Fair trade is a term used frequently in sustainable living circles but like many “green” words, there tends to be confusion as to its meaning.  Fair trade is a sustainability concept and is an alternative way of doing business – one that builds equitable, long-term partnerships between consumers in North America and producers in developing regions.

The word “fair” can mean a lot of different things to different people and there aremyths about what fair trade really is.  Fair Trade is about more than just paying a fair wage. It is also not charity. It means that trading partnerships are based on reciprocal benefits and mutual respect; that prices paid to producers reflect the work they do; that workers have the right to organize; that national health, safety, and wage laws are enforced; and that products are environmentally sustainable and conserve natural resources.

Components of Fair Trade include:

> Fair wage.
> Fair working conditions.
> Open information exchanges between producers, consumers, and companies.
> Long-term trade relationships between corporations and producers.
> Practices that promote environmental protection and sustainable practices.
> Elimination of unnecessary middlemen between producers and consumers.
> Providing financial and technical assistance to producers whenever possible.
> Providing equal opportunities for advancement all people.
> Being open to public accountability.
> Ensuring the rights of children.
> Cultivating environmental stewardship.
> Respecting cultural identity.

More importantly, fair trade is a sustainable business model that has multiple environmental and social impacts:

> Fair trade has a positive effect on the environment.
> It benefits farmers, farm lands, and the workers in developing countries.
> Provides consumers with options to purchase ethically sound and higher integrity products.
> Positive impact on communities (children’s school fees are paid; nutritional needs met; health care costs are covered; the poor, especially women, are empowered; the environmental impact of production, sourcing, and transport is mitigated to the fullest extent possible. Such an impact is created, because fair trade approaches development as a holistic process.)

With increasing eco awareness there are more opportunities for consumers to leverage purchasing power to support credible and sustainable businesses.

The easiest way to buy fair trade items is to look for the Fair Trade Certified label.  Another option is to explore the SocialYell site to identify and acknowledge businesses harnessing the economic, environmental, and social power of Fair Trade.

For more information on fair trade or where to find fair trade products in your area see Transfair, GreenAmerica and theFair Trade Federation.

In building corporate sustainability, it’s encouraged to have a comprehensive business sustainability program.  While that may be the preferred path, there are other steps you can take as well.

“Green Teams“, are formal or informal groups of people in a company who are passionate about environmental issues.  They are gathering in offices across America to brainstorm solutions and promote ways in which their company’s practices can become more environmentally sustainable.  Green teams, blessed with management’s approval can be effective in spearheading sustainability initiatives: reduce paper use, initiate or increase recycling programs, promote energy conservation efforts, and more, making a huge difference within a department or building.

Link eco awareness programs to existing company offerings, as in wellness programs.   Wellness programs have been uses as instruments to address weight reduction, reduced stress levels, improved physical fitness, health, and well being.  They may include fitness, recreation, social activities and programs to enhance intellectual and spiritual development.  Providing employees with wellness programs not only provides them a way to improve their health, but it also demonstrates corporate social responsibility.

Create individual employee sustainability programs: The basic premise of a personal sustainability program is to reduce your carbon footprint, lighten the load on the planet as well as reap the benefits of living a more sustainable lifestyle.    Eco actions taken in a personal sustainability plan can be anything from riding a bike to work or eating organic healthy meals or recycling.  It can also be about achieving a personal goal, sustaining it, and building from that platform.

Educate: Offer ongoing workshops, training, lunch and learns, and educational activities to educate workers on the environmental issues (energy, water, waste, and others) and the associated actions causing the problems.  Identify new behavior and eco actions that individually workers can take to create new patterns of behavior and choices that support environmental solutions and are aligned with the company’s overarching sustainability plan and values.   The key to success?  Education.  Ongoing education, and education targeted at different levels within the organization helps create lasting change.

Create a sustainable work environment: The benefits of a sustainable work environment include a healthier more sustainable workforce; a more productive workforce; attracts quality employees and helps to reduce turnover. It also reduces lost work time related to health issues.

These efforts enable proactive businesses leaders to capture the benefits of sustainable business: reduce business costs, improve business reputation, and attract and maintain top job candidates.

Stay tuned to SocialYell for more information on how to bring sustainability into your business and to find sustainable businesses.

The Sustainable Procurement Benchmark Report, released by education body HEC Paris and sustainable procurement experts EcoVadis, questioned procurement executives at 95 of Europe’s largest companies about their corporate social responsibility (CSR) and business sustainability practices.  The study found that:

•    Sustainable Procurement is considered an “important” or “critical” objective by 90% of procurement directors at comparable levels to 2007.

•    Brand protection and cost management are still the driving factors behind Sustainable Procurement initiatives, but compliance with environmental regulations has taken on increased importance.

•    The vast majority of respondents have moved toward operational implementation of sustainability programs, with over 80% citing that they had initiated a program in 2008.

•    35% of companies surveyed intend to increase their investments in Sustainable Procurement despite budget cuts prompted by the recession.

•    37% of companies have put in place a Sustainable Procurement department and half have raised buyer awareness through training on Sustainable Procurement concerns and practices.

•    Usage of tools specific to Sustainable Procurement has significantly evolved, with a special focus on solutions for supplier evaluation and risk analysis across procurement categories.

•    75% of companies interviewed are now integrating CSR into their sourcing process, with 30% allocating significant weight to these criteria in the grading and selection system.

•    75% of companies use Sustainable Procurement criteria to measure the performance of their suppliers on an ongoing basis.

However, one of the great challenges facing sustainability, especially business sustainability, is the ability to measure success.  This challenge is has only intensified by growing eco awareness and resulting expectations to show progress.  Leading sustainability minded organizations still struggle to justify resources and define benefits of implementing sustainability concepts.  Without a universally accepted set of criteria, business sustainability is especially hard for many companies to define and measure.

To complicate the mater, there are approximately 70 business excellence frameworks used around the world, including the Baldrige Performance Excellence Framework here in the United States and the EFQM Excellence Framework in Europe.  These tend to focus on business practices that do not necessarily include sustainability concepts, let alone, business sustainability measurement.

Some promoters of sustainability measurement simply want the business world to evaluate the social and environmental bottom lines equally as seriously as the financial bottom line.  However, critics of popular frameworks, like the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) , comment that the concept itself promises or implies something that is very difficult to deliver.  While the theory is simple, the challenge is developing a methodology for calculating social and environmental progress with financial rigor.

The search for this common link may have slowed TBL aggregate measurement, but it has not limited progress.  The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)  offers a set of 79 universal indicators and guidelines for sustainability reporting.  The G3 guidelines offer:

•    Principles to define report content

•    Principles to define report quality

•    Guidance on how to set report boundaries

•    Guidance on how to plot a path for continual improvement

Business Sustainability Reporting represents an important step in sustainable development.  It reflects executive commitment to transparency and accountability.  By disclosing information on its sustainability plan, companies increase credibility and confidence with stakeholders.