A Look into our Philippines Fair Trade Benitez Collection Artisan Group

One of our most prized jewelry collections comes from the Philippines, which gives this collection an appreciable exotic charm in and of itself. We’ve been carrying Benitez Collection jewelry (BC) —which creatively expands on the Philippine tradition of papier mache art—for two years now and our customers love the unique look and feel of these recycled pieces. The fair trade and eco friendly jewelry collection is eponymously named after its founder, Ramona Benitez McClelland. Ramona came to the Philippines and started her cottage industry business in the footsteps of her son, Bryan Benitez McClelland, who had ventured to the Philippines eight years ago as an environmental consultant and ended up participating in a revolutionary product: the bamboo bicycle.

In an interview with Asian Journal magazine, Ramona explained, “I started Benitez Collection to help provide women in poor rural communities with livelihood opportunities. My long-term goal is to have them take responsibility for the entire process.” She had worked at IBM for 26 years and started BC in 2011.

She goes on: “We salvage discarded newspapers, magazines and plastic from their garbage dump or from donations, and with a little bit of rice paste, nontoxic paint/waterseal, and a lot of polishing, we create attractive unique jewelry that look like rocks but are so light, people can’t believe that these are made of paper.”

Ramona hopes to grow her small empire into something bigger so she can expand beyond the 18 women and their families in three remote villages in Tarlac, Batangas and Abra she currently works with.

Our fair trade accessories collection has expanded over the past few months, so please take a look and do some early fall shopping, for gift giving of eco friendly, handmade items that everybody loves.

Enjoy your shopping with us and be sure to like us on Facebook and recommend us to your friends. Shopping for a Change is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization.

SFAC Founder Stacey Horowitz Talks With giftbizunwrapped.com

Stacey Horowitz spent some time with the editors of giftbizunwrapped.com (a site dedicated to promoting the gift business through audio interviews with business owners and other resources) to talk about the purpose and evolution of Shopping for a Change. A podcast was recorded of the conversation between Sue Monhait of GBU and Stacey. It is Episode 19, and we invite you to listen to the conversation.

As Sue states in her audio introduction: 

Stacey is the founder of Shopping for a Change. This online marketplace consists of fair trade products made by artisans from economically disadvantaged areas across the globe. The local artisans set their own price points, time, where they work and how they’re paid. When you purchase from Shopping for a Change, half the net proceeds go to fund improvement projects abroad in the artisan communities … while the other half is directed by the shopper to a U.S. based non-profit of your choice during the online checkout process. Currently they are working with 60 artisan groups from 30 countries on 3 continents.

Among the fair trade summer gift items we’re promoting, please take a look at all our lovely, eco friendly and very functional kitchenware items. There are many great deals there too, and these make perfect gifts for any occasion.

Enjoy your shopping with us and be sure to like us on Facebook and recommend us to your friends. Shopping for a Change is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization.

Eco Friendly Fashion—Improving Your Environmental Footprint

It may surprise you to learn that the fashion industry is one of the largest global consumers of Earth’s resources: energy and water. If you’ve ever seen a fashion textile factory operating in the distance you can immediately see its consuming maw of water and power. On the other hand, the fashion industry is also an enormous contributor to environmental pollution and degradation, producing waste, byproducts and harming pollutants to water and air. In 2006, a study by Levi Strauss' researchers determined that the manufacturing of one pair of jeans is equivalent to driving 78 miles, running a hose for 106 minutes (imagine that in California’s current drought conditions) and providing electrical energy to a computer for 556 hours. Think about this fact then: 500 million pairs of jeans are sold in the U.S. alone every year.

Fair trade eco friendly fashion is one of the best ways to offset the polluting, resource wasting impact of mainstream fashion items. At SFAC, we offer a range of eco friendly (eco green) fashions from baby and child items to wearable accessories. Shop here with us and know you’re being a part of the solution, not the problem.

Here’s a useful link to a quick quiz to see how small or big your environmental footprint is: footprint.

Enjoy your shopping with us and be sure to like us on Facebook and recommend us to your friends. Shopping for a Change is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization.

Our SFAC Vendors as Members of the Fair Trade Federation

One of the fair trade vendors we’re proud to carry in our online store bracelet collections is Arzu Studio Hope. “Arzu” means “hope” in the Afghan language of Dari. Arzu Studio Hope works with Afghanistan women weavers and their families towards a better quality life economically. As well, Arzu helps their artisans with healthcare and as part of their registration to work for Arzu the women weavers have to agree to send all their children under the age of fifteen to school full time. The women must also attend literacy classes.

Arzu is also among our vendors which are members of the Fair Trade Federation. The Fair Trade Federation is a community of members committed to 360° fair trade.  360° means to the FTF that work with small farmers and artisans in partnerships built on trust.  It means good wages, safe working conditions, environmental responsibility, and more.  It means our partners are empowered to build strong businesses for their families today – and for generations to come.

Our bracelet and necklace fair trade eco friendly collections are the highest quality you’ll find for summer (or any season shopping). If you need a socially conscious, affordable gift, you can’t do better than our selections.

Enjoy your shopping and be sure to like us on Facebook and recommend us to your friends. Shopping for a Change is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization.

Wall Street Journal Says Fair Trade Fashion is Now a Trend

The WSJ ran a story on July 7, 2015, discussing the phenomenon of fair trade fashion products evolving into a growing trend. The article starts out: Two years after a garment-factory collapse in Bangladesh killed more than 1,100 people and put a harsh spotlight on fashion-industry working conditions, Fair Trade apparel is gaining ground. The article goes on to note that the volume of apparel and home goods has grown rapidly since 2012, and that certification nonprofits (that certify fair trade products) are being utilized at a fast pace by little known and well known brands.

In addition, fair trade enjoys a much better reputation among consumers as the marketing term “fair trade” has come to mean living wages, much better working conditions for the workers (and their rights) and vastly better environmental protections in the process of manufacturing fair trade home décor items, jewelry, fashion apparel and more.  Where in the past, the term “fair trade” may have conjured up images of your local health food store, it now has a chic and socially responsible vibe to it.

Take advantage of our vast fair trade, eco friendly offerings both new and on sale.

Shop our vast selection in purses, totes and even weekender bags, click here.

Coming soon, fantastic new gift sets, corporate gifts and customizable collections.

Enjoy your shopping and be sure to like us on Facebook and recommend us to your friends. Shopping for a Change is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization.

Meet One of Our Fair Trade Artisans from Awamaki Labs, Peru

Working at over 4,000 meters (over 12,000 feet) at the Kelkanka cooperative in high mountain region Peru, Eustachia Huaman Zuniga is one of the hard-working and interesting artisans who craft our Ivy Hobo Bags in our purses and handbags collection. Eustachia is working for the fair trade, economic opportunity Awamaki Labs company. She is one of 19 women at the Kelkanka cooperative who produce very high quality wool textile items. Her place of work is a rugged two and half hour drive into the mountain region of Peru. Awamaki Labs is headquartered near the famous Machu Picchu U.N. World Heritage site.

Eustachia likes to volunteer for the harder wool crafting orders, and is known for her bubbly and warm personality. When asked what motivates her to work hard each day, she points to her heart and says mi corazon, my heart. She is a mother of six, and alongside of her textile crafting job she helps her husband in his seasonal farm work. She is the main provider for her family.

Below is a picture of Eustachia posing near her home.

Awamaki works with over 150 women and their families across five cooperatives, providing education and skill trainings, enabling them to transform their communities. Awamaki facilitates economic opportunities that give these artisans access to a broader market so they may sell their fair trade products.

Enjoy your shopping and be sure to recommend us to your friends. Shopping for a Change is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization.

SFAC’s Sponsored Preschools in Bangladesh Loved by Kids, Moms

The two preschools in Cox’s Bazar on the Bay of Bengal coast of Bangladesh that SFAC helps fund are doing very well. The two schools, which are part of the Pebbles knitting centers, opened in February 2015 to great fanfare and anticipation. Seven months later, we’re proud to share this update.

Austin Miller is the Pebbles U.S distributor and he recently spoke to moms with children at the preschools. He reports:

I did speak with a lot of the moms and they were very thrilled to have a pre-school for their children. They see at as a big benefit of their work with Pebble. The concept of pre-school is relatively new in Bangladesh, especially in the rural areas. Kids that are going on to the standardized school system, from these preschools, are performing much better. This is preparing them for a much better future and is key for poverty prevention. Because there is a mass of children from one rural area who are being educated it is also instrumental for community building efforts.

Here are some quotes from the mothers:

"We are very glad our children have the unique opportunity to attend this type of school, where they can study while we work"

They are not only safe at the school but also learning lot of things from the school. Now they can write their own name in Bengali which they would typically not learn for another two years.

"Our kids are cheerful in the morning, reciting rhymes that they learned at school as soon as they wake up"

"Previously our children were disruptive and a bit unruly in the morning and we could not concentrate on our household work, but now they spend their time getting ready to go to school in the morning.

“In mountain areas like ours, we often worry about our children falling or getting accidentally injured, but now we know they are safe because they are in school."

Please enjoy the recent photos of the schools.

Visit our website to shop for the highest quality items available that range from jewelry, accessories, baby and kid products, travel cases, scarves and wraps, and more. Click here for a great summer collection of home décor.

If you’re looking for fair trade gift ideas for this summer, go here.

Enjoy your shopping and be sure to recommend us to your friends. Shopping for a Change is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization.