September 2005 | Co-op America’s Living Green
Community Supported Agriculture
Dear Co-op America, There are small family farmers who specialize in bringing organic, seasonal food to their clients on a weekly basis. Do you know you know how I can find such an arrangement in the Novato/Petaluma/Santa Rosa area? — Rainer M. Wachalovsky, CA
We do! You’re looking for a CSA, or community supported agriculture farm, which does exactly what you described. You can find CSAs and farmers’ markets near you by visiting Local Harvest’s website, www.localharvest.org . When we did a quick search in the Santa Rosa/Petaluma area, we found 29 listings, including several CSAs from which you can choose.
Sweatshop-Free Clothing
Dear Co-op America, Do you know where I can buy sweatshop-free clothing? I’m doing a high school project on sweatshops and would like to inform my class. — Meghan, E-mail
Terrific project idea, Meghan. The easiest ways to avoid sweatshop clothing are:
1) Look for the union label. The UNITE! label on a piece of clothing means it was made by a worker who belongs to UNITE HERE (formerly the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees and Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union). These are US workers who earn union wages in healthy work environments. To find out more, visit www.unitehere.org .
2) Buy Fair Trade: Fair Trade guarantees that workers all across the supply chain earn living wages in healthy and environmentally friendly work environments. They not only make enough to feed their families, but they earn enough to improve their communities and make their businesses environmentally sound. You can find Fair Trade clothing items by looking for clothing companies that are members of the Fair Trade Federation (www.fairtradefederation.org). All FTF members are listed in Co-op America’s National Green Pages ™ directory of green businesses, with a special notation in their listing noting that they belong to FTF. Your classmates can check the Green Pages™ for free online at www.greenpages.org (search under the CLOTHING categories), or they can order a paper copy for $11.95 by calling 800/58-GREEN.
3) Buy from National Green Pages™ businesses. Speaking of the Green Pages™, any clothing company in our nationwide directory of green businesses commits to caring for workers all across their supply chains, as well their customers, communities, and the environment. We screen each business to make sure they are serious about upholding this commitment.
4) Ask the companies from which you shop how they can guarantee no sweatshop labor was used in making their clothing. You and your classmates can see how the big department stores rank in terms of sweatshops in our Retailer Scorecard on our website, www.sweatshops.org.
You can also look up hundreds of mainstream companies on our Responsible Shopper online tool to see how they rate in terms of social and environmental responsibility, including sweatshop abuses—www.responsibleshopper.org.
Living Green is brought to you by Co-op America, a national nonprofit that provides green living, purchasing, and investing tips and resources. To join Co-op America and get a free copy of the National Green Pages™ directory of green businesses, call 800/58-GREEN, www.coopamerica.org . E-mail your Living Green questions.
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