Christmas is about giving and receiving gifts, as well as spending time with loved ones. Over the next few weeks i want to share ideas and reminders about how we can each contribute to having an Eco-friendly Christmas. Start Planning Now!
Some of the best gifts i have received in the past have been handmade with love, creativity and care. Maybe not an 'expensive' gift, but priceless nonetheless!
On October 23rd this year Bono (supporter of the One Campaign) spoke at the California Women's Conference and passed along some startling Statistics (listed below) about women in Africa.
• Nearly two-thirds of adults with HIV in Africa are women. Young women (age 15 to 24) in South Africa accounted for around 90% of new infections in 2007.
• In Africa, the likelihood of a woman dying in childbirth is 1 in 20 (compared to 1 in 2,800 in the US).
America Recycles Day (ARD), celebrated on November 15 every year, is dedicated to encouraging Americans to recycle and to buy recycled products.
The purpose of America Recycles Day is to promote the social, environmental and economic benefits of recycling and to encourage more people to join the movement to create a better natural environment.
Muenda Fair Trade is now a proud member of Coop America's Green Business Network!
After a very thorough screening process, Muenda Fair Trade is finally a member of 
America's foremost Green Business Network (GBN).
Co-op America's Green Business NetworkTM is dedicated to helping socially and environmentally responsible businesses emerge and thrive to form a global green economy.
Co-op America (soon to be Green America as of January 1st, 2009) is a national non-profit that works to harness the economic powers of consumers, investors and the marketplace to create a more socially just, and environmentally sustainable society.
Green businesses operate in ways that solve, rather than cause, both environmental and social problems.
Susie at Muenda has followed the ONE campaign for many years now and wanted to share excerpts of this article she found on the website.
Ambassador John J. Danilovich, writing for the Huffington Post, offered up an eloquent and concise argument for why foreign aid is more important now than ever.
The full article was submitted on October 23rd and is available at the online Huffington Post:
These national 'Green' events take place in various cities around the country and is a joint project of Global Exchange and Co-op America.
Go along to celebrate at the Washington Convention Center and learn what's working in our 
communities for people, business and the environment. This is the next premier sustainability event and will take place over 2 days and be filled with the best in green!
This popular festival features over 350 exhibits including Green Shopping, unique Fair Trade crafts and furniture made from sustainably harvested wood. Get involved with Community Focus: a series of workshops and presentations and learn more about greening your home, business and community.
We always love getting in new products at Muenda-Fair Trade and we are pleased to be expanding our recycled products range. Due to the success of our Candy Wrapper purses and Paper Jewelry, we now stock bowls, bags, pencil holders, tissue boxes, and vases made out of recycled material. These fun gifts are very sturdy, colorful and washable!
These recycled products have been handmade by villagers living in the remote mountains of Nepal. They are made using discarded plastic wrappers and packaging brought in from the cities. Recycling programs have been introduced to encourage the recycling of non-biodegradable ‘trash’ into functional art, while educating about the importance of protecting the natural environment.
Producing baskets and mats in central Uganda has traditionally been women's work. Women made these items for use in homes. The National Association of Women Organizations in Uganda (NAWOU) has changed this practice into a powerful force fighting poverty.
The organization has a big crafts collection centre in the east African country's capital of
Kampala. Baskets, toys, mats and hand-made cotton cloth can be found there, among other things [like more recently paper beads]. The collection centre operates according to fair trade principles and is affiliated to the International Fair Trade Association (IFAT).
IFAT is a global network of organizations seeking to improve the livelihoods of "disadvantaged" producers by linking up fair trade organizations and advocating justice in global trade. Most of the crafts are sold in the U.S., with some exports going to Australia, New Zealand, Spain and the UK. According to Pamela Kyagera, marketing officer at the collection centre, fair trade has not only turned around the trade in crafts in Uganda but have ensured that women artisans benefit equally from their work.
I came across this video while researching for some content for Blog Action Day.
"Poverty is the worst form of violence."
--Gandhi, Mahatma
