Why use My Greenboard?

My Greenboard offers an opportunity to

• Advocate for better business practices and good causes.  The more people who use My Greenboard, the more demand there will be for products and services from  companies and organizations that make ethical values an integral part of their mission. That’s empowering.

• Promote changes in consumer habits that improve the lives of others.  If a worker in a developing country can be paid just a little more, say enough to buy a bicycle, their life can improve immeasurably. That’s fair-trade: small actions, big impacts.

• Stimulate the growth of businesses that are respectful of people and the environment.  Ethical behavior is a choice: the more we advocate for it in organizations and businesses, the more it will shape our world.

• Engage market forces for the benefit of society.  Encourage commerce that puts people and the planet first.

Why support fair-trade?

Fair-trade harnesses the power of consumerism and points it in a direction that fights poverty. For lack of knowledge, most consumers make purchase decisions without knowing where their products come from and how they are produced. Marketing is often based on these poorly-informed choices and advertising reinforces the pattern by avoiding any mention of who does the work and whether workers are paid fairly and treated fairly. It is a system built on blind purchases and misguided publicity.  As a result, the issue is barely visible and too often the costs to the working-poor of potentially losing their dignity and their health go unaddressed.  Intuitively consumers may sense this problem, but the work needed to transform the system can appear overwhelming.  In the absence of a more transparent system, most people avoid the subject altogether.

Fair-trade responds to these concerns directly.  It is an approach to trade that aims to make workers visible and to empower consumers.  It does so by accounting for the impact on the dignity and health of workers when calculating the benefits and the costs of doing business.  By supporting fair-trade, consumers can promote accounting of the hard work that goes into products shipped worldwide.

My Greenboard is there to support this response.  Thanks to its users, My Greenboard advertising ensures that the efforts of people who make and promote fair-trade products are given maximum exposure, and that the market for fair-trade goods continues to grow.

New to Fair-trade?

Fair-trade companies are businesses that work to establish fair wages and respect for workers throughout their supply chains.  Their goal is to create better chances for workers to make a decent living in our global economic system.  Fair-trade practices include the use of eco-friendly materials, which decreases potential health impacts on workers.  Fair-trade supply chains include farmers, manufacturers, brokers, shippers, distributors and retailers.