fair Trade" member store as we focus very heavily on American made as well as Fair Trade.  I believe both have value and importance. 

Still, but what is this Fair Trade?  For me and for Green Springs, we have developed a pretty good radar and a good sense of companies' agendas.  We've been in this game for awhile and have developed a network we trust to uphold the tenants of Fair Trade, which means the worker is paid a fair wage in fair working conditions and those employed are often women, teenagers and the disabled who otherwise would be destitute.  Value is placed on native crafts and sustainability.  It's not my goal to displace native craft for the sake of Fair Trade sneaker factories. 

So, at the end of the day, for Green Springs, we call items Fair Trade if the crafter is paid a fair wage in fair conditions and emphasis is placed on native crafts with sustainability and no barriers are placed for hiring women, the handicapped or the destitute.  For me, it puts a form of labor regulations in areas lacking.

The next questions are usually "what is a fair wage?" and "are child labor law in place?".  That's tricky and sometimes more difficult for us to understand.  The fair wage in within the context of the region.  Is it American minimum wage? No.  Its almost always much less--its reflective of the cost of living of the area.  Now....child labor.  Yes and no.  Its difficult to imagine, but in some areas of the world, children are bought and sold.  I have met some of these children.  Sold.  The ones I have met were sold and later saved.  Not all are so fortunate as to be saved.  Teenagers are kicked out of the home with no education, no funds and very limited choices.   Many of the organizations who I deal with will employ those teenagers to save them from making choices that we cannot fathom. 
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29 Steps 

6/3/2015

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In the past 20 years I have called 9 places "home".  That is a good bit of packing and unpacking.  However, when I settled green Springs into 117 Ram Cat Alley, I was content to call it "home" indefinitely.  Things change.  We grew.  A lot.  Thanks to our wonderful and supportive customers, we kept growing every year, until finally, like in some children's story, we couldn't grow any more without moving.  So we did.  We moved 29 steps away across the street to 114 Ram Cat Alley.  Its a wonderful building with a great feel--it already feels like "home".  This move enables us to continue to grow and offer more American Made & Fair Trade fun!

When I stepped out of 117 for the last time, I thought I would feel sadness.....despite my moving history I do become attached to buildings, and 117 had some unique quirks to it--from the slopped floors to the old ice box to the bootleggers closet (who noticed the hidden door under the scarves??).  I wasn't sad.  I love our new space so much.  Strangely, even after I had signed for 117 (nearly six years ago) and was still working in the lab, I would daydream about 114--our new location.  There I would be, behind bio-shields, gloved up, lab coast on, mesmerized by the hum of the hood, pippetting away but my mind was making displays in 114......its strange how sometimes your daydreams know a bit more than you do....and this move is all because one Sunday afternoon it was cold and rainy and I didn't have a good book on hand.  One Sunday afternoon, after I had spent a week maneuvering around 117 for a bit more space, it was cold & rainy which kept me on my front porch rather than on the trail or on the water.  Normally I would become lost in some nonfiction account for world travels and adventures, but I only had a book that did not suit me......so I sat there staring at the rain, hatching a new plan.....the next day I called the realtor about seeing 114.....and after many many 29 step journeys between the two buildings, now Green Springs calls 114 Ram Cat Alley "home".

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    Author

    Alison here.  Author of the blog, owner, buyer, CEO, CFO and janitor of Green Springs.  You name the job, I do it for Green Springs.

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Green Springs
120 Ram Cat Alley, Seneca, South Carolina
864-888-4327