Buying Fairtrade cotton products not only benefits the farmers who grow the cotton plants, but also helps to save the planet! Fairtrade cotton plants are grown using natural pesticides made from products like chilli and garlic instead of more conventional pesticides which can greatly harm the environment. Many small animals are killed from exposure to chemical pesticides by either drinking from fresh water sources that have been contaminated, or by consuming organisms that themselves have been affected by the chemicals. Since November 2005, the independent Fairtrade logo has been shown on products that use Fairtrade cotton, throughout the UK, France, Belgium and Switzerland; this has worked tremendously at making people aware of how far the Fairtrade movement can spread if allowed and if supported☺!

As many as 100million households across the world are involved in the cotton growing industry and for the majority of these, they are not paid fairly for the amount that they sell and produce. This is unfortunately due to the way the trade market is controlled by rich countries that have the power to dictate how much individuals receive from their products. It’s really not fair, and that is why Fairtrade is such an important thing!

The certified Fairtrade cotton will initially come from struggling farmers in areas of India, Peru, Mali, Senegal and Cameroon. These farmers receive a guaranteed minimum price for anything they sell plus a premium that then goes towards projects that aim to increase the standard of living within their country. For example, in India, projects are focused around creating the infrastructure for sanitary water sources to be established.

A number of retail stores including Marks and Spencers and Dorothy Perkins have incorporated Fairtrade cotton products into their clothing lines. In Marks and Spencers, Fairtrade Cotton clothing is available for men, women and children as well as other products such as Fairtrade Cotton wool and Fairtrade Cotton bed linen. The promoters of Fairtrade cotton products expect that other retailers will become involved once they have seen the success of the cotton products in other stores. Hopefully, people will once again be influenced by Fairtrade once they understand the benefits for farmers and themselves, as they were when their food buying habits were influenced.

Fairtrade Clothing:

It is a well known fact that the Fairtrade organisation has done a brilliant job in helping farmers from third world countries to make more money from the foods that they grow. However, we are much less aware that Fairtrade has begun to promote the use of its cotton within popular retailers clothing lines.                   The Fairtrade organisation has begun to encourage schools to use uniform made with Fairtrade cotton. If schools were to help in this way, think how much the simple action of buying school uniform could benefit struggling cotton growers around the world!! Would you be willing to buy Fairtrade cotton uniform, in order to provide poor farmers with the hope that one day their children may also have the chance to wear school uniform and gain an education?!

Text by: Claire Hellingman HTML by: ONy