Tag Archive: network


Where to Find Fair Trade Holiday Gifts

Filed Under: New
Nov.26, 2010

Are you sick of doing your holiday shopping at corporate malls and discount chains? Are you looking for unique gifts that create social change? Do you want giving this holiday season to be meaningful for people around the world?  Then check out the 2010 Change.org Holiday Gift Guide. You can join the growing social movement to ditch the mall and buy better this holiday season– better for the planet, for people, and for you. As with everything you buy, we recommend you do your own research on the companies and organizations you choose to support financially. This guide is far from exhaustive, so please add your favorite places to buy gifts in the comments section.

Where to Find Fair Trade Gifts

Buying Fair Trade is a great way to reduce human trafficking and child labor in the production of consumer goods. The Fair Trade label means that certain strict environmental, social, and economic criteria were met in producing that item, and it’s the closest thing available to a slave-free guarantee. When we buy Fair Trade products, we send a powerful message to business owners that the fair treatment of workers is important. And as demand for Fair Trade products grows, so will the number of businesses who sell ethically-produced and Fair Trade products. That means fewer men, women, and children living in slavery to make your stuff. Check out these existing collections of places to shop for Fair Trade gifts:

Here are some additional places to get Fair Trade gifts this holiday season:

  • Fair Trade Marketplace:  Everything from seasonal items to musical instruments, including a great selection of toys for kids.

  • Fair Trade Shopping Network: Fun and festive collection of jewelry, clothing, handbags, and other accessories, plus home decor.

  • Fair Trade Sports: Great for the athletic enthusiast, featuring sports equipment, clothes, and bags.

  • Global Exchange: Chocolate, coffee and tea, gift baskets, accessories, jewelry, crafts, recycled products, and just about anything else you can think of.

  • SERRV: Home decor, accessories, and delicious goodies, all available from their website or extensive online catalog.

  • Ten Thousand Villages: Home decor, jewelry, accessories, recycled products, and clothing, all available online or from locations across the U.S. and Canada

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Protect Coastal Habitats

Filed Under: New
Jul.23, 2010

Please send a message to the Canadian Government urging them to immediately protect coastal habitats that help combat climate change.

Scientists of the United Nations Environment Program recommended to the 2009 Copenhagen Climate Change Conference that 80 percent of the world’s remaining seagrass and salt marsh habitat be protected as an important step among the range of strategies necessary to combat global climate change. The best way to protect coastal ecosystems is to set aside marine protected areas (MPAs) and regulate their use through marine planning and ecosystem-based fisheries management. As the nation with the longest coastline in the world, protecting these ecosystems is part of the action Canada should take to combat climate change.
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The Government of Canada has already committed to creating a national network of MPAs but has not adequately prioritized that commitment nor considered identifying natural carbon sequestering habitats as part of the network. Now is the time to act.

Natural carbon sequestration is the storage of carbon in a stable solid form. Some terrestrial and marine plants sequester or fix carbon into the soil or sediments around their roots in mineral form, storing it for thousands of years or more. These carbon sequestering plants are extremely important for reducing the amount of carbon circulating in the atmosphere and oceans, and play an important role in combating climate change and ocean acidification which are caused by increased CO2 in the atmosphere.

Seventy percent of the marine plants that naturally sequester carbon are found in coastal areas such as seagrass meadows and salt marshes. Much of these areas have been lost since the 1940s due to coastal development, and have been damaged by run off from agricultural and industrial activities. These coastal ecosystems are more effective than terrestrial ones when measuring climate change mitigation effectiveness. Half a kilogram of marine plant material can sequester as much as 1,000 kgs of plant material on land due to unique chemical processes within marine sediments
Protect Coastal Habitats

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