Category Archives: Sustainability

Ted Circle Event on Fair Trade

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Penn State Brandywine hosted a Ted Circle about Fair Trade on February 24, 2022. The event happened in Parsons Hall of the Student Union Building,  between 12:15- 1:15 pm. There were over thirty students, faculty, and staff. Fair Trade lunch was served as part of the event, which included Fair Trade Peppercorn Ranch, Fair Trade Curry Chicken Salad, Fair Trade Tumeric Roasted Vegetable on Croissant, and Fair Trade Chocolate Chip Cookies. The discussion was led by Prof. Zoia Pavlovskaia, Lecturer in Business.

Do you know where you get your coffee, tea, bananas, and chocolate? Most of our products come from countries where human rights are being violated horribly. Many plantations in West Africa employ slave and child laborers. It is estimated that two million children are affected. The world’s poorest 2 billion people live on less than $2 a day. This information was highlighted in the two Ted talks that were watched and discussed at the event.

http://https://youtu.be/ibjUpk9Iagk

 

http://%20https://youtu.be/xT6TQSxlDOY

How can we combat global poverty? By means of fair trading! We participate in the global economy now we have a drink of coffee in the morning. The world is ruled by consumers. Consumers select what is for sale by businesses based on supply and demand. Enormous power, however, comes with great responsibility. Consumers can also make demands about how items are created. Everyday purchases should reflect our core principles. Fairtrade can help producers become more powerful. Educate, encourage, and shop! Consumerism does not have to be a negative experience. Take a stand for justice. Take part in the movement.

Tonle: A Zero-Waste Fashion Label

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Background 

Rachel Faller is an entrepreneur and founder of Tonle, a zero-waste fashion label. Graduated in 2008 from Maryland Institute College of Art with a degree in fiber, Faller got really into making crafts, weaving, knitting, dyeing, and working on social justice works. What started out as “I don’t see myself going into the fashion industry because I knew the fashion industry had a lot of exploitation” progressed into where Faller, founder of Tonle, and her team is now creating sustainable clothes. Back in 2008, Faller applied and was granted a Fullbright research in Cambodia about fair trade fashion and traditional textiles. This opportunity opened Faller’s eyes and corroborated her values more to create Tonle. This was the kickstart to her future. 

About Tonle 

KeoK’jay, rebranded as Tonle, is a fashion label integrating social and environmental responsibility to make sustainable clothes. With a touch of contemporary design, all Tonle’s clothing is made from scrap fabric that major manufacturers throw out. Faller believed that they could take those extra fabrics and create a zero-waste label. Every piece of fabric is used and incorporated into so many designs. Tonle products are manufactured in Cambodia and sold in the U.S. 

Their Values 

Tonle’s values include purposefulness, that the clothing they create to the actions they take has a purpose and will create an impact. Inclusive: Tonle recognizes that the fashion industry has a lot of exploitation, and Tonle will not accept that. “Tonle is built on collaboration.” Finally, honesty: Tonle believes that being transparent is beneficial. Tonle does their research and works hard to fix mistakes and give credit to where it is due.  

 Tonle is an excellent example of what sustainability should be about. Nobody is excluded, workers are getting fair wages, and they are working very hard to create an impact economically but more importantly, environmentally.  

Check out these amazing pieces all made from scrap and zero-waste: https://tonle.com/collections  

To learn more about Tonle and how they started, watch this YouTube video.

“You Can’t Wake a Person Who’s Pretending to Sleep”

The more I have learned about fair trade, the more I have realized how complicated global supply systems really are.  I have also realized how difficult it is to purchase truly ethical products, because a product that is “good” in one way may be “bad” in another way (e.g. is a product both socially and environmentally sound?).  This TED Talk explains some of the issues associated with unsustainable products and realistic solutions.  I recommend it to everyone, and yes, watch the entire video.

This TED Talk (“Jason Clay: How big brands can help save biodiversity”) mentions 15 Key Commodities related to the loss of biodiversity. These commodities are: palm oil, cotton, biofuels, sugarcane, pulp & paper, sawn wood, dairy, beef, soy, fish oil & meal, farmed salmon, farmed shrimp, tuna, tropical shrimp, and whitefish.  I have a particular interest in palm oil, for reasons that I will explain in another post; however, I am also interested in how fair trade could be applied to the 15 commodities and how fair trade could fit into the framework described in the video (if you have any ideas, please add them to the comments section).  Environmental sustainability is a crucial aspect of any system that will be fair in the long run, as this article rather direly outlines.

There are many things I love about this TED video, but I want to focus on the ones that I think are most applicable to fair trade.  The video discusses shifting the entire supply chain of the 15 commodities by focusing on the top 100 companies that control 25% of the trade of these commodities (for the full picture and details watch the video).  It will be difficult, but I think this could work for sustainability.  Could the same concepts be used for fair trade?  Could a more socially fair system be implemented at the same time as an environmentally sustainable system for the 15 products?

One of the things I love most about the video is that Jason Clay is not afraid to say that we, as consumers, should be paying the true price for our products.  I could not agree more, but I have found in my own experience that many people balk at fair trade because “it costs too much,” or “I can get the same product for less if it isn’t fair trade.”  Excuses like this ignore the very real social and environmental, as well as economic, costs of our consumerism.

This leads to another point made in the video, that sustainability needs to be an integral part of the global trade system, not a choice.  I agree, and I also think that social equity needs to be a part of the system, and not a choice on the part of the consumer.  I know, for example, that I have bought plenty of unsustainable and non-fair trade cotton shirts; wouldn’t it be great to live in a world where all cotton was fair and sustainable?  I know for sure that I do not have all the answers (but perhaps you have some, please comment if you do) but what I have realized is that we all have to stop pretending to be asleep.

Contributed by Fair Trade Intern Megan Draper