from onemangotree.com
So, lately we’ve been trying to be more “ethical” and just with what we spend our money on. I’ve been doing a lot of reading on fair trade, ethical labor practices, human trafficking, and modern-day slavery. I like to think I’m very far removed from those things… until I start to peek at the labels on my clothes, chocolate bars, stationery, and knick-knacks.
When it says “made in Indonesia” on my shirt from Target, does that mean my shirt was produced by people who voluntarily worked a nice 8 hour day, in a temperature-controlled room, with no toxic chemicals, and got paid a deserving wage? I like to think so. Unfortunately, it’s probably more likely it was produced by people who got paid very, very little, who worked a very long day without breaks, and who worked in pretty terrible conditions. They might have even been forced to work there.
If you’re interested in reading more, I recommend the following blog posts:
Here, Let Me Ruin Halloween For You
My Name is Heather and I’m a Recovering Slave Owner
Refugees from Burma {click on the links at the bottom of this post for lots of great articles}
The Better World Shopping Guide
However, today isn’t about making us feel bad about ourselves… it’s about providing a great way to do GOOD with our purchases, specifically clothing ones! One Mango Tree is a fantastic company that produces cute women’s clothes AND does it in a way that fairly supports its employees in Uganda, where the clothes are produced.
from onemangotree.com
They use a fair trade model to provide jobs for people in northern Uganda. They aren’t a non-profit, since the revenues from their products are used to support their business. They are committed to using environmentally-friendly materials like local organic cotton (which is SUPER soft!) They promise to have good labor practices and help the communities where they work. You can read more about their mission here.
from onemangotree.com
I ordered some clothes from them a couple months ago, and I love them. (In fact, the images in this post are the items I bought… but, a couple of them are sold out by now). Right now, they’re having a mega-clearance sale, and they’ll have a lot of new products out soon. Everything is priced very reasonably, especially when you consider you know how it was made… it’s not a mystery item off the clearance rack at Old Navy, and who knows who made it or how much they got paid and how they were treated!
from onemangotree.com
I encourage you to check out one mango tree soon! {this final link will take you to their facebook page}
P.S. Another similar company is Sseko Designs. Someday I’ll have to do a post about them, too… I love their company as well, and they produce pretty much the world’s coolest shoes. You can visit their site here.
from ssekodesigns.com
