Jasmine recently wrote about the exciting news regarding Fair Trade USA and the launch of fair trade apparel.  The Green Stylist will be doing a series of blogs to highlight what factories are doing, so we’ll keep you up-to-date!

“The Chetna Organic Cotton Project was launched in 2004 to improve the livelihoods of small, marginalized Indian farmers through the integration of organic and Fair Trade principles at the root of the supply chain. The project promotes sustainable agriculture and fair prices. Farmers produce 100 percent organic and Fair Trade Certified™ cotton without child labor, synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, or GMOs.”

Garments manufactured with Chetna cotton can be traced back to the farmer’s field they came from.  They have both internal and external inspections by Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO) to track all inputs and outputs. Chetna also complies with third party inspections to show their transparency (which is a rare gem!). Finally, farmers are trained extensively in regards to quality control and certification standards.

Most of the cotton produced is purchased by an organic and Fair Trade certified™ facility called Rajlakshmi Cotton Mills Pvt. Ltd. (RCM). RCM is based in Kolkata, India.  In 1971, this company began as just a dream for a young visionary, and now is one of the leaders in the Indian market. Their vision is to “become India’s leading sustainable textile company by producing quality products and observing highest social, economic and environmental standards.”

Unanimously, Fair Trade farmers believe this is “a transparent mechanism of trading with no exploitation from buyers or sellers.” All along the supply chain, social responsibility and environmental standards are being upheld, while giving farmers business opportunities and raising awareness across all stakeholders.

Fair Trade Certified™ apparel protects both the environment and the people. I’m a huge supporter of this…are you?