Why eTRAID?
Our purpose
To help producers in disadvantaged countries find a market for their products and in turn improve their incomes.
Fair Trade – Handmade – Sustainable
eTRAID was established in late 2013 to support the sale of products from disadvantaged communities from around the world. Our focus is on products that are fair trade, handmade and use sustainable materials.
We use these three elements to select products for our store.
Fair Trade
Our products are sourced from producers or suppliers who support fair trade principles, such as the 10 Fair Trade Principles advocated by the World Fair Trade Organisation. These principles are:
• Creating opportunities for economically disadvantaged producers
• Transparency and accountability
• Fair trading practices
• Payment of a fair price
• Ensuring no child labour or forced labour
• Commitment to non-discrimination
• Ensuring good working conditions
• Providing capacity building
• Promoting fair trade
• Respect for the environment
These principles are outlined in more detail in a previous post here.
Handmade
Supporting handmade products provides vital employment and income for artisans, which in turn supports their families and communities. In addition, traditional handmade craft techniques are preserved and passed on to future generations which contributes to the future sustainability of a community’s livelihoods, skills and culture. Often, handmade methods have a minimal environmental impact and use sustainable materials.
Sustainable
Many of the products available in our store are produced using sustainable materials, particularly recycled materials.
Shop for a Change
While browsing our store we trust that you will learn more about the difference that supporting fair trade can make to the lives of disadvantaged communities, discover unique and beautiful products and enjoy your online shopping knowing that your purchases can contribute to real change.
We welcome your questions, comments and suggestions, using the Contact Us page.
Ensuring our products are Fair Trade
Our products are sourced from producers or suppliers who support fair trade principles.
Thank you for visiting eTRAID
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