It means that you can take a small, persistent idea and radically change (for the better) an entire industry in a very very short amount of time. To our friends and colleagues at Nike, Adidas, Puma, Baden and the rest of the sporting goods industry…heads up. Citizens are beginning to realize they can vote with their dollars for sports balls that are third party certified (not internally certified by your own people) green and Fair Trade.

Tip ‘o the hat to Yancey Arrington. Ideas traveling from Seattle to Houston and back to Seattle.

We’re happy to announce that our soccer balls can now carry yet another certification mark; this one quality-related from the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS).

The NFHS is the entity responsible for coordinating all national-level high school events in sports, fine arts, education, member associations, publications, and other student activities. So what does this mean for you?

It means your purchase of our Club, Match, and Premium Match soccer balls can now be used on game day at high schools across the country. Before each game begins, the referee checks to make sure a ball is on the NFHS list of tested and approved balls. It’s one more step towards mainstream acceptance – of both Fair Trade Sports and all Fair Trade products!

If more citizens knew about the Fair Trade movement, I believe they would be willing to take part and and promote Respect, particularly at our North American K-12 schools. Hooray for Fair Trade!

Fun news! Fair Trade Sports just won annual sponsorship from Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville Foundation.

This award is given every year to an Eco + Fair Trade company; past winners include our good friends at Divine Chocolate among others. This annual sponsorship award is given through Denise Hamler’s crew at Green America and Denise Di Salvo from Margaritaville. Many thanks to the Jimmy Buffet Foundation for believing in our mission!

Another great thing about this sponsorship is the camaraderie we have with Margaritaville. Just like our use of eco-certified rubber in our sporting goods, Margaritaville also uses eco-certified products in their daily operations. Margaritaville has also fully embraced several other green initiatives, such as energy conservation.

I am continually surprised at who is involved in the Eco + Fair Trade movement. As more mainstream individuals and organizations come onboard, expect to see more rapid change in our society at large. I look forward to a future in which all people stand in opposition to any sort of exploitation of our environment or of other people. Parrotheads unite!

While we introduced the world’s first eco-certified basketball to the North American marketplace, we have a new (and very welcome) competitor from one of the largest players in the basketball space, Wilson.

Wilson recently unveiled their new “Green” basketball in conjunction with Earth Day; it is made from 40% recycled rubber. All we here at Fair Trade Sports can say is – well done!

Why do I say a new competitor is welcome to our little niche of the sporting goods world? Because one of the express goals of our company is to “encourage” the major multinationals brands in the sporting goods industry to follow our lead and get their own product lines eco-certified and Fair Trade Certified. The major sports equipment companies have all been dragging their feet when it comes to making environmentally-conscious products and adhering to Fair Trade tenets such as not using child labor and paying their adult workers a certified living wage. Wilson is still dragging its feet on the issue of Fair Trade certification, but this is a step in the right direction for them and we should encourage them to continue down this positive path.

We’ve recently heard from friends that Nike’s first big environmental push will be declaring themselves to be carbon neutral. While this is an admirable step (once they actually do it; I’m only hearing this second hand), we should again encourage them to continue down this positive path and extend their thinking to the human rights issues behind the production of their products. The more success they have with products like their Trash Talk shoe and programs like Nike Grind, the more we can encourage them towards becoming a truly sustainable company. And to be clear, a truly sustainable company addresses the human rights issues of the supply chain openly and honestly.

Did our world’s-first eco-certified basketball have any influence on Wilson’s decision to bring out a eco-friendly basketball? I’d like to think, yes. They’ve got dozens of very bright marketing folks and product managers who are likely always looking for what’s next in sporting goods. Glad to see them experimenting with the eco-aspects of sports balls. I look forward to those same product managers talking to their own logistics managers about the Fair Trade aspects of their suppliers. Then we’ll see some good, positive progress on the related human rights issues.

Quick video summary of the unique green and Fair Trade aspects of our sporting goods from the Chicago Green Festival from the hipsters at Da Green Show.

I recently attended the Chicago Green Fest; it was fun to see old friends and new.

In the midst of spreading the word about FTS and catching up with folks, I had time to hang out a bit with the folks pictured here: Colleen Coy from Just Coffee, Chelsea Bay Wills from The Change, myself, and a fellow named Hector from East Timor. We all had a great time exchanging stories and what was going on in each of our portions of the green and Fair Trade movements.

I worked with Chelsea’s organization on the Not For Sale Campaign project at launch time two years ago. The Change is a worker-owned brand creation and design agency that works exclusively with companies and organizations whose growth makes the world better, fairer, and more authentic. Their credo is “The Truth is Your Best Tool.” Or, to put it another way, the things that make a company or organization what it is should be at the forefront of its brand.

This means that personalities, actions, voice and soul take precedence over rigid schemes or empty brand diagrams that never make it out of the boardroom. The Change works with their accomplices to apply their brand effectively, consistently, and with with an unwavering sense of practicality.

The Change’s message goes hand-in-hand with our message here at Fair Trade Sports. If you ever get a chance to hire Chelsea, Jerry, Sami, and the rest of their crew, you’ll love the experience.

This Father’s Day, show Dad you care by giving him his own eco-football. Whether he’s a serious athlete or just an armchair quarterback, he’ll appreciate this ball. Every Fair Trade Sports ball comes with a message of Respect and conservation – something dad can take home with him and share with others.

If you’re interested in getting your dad an eco-football this year for Father’s Day, head on over to World of Good and take a look around. As I mentioned in an earlier post, World of Good is an online shopping experience that combines the best of Fair Trade and eBay. I’ve been a part of World of Good for a long time, serving on their Advisory Board. I can verify that they do indeed make sure that the companies they do business with adhere to the core tenets of Fair Trade. They are the real deal.

Father’s Day is the one time of the year that we take the time to thank our Dad for just being Dad. Sure, we may honor them on other days of the year for their work ethic or military service, but Father’s Day is a way to thank your Dad for just being there when you needed him and for raising you to be the person you are today. So pick up an eco-football this week and make sure to thank your dad this Father’s Day for everything he’s done for you.

Fair Trade the White House - an exciting new campaign – has officially begun and we need your help. This grass-roots, nonpartisan coalition of Fair Trade organizations, vendors, retailers, schools, individuals, and consumers has set out with the singular goal of turning the White House into a “Fair Trade Home” by petitioning First Lady Michelle Obama via an email campaign.

The Fair Trade the White House campaign was initated by the good folks over at Anti-Body - specifically the dynamo known as Karen Synder – but the momentum has really picked up and many other Fair Trade businesses have jumped on board, inlcuding Fair Trade Sports. We are proud to stand alongside other Fair Trade businesses such as Equal Exchange, Alter Eco, and Zhena’s Gypsy Tea.

Karen’s idea to bring the Fair Trade movement to the attention of the First Lady is a truly great one. Mrs. Obama has already shown in her short amount of time at the White House that she really is as progressive and open-minded as we all thought she would be. She dug up the lawn to plant a garden! It stands to reason that she may very well embrace the Fair Trade movement, if it was brought to her attention.

One cool thing that the Fair Trade the White House campaign is doing is furnishing the Obama with some Fair Trade products so they can sample them and see the quality for themselves. For our part, Fair Trade Sports is sending along some of our Fair Trade Certified soccer balls for the First Kids, Sasha and Malia. We’re certain they’ll get a kick out of them!

If we can get the First Lady to embrace Fair Trade as a viable economic system, we’ll have one of the most powerful voices in the country on our side. Join us in inviting the First Lady to declare the White House a “Fair Trade Home” this summer.

This Friday, June 12, is World Day Against Child Labor, and more voices than ever before have joined the international outcry against child exploitation. World Day Against Child Labor was launched by the International Labour  Organization (ILO) some seven years ago and has helped those who work against child labor practices make great strides in eliminating the problem altogether. Despite these great strides, however, there is still a lot of work to be done.

This year, the focus is on the role of young girls in child labor and what can be done about it. Across the planet, young girls under the bondage of child labor face additional hardships and risks. It is estimated that over 100 million young girls around the world are subjected to child labor. In many countries in which child labor is common practice, females are subjected to unfair treatment and not given as many rights as males – and when these girls are forced into child labor their situation gets even worse.

So the message this year is that something needs to be done. The plight of these young girls needs to be recognized and addressed. In addition to addressing the situation of child labor, we also need to address the situation of education for these young girls. They need education and skills training that can provide a viable path for them to get decent work when they grow into adults.

Our favorite solution to this specific problem is from Room to Read, who drops children’s libraries all over the world. Learn more about their work here. This is one of the two charities to whom we’ve pledged all our after-tax profits. (Boys & Girls Club of America is the other one).

Please join us in recognizing World Day Against Child Labor this Friday by having a conversation about the topic with a friend of family member. It’s through these conversations that we can begin to affect positive change in our world, which so desperately needs it. Take a few moments to spread the word about the malignant paractice of child labor and the unthinkable work conditions these children are forced into. Consider sending an email, making a phone call, contacting your Congressman – whatever it takes to shine a light on the problem. Together we can make a difference.

Who did you spend World Fair Trade Day (May 9) with this year?

Our sales representative April Thompson spent the day in Washington DC with Jeff Goldman (pictured below), the Executive Director of the Fair Trade Resource Network (FTRN).

Thousands of groups around the world celebrated together on May 9, talking to neighbors and friends about the positive principals of Fair Trade, hosting the world’s largest Fair Trade coffee break, and playing a bit of Fair Trade soccer everywhere from carpeted office hallways to concrete sidewalks to grassy parks.

This year the FTRN had “Play Fairer” cards developed by our friends at The Change. These are still available (I think) for your events throughout the year. I hope you enjoyed the day and spreading the Fair Trade message!