Fair-trade Easter

Canadians often contribute to the better well-being of other people in the world. This was true with the fair-trade coffee and is more and more true with other fair-trade consumer goods, such as chocolate.

In Western Africa, there are 300,000 children under 14 working on such plantations, doing hard and dangerous labour.

I feel we should all work toward a world where solidarity is at the heart of economic development. A fair-trade Easter is an immense step in this direction.

We believe that about 15,000 slave children work on farms and cocoa plantations in Ivory Coast, which supplies 35 per cent of the world’s cocoa.

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18 African countries and UN agree to reduce electronic waste in the region

18 African countries and the UN have agreed on plans to reduce electronic waste, following reports of the rising tide of electronics-related waste in the region.

Much of the recycling of e-waste that takes place in Africa occurs on an informal basis, often in uncontrolled dump sites or landfills. The problem is that several African countries do not yet have ICT policies in place to support the establishment of e-waste plants.

the careless disposal of obsolete electronic equipment can cause significant environmental and health risks. The Zambian government’s effort to block the entry of electronic equipment that are unusable at the points of entry have so far not yielded any positive results. In East Africa, only Kenya has an e-waste recycling plant while in Southern Africa, only South Africa has recycling plants.

 

 

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University of Sussex have revealed the benefits of fair trade

The University of Sussex based Institute of Development studies has researched the current developments in Ghana, Ecuador, Dominican republic and the Windward Islands and has revealed that the fair trading in these countries has had a positive effect on the people of these countries.

There research showed that living standards for workers and producers had improved dramatically.

Although there was a big improvement there is still a long way to go.

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Converging world

The Converging World Group has a number of visions:

To support existing campaigns and initiatives for social justice and development – like Make Poverty History and direct, local efforts in the Chew Valley to alleviate poverty and improve healthcare in the ‘South’.
To develop personal links between the Go Zero communities and Social Change and Development (SCAD) in Tamil Nadu.
To promote ecotourism and sustainable travel.
To promote and encouraging fair trade – obtaining FairTrade Village status.
The Converging World is now a new charity based in Bristol but with world wide ambitions!

To support it please visit www.theconvergingworld.org.

What does “Converging World” mean?

The Converging World concept is large and complex. The converging aspect derives partly from the ‘Contraction & Convergence’ principle proposed by Aubrey Meyer of the Global Commons Institute (see Schumacher Briefing No 5), which sees, across the world, an equal per capita right to emit ‘carbon’.

The Converging World idea goes beyond carbon trading, although this is a fundamental aspect requiring emergency attention. It is a vision of a world where everyone has a fair and equal share of all the resources that the Earth can easily provide without jeopardising its potential to support life in all its diversity. It is also a world where everyone has a fair and equal share of, and access to, human created resources such as knowledge. The vision extends to an indiscriminate right, and equal access, to the functions of our institutions for justice, health, education and security. In this converging worldview environmental issues are inseparable from social justice.

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Go Zero – Take waste to Zero

So what is Go Zero? Below you find some more info..

Values and aims
The Go Zero project has the following values and aims at the heart of its vision:

* Regard the planet as something we should care for and cherish
* Live sustainably so as not to deplete the planet’s finite resources
* Modify our behaviour so that we can live in harmony with nature and demonstrate our commitment to equity for all residents of our planet
* Help to influence the behaviour and attitudes of others in working towards sustainable communities
* Constantly look for new ways to minimise use of resources and to strive for a community where waste doesn’t exist
* Set up systems within our own community to enable ourselves and others to reach these objectives

Guiding principles
The Go Zero project has the following principles at the heart of the organisation

* Inclusiveness – to involve all who wish to take part
* Transparency – open and complete communication
* Clarity – for decision making and acceptance of responsibility
* Effectiveness – to communicate the aims of the project
* Respect others, no destructive criticism – only lead by example
* Measure, monitor and report on progress and achievements
* Organise our own lives according to this vision.
* To help others, anywhere in the world, to move towards a fulfilling life style with zero waste, equity and justice.

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