Last weekend Federation Square (Melbourne) was the host to the annual Sustainable Living Festival where all things 'sustainable' are discussed, displayed and digested!

I only managed to catch an afternoon of the festival but did get to listen to Tim Costello (World Vision), Ian Dawes (World Vision) and Cameron Neil (Fair Trade Assn of Australia and New Zealand) - the theme for their discussion was 'Don't Trade Lives'.

The message that all three speakers wanted to get across to the audience was that as consumers we have choices in what we buy, and the choice should be for fair trade and ethical products (where possible) - we should be buying products that done harm or exploit people.

Tim Costello talked statistics - and they're shocking - it is estimated that there are over 27 million slaves working either as bonded workers or being exploited with low wages - and alarmingly over 85% of these workers are women and children.

Not only are these workers exploited monetarily they are also required to work long hours and often in dangerous conditions - there's no such thing as 'occupational health and safety' or unions when you're 10 years old working in a carpet factory in India.

And you don't even want me to start on the chocolate industry ....

Bottom line is ... we are all responsible for the consumer choices we make and its important to ask questions about products - where do they come from, who made them, what conditions were they working under etc. - if we all do our bit, it is possible to make a difference.

So ... when you're out shopping look for the fairtrade logo on tea, coffee, chocolate, rice, and sports balls and ask retailers questions about the origin of their products and if they're claiming they're fair trade ... ask why/how/who/what/where!

You can get more info from:

http://www.donttradelives.com.au/

http://www.fta.org.au/

On Saturday 14th February (2009) Sankofa was fortunate enough to have a stall at the inaugral Thin Green Line Music Festival held on the grounds of the beautiful Coolart Wetlands and Homestead on the Mornington Peninsula.

So what is the Thin Green Line ..... its a not-for-profit foundation established by Park Ranger Sean Wilmore - in 2003 Sean, travelled to 19 countries filming the dedicated Park Rangers responsible for the conservation and protection of wildlife in the world's forests and parks.

The result of this trip was an inspiring and moving DVD and the birth of the Thin Green Line Foundation - with all proceeds from the sale of the DVD used to support conservation projects and the families of Park Rangers killed while protecting wildlife.

The Thin Green Line Festival was a one day event celebrating conservation and sustainability and a great way to raise funds for the foundation - there was great music (Nicky Bomba worked the crowd into a frenzy), great food, micro-brewery beer and local wines, and a sustainability village of information stalls and products for sale.

We had a great time talking to people about fair trade and how many of our products are made from recycled material and natural fibres ... we've got recycled glass beads, recycled paper beads, recycled paper albums, straw maracas, pod shakers, straw baskets ... the list goes on.

It's interesting that people in developing countries look for materials to recycle because they're free or cheap - this means they don't have to outlay a lot of money on raw materials ... so its a cheaper way for them to earn a living ... and we in the 'developed west' look for products made from recycled materials primarily because of the environmental benefits - so it works for everyone involved!

Keep an eye open for the festival next year .... the Thin Green Line plan to make it an annual event .... and I'm tipping it'll just keep getting better.