| Whenever anyone wears some superb | | | | budget from the profits that they are making. |
| accessory, people often comment on it and ask | | | | The companies who buy up all the goods do not |
| where that certain piece was made. What a lot of | | | | necessarily make a profit from the onward sale |
| people are not aware of is that these pieces are | | | | of the goods. Rather, they use the system as a |
| often made in very poor or third world countries. | | | | way of helping the poor to become independent |
| What the customer is paying for it bears no | | | | of those bad companies who take advantage of |
| resemblance to what the artisan is paid and this is | | | | them. Because they sell the goods on to charities |
| where a lot of people learn some shocking truths. | | | | or non profit organizations, the world is made |
| However, there is a movement towards fair | | | | aware of the plight of these poor countries and |
| trade and it is becoming more popular by the day. | | | | they are given a chance to buy the goods and |
| Fair trade jewelry, for example, means that the | | | | help someone very far away. |
| artisan is paid a good price for work undertaken | | | | Many of the earrings and bracelets have some |
| and is often able to work in better surroundings | | | | wonderful tribal or ethnic designs which the |
| than normal. | | | | western world cannot get enough of. Beautiful |
| It must be known throughout the world by now | | | | hand crafted beads means that the pieces have |
| that most artisans in third world countries get by | | | | an individual look to them since the beads are all |
| on one dollar per day. This is surely starvation | | | | slightly different from each other. These can be |
| wages but it does not stop some countries taking | | | | used as focal pieces or even just to the beach |
| advantage of this. This falls most heavily on the | | | | depending on the size and shape of the finished |
| female gender since they are usually the ones | | | | piece. |
| responsible for getting their children through school | | | | Another great selling point for these artisans is |
| with all the fees falling on their shoulders alone. | | | | that they often used recycled goods to keep the |
| Therefore, working for these tiny amounts of | | | | basic cost down. This, along with the sustainable |
| money just makes the downward spiral into | | | | materials that they use, makes them a superb |
| abject poverty a certainty. | | | | 'green' product which is a great selling point for |
| There are some companies with a social | | | | those in first world countries. |
| conscience for sure and it is these that have | | | | Indeed, they have recycling down to such a fine |
| started to stamp out these bad practices. They | | | | art that they even produce diaries out of |
| normally buy up all the goods, at a reasonable | | | | materials other than paper these days. They use |
| cost, and then market them themselves abroad. | | | | recycled cotton based material for the pages and |
| In this way, the artisans have a definitive sale for | | | | leather for the covers which all come from |
| everything that they make and they can learn to | | | | sustainable and reliable sources. |