subject: Are Your Home Accessories Ethically Sourced? [print this page] Are Your Home Accessories Ethically Sourced?
So you've picked you colour scheme, painted the walls, put in the flooring and chosen the lighting for your new living space. It's time for the finishing touches and home accessories are the best way to personalize your home.
In today's global economy it's possible to fill your home with accessories from across the globe. These home accessories can be exciting, original and hand-made from a wide variety of materials using traditional techniques. But in some cases the products are manufactured cheaply by exploiting local communities. Poor working conditions, low wages and long hours are just some of the problems faced in countries such as Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Poland, Vietnam, Ukraine, Thailand and South Africa, where cheap labour is still exploited. For me, it's important to know any product I buy is ethically sourced and there are plenty of home accessory stores that follow an ethical fair trade policy.
These home accessory stores aim to ensure that all products are ethically sourced, and the local communities will always benefit from the sale of the products they produce.
For example in the Philippines there are community projects where the local craftsmen and women receive the best available working conditions and facilities. This means safe working conditions, reasonable working hours and fair pay as well as additional facilities provided such as child care, schooling and low cost housing.
Where possible I always recommend buying products from home accessories stores that make the effort to source their product ethically, it good to know that the ornament which may take pride of place in your home has been made by a skilled craftsmen who is happy and healthy!
Most reputable stores will have a trade policy for products source in developing countries, if you're unsure about the origins of a product, don't be afraid to ask.
