Sustainable Action Leadership

Inspired Giving through UNICEF

Inspired Gifts is an innovative program that allows you to purchase real, lifesaving products--like bednets and vaccines--to be shipped directly to one of over 150 countries where UNICEF is saving children's lives.

Help nourish a child                                                   

Nearly 10 million children under five die each year. Malnutrition plays a role in over half of these deaths. 20 million babies a year are born with low birth weight and need nourishment to grow healthy and strong. If you would like to help feed these vulnerable children, give an Inspired Gift this holiday season.

Nearly 10 million children under five die each year. Malnutrition plays a role in over half of these deaths. 20 million babies a year are born with low birth weight and need nourishment to grow healthy and strong. If you would like to help feed these vulnerable children, give an Inspired Gift this holiday season.

Nearly 10 million children under five die each year. Malnutrition plays a role in over half of these deaths. 20 million babies a year are born with low birth weight and need nourishment to grow healthy and strong. If you would like to help feed these vulnerable children, give an Inspired Gift this holiday season.

The Human Right for a Clean, Safe and Healthy Environment

Human rights and environmental stewardship are inextricably linked. All persons have the right to a secure, healthy and ecologically sound environment.

A human right to a clean and healthy environment was recognized by the Stockholm Declaration, quoted here;

“Both aspects of man’s environment, the natural and the man-made, are essential to his well-being and to the enjoyment of basic human rights -- even the right to life itself.” – Stockholm Declaration of the UN Conference on the Human Environment, 1972

As the economy becomes ever more globalized it is increasingly critical to ensure that the pursuit of material prosperity-economics- does not threaten human dignity or the health of the planet.

The right for clean air, clean water, is a basic Human Right, there is no life on earth without healthy ecosystems.

People, Planet and Profit is often used to describe the triple bottom lines and the goal of Sustainability. The truth is they are all connected and should be thought of in one globally accepted conversation.

The Whole Earth-The Wheel of Life. It is a balancing act, when one is out of balance the others fail.

Ecosystem protection is linked to the well-being of human communities, how can you separate them?

22 years have passed since a chemical spill in Bhopal, India killed thousands and contaminated the local environment, resulting in devastating health and economic impacts. What have we learned?

Because human rights are based on individual rights to life, property, and security and because the environmental crisis threatens all these basic guarantees, human rights require environmental stewardship.
Environmental solutions that neglect human rights will ultimately fail both ecosystems and communities.

It is essential that businesses seek to develop models of co-existence in which development is sustainable and based on ONE EARTH VISION not a triple bottom line--but one whole earth system--because both human rights and environmental protections should be maintained within economic goals and objectives .

Both Amnesty International and the Sierra Club have launched campaigns centered around human rights and the environment as well.

Environmental issues and human rights issues are, in fact, inseparable. A clean and sustainable environment is a BASIC Human Right and one that  we all have a right to and a responsibility to ensure for future generations.   

UNITED NATIONS-Human Rights Day......

Today...... December 10, 2007 marks the start of a year long commemoration for the 60^th Anniversary of the United Nations Human Rights Universal Declaration.

On 10 December 1948, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states "All human beings are born with equal and inalienable rights and fundamental freedoms". This Declaration holds true more than ever today. 

In this time of glad tidings, good cheer and increased awareness of environmental and social issues, I am surprised that 'no one' is talking about this or even acknowledging that today we need to stop and assess where we are after 60 years??

I have been watching CNN all morning and reading online newspapers for the last two hours and so far no one has even mentioned or acknowledged that we should be stopping what we are doing--or say we are doing---and ask what we can do to bring awareness, education and action to these issues, so that all humans have the same rights and opportunities.

Now, Therefore THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY proclaims THIS UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS (click here for all declarations) as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society.

Here are the first five Declarations, click on the above link for all 30.

Article 1.
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Article 2.
Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.

Article 3.
Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

Article 4.
No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.

Article 5.
No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

The Story of Stuff.........

What is the Story of Stuff?

From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever.

Click onto  The Story of Stuff

Socially Conscious Gift Ideas ~Fair Trade Cotton Clothing

Fairtrade cotton is cotton which has met the international Fairtrade standard for production of seed cotton and is therefore eligible to carry the FAIRTRADE Mark. 

These products, which include clothing and cotton wool, are made from cotton grown by small farmers in India, Peru, Mali and Senegal. Fairtrade certification is an independent product certification which, brings them the guarantee of a minimum price plus a further premium to be used for community development projects. 

Marks and Spencer (M&S) is the largest user of certified fair trade cotton in the world, and offers over 50 fairtrade cotton products on their website.

Fair Trade standards require sustainable farming techniques and offer price premiums for organic production, but Fair Trade certification does not guarantee that a product was organically grown. Where farmers are not certified organic, they are required to implement a system of integrated crop management (ICM)

Because of the complexity of the textile supply chain, FLO decided to take this approach to textile labeling; “Made with FAIRTRADE Certified Cotton”, where the cotton farmers received Fair Trade prices and benefits along the typical Fair Trade Certified commodity model (similar to coffee and cocoa) but the workers in other parts of the chain (after the cotton-growing) would not necessarily receive extra Fair Trade benefits. To be clear that FLO is making guarantees only about how the cotton ingredient was traded, and not about the rest of the chain. 

Great Gift Ideas in Fair Trade Clothing and Gifts available from;

• Indigenous Designs
• Fair Indigo
• Gaiam
• People Tree-UK
• Fair Trade UK

Marks and Spencer; Your M&S Fair Trade video here

 

 

Treating Farmers Fairly with Fair Trade..........

Fair Trade certification is a market-based model of international trade that benefits over one million farmers and farm workers in 58 developing countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Fair Trade is sometimes used interchangeably with Ethical Trading, they are distinct from one another.
Ethical Trading means companies are involved in a process of ensuring that the basic labor rights of the employees of their third world suppliers are respected.

The FAIRTRADE Mark, applies to products rather than companies.

The FAIRTRADE Mark; Core Standards and practice behind the Five Guarantees;

• · Guarantees farmers a fair and stable price for their products.
• · Extra income for farmers and estate workers to improve their lives.
• · A greater respect for the environment.
• · Small farmers a stronger position in world markets.
• · Closer link between consumers and producers. 

Roots of Fair Trade can be traced back to projects initiated by churches in North America and Europe in the late 1940s. Their goal was to provide relief to refugees and other poverty stricken communities by selling their handicrafts to Northern markets. Alternative Trade Organizations (ATOs) offered higher returns to producers in the developing world through direct trade and fair prices. In the US, ATOs such as Ten Thousand Villages and Equal Exchange, are worker owned co-operatives, formed to import Fair Trade crafts and coffee to the US market.

In 1988, world coffee prices began a sharp descent, triggering the birth of the first Fair Trade certification initiative.. The Netherland's Max Havelaar label offered mainstream coffee industry players the opportunity to adopt a standardized system of Fair Trade criteria.

Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO) is the 'umbrella organization' that establishes Fair Trade standards, globally for the industry using a multi-stakeholder process involving producers, workers, mission-based companies, conventional traders and third party certification labeling Initiatives like TransFair USA.

Currently The United Nations “Least Developed” Countries are the only countries eligible for Fairtrade certification.                          

Watch Fair Trade the MOVIE here.