This posting isn't exactly about fair trade in the strict sense, but it is about treating people fairly and being good to our earth.
Cheryl Richter began a little Web site called www.FreeTreesandPlants.com because she realized that when large catalog companies or nurseries don't sell out there trees and plants, they are destroyed. Yes, that means that healthy, live plants that could have been planted never make it in the garden or space where they can be enjoyed.
Cheryl is a gardener and horticultural photographer and felt there had to be a better way to distribute these trees and plants. She's also a strong supporter of sheltered workshops. So, she meshed her interest and passion and launched www.FreeTreesandPlants.com.
Yes, the trees and plants are free, but you do have to pay for shipping and handling which runs about $7.95 per unit. This cost covers not only the shipping but part of the "handling" which includes digging, washing, inspecting the items, size sorting, packing, labor, addressing, labeling...you get the picture.
Regardless of the nominal fee, the fact is that you'll not only receive beautiful trees and plants for your garden, but you'll be saving these trees and plants from destruction and creating work for hundreds of thousands of disabled persons.
Fall bulbs are already sold out but you can order perennials, trees and shrubs.
Visit http://www.freetreesandplants.com/index.html for more information.
Happy shopping!
Until next time, stay warm!
-Megy Karydes, Founder
www.World-Shoppe.com
Friday, January 25, 2008
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Women of Islam - Photographs by Rania Matar
The Chicago Cultural Center hosts an exhibit of photographs by Rania Matar this month and through the end of March. I checked out the exhibit this week and found the images interesting, exciting and haunting.
Matar is a Boston-area photographer but she was born and raised in Lebanon where she repeatedly returned in pursuit of images of her war torn homeland and its people. The photos at this exhibit are all in black and white and they tell the stories largely of women in Lebanon today, with a specific focus on Muslim women and the very volatile issue of the head scarf in Islamic society.
Matar’s striking images combine an unusual skill at composition, very strong contrast in tone, and a sensitive approach to her subjects that brings their humanity into sharp focus by getting up-close, “intimate” shots.
There’s a photo called “Playing with the Doll” that really made me stop. You can see the photo on Matar’s Web site: http://www.raniamatar.com/portfolio/warAftermath/index.html. It’s the picture of a little girl playing with a little doll. The girl can’t be much older than 3 or 4 years old. A woman, perhaps her mother or someone taking care of her, sits idle along the wall – she just sits there. She sits next to this large gaping hole in their home. The hole was most likely the result of a rocket bomb. What struck me was the fact that this family just went on living - despite the fact that they had this big gaping hole in their home and a war is going on. The girl just wanted to play with her doll.
If you have a chance to check out the exhibit at the Chicago Cultural Center, I highly recommend you take the time and look at the images. It definitely makes you stop and wonder what life is all about.
You can also check out the images on Matar’s Web site: http://www.raniamatar.com/.
Until next time,
Megy Karydes, Founder
www.World-Shoppe.com
Matar is a Boston-area photographer but she was born and raised in Lebanon where she repeatedly returned in pursuit of images of her war torn homeland and its people. The photos at this exhibit are all in black and white and they tell the stories largely of women in Lebanon today, with a specific focus on Muslim women and the very volatile issue of the head scarf in Islamic society.
Matar’s striking images combine an unusual skill at composition, very strong contrast in tone, and a sensitive approach to her subjects that brings their humanity into sharp focus by getting up-close, “intimate” shots.
There’s a photo called “Playing with the Doll” that really made me stop. You can see the photo on Matar’s Web site: http://www.raniamatar.com/portfolio/warAftermath/index.html. It’s the picture of a little girl playing with a little doll. The girl can’t be much older than 3 or 4 years old. A woman, perhaps her mother or someone taking care of her, sits idle along the wall – she just sits there. She sits next to this large gaping hole in their home. The hole was most likely the result of a rocket bomb. What struck me was the fact that this family just went on living - despite the fact that they had this big gaping hole in their home and a war is going on. The girl just wanted to play with her doll.
If you have a chance to check out the exhibit at the Chicago Cultural Center, I highly recommend you take the time and look at the images. It definitely makes you stop and wonder what life is all about.
You can also check out the images on Matar’s Web site: http://www.raniamatar.com/.
Until next time,
Megy Karydes, Founder
www.World-Shoppe.com
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Creating a World Without Poverty Is Possible
Yesterday evening I had the opportunity to attend an event hosted by the Chicago Counsel on Global Affairs. The organization invited Muhammad Yunus, winner of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, founder and managing director of Grameen Bank, to speak to us about what prompted him to start Grameen Bank, what his challenges were, and what he has seen happen so far.
What if you could harness the power of the free market to solve the problems of poverty, hunger, and inequality? To some, it sounds impossible. But Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus is doing exactly that. As founder of Grameen Bank, Yunus pioneered microcredit, the innovative banking program that provides poor people—mainly women—with small loans they use to launch businesses and lift their families out of poverty. In the past thirty years, microcredit has spread to every continent and benefited over 100 million families.
Now, Yunus—in partnership with some of the world’s most visionary business leaders—has launched the world’s first purposely designed social businesses. From collaborating with Danone to produce affordable, nutritious yogurt for malnourished children in Bangladesh to building eyecare hospitals that will save thousands of poor people from blindness, he offers a glimpse of the amazing future with a planet transformed by thousands of social businesses. Yunus puts forward a pioneering model for nothing less than a new, more humane form of capitalism.
What I found most interesting (and inspiring) is that most of the people who have loans from Grameen Bank are women – women who are illiterate and often have never held money in their hands before. These are the same women whose husbands have felt don’t know about money or business. These women are now starting their own businesses and paying back the loans. They are contributing to the economical development of their communities. They are an integral part of their community and seen as such – and that’s powerful.
I’m so happy Dr. Yunus was able to visit us in Chicago and share his experience. It’s exciting to see so many great things happening all over the world to help reduce global poverty – and all because he and his bank are giving tiny loans to people who need it most.
Until next time…
Megy Karydes, Founder
www.World-Shoppe.com
What if you could harness the power of the free market to solve the problems of poverty, hunger, and inequality? To some, it sounds impossible. But Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus is doing exactly that. As founder of Grameen Bank, Yunus pioneered microcredit, the innovative banking program that provides poor people—mainly women—with small loans they use to launch businesses and lift their families out of poverty. In the past thirty years, microcredit has spread to every continent and benefited over 100 million families.
Now, Yunus—in partnership with some of the world’s most visionary business leaders—has launched the world’s first purposely designed social businesses. From collaborating with Danone to produce affordable, nutritious yogurt for malnourished children in Bangladesh to building eyecare hospitals that will save thousands of poor people from blindness, he offers a glimpse of the amazing future with a planet transformed by thousands of social businesses. Yunus puts forward a pioneering model for nothing less than a new, more humane form of capitalism.
What I found most interesting (and inspiring) is that most of the people who have loans from Grameen Bank are women – women who are illiterate and often have never held money in their hands before. These are the same women whose husbands have felt don’t know about money or business. These women are now starting their own businesses and paying back the loans. They are contributing to the economical development of their communities. They are an integral part of their community and seen as such – and that’s powerful.
I’m so happy Dr. Yunus was able to visit us in Chicago and share his experience. It’s exciting to see so many great things happening all over the world to help reduce global poverty – and all because he and his bank are giving tiny loans to people who need it most.
Until next time…
Megy Karydes, Founder
www.World-Shoppe.com
Thursday, January 17, 2008
What Counts?
I recently read a blurb in this month's Conscious Choice magazine that I wanted to share with you. The information was compiled by Jenny Rough and she sources the Potentia Foundation, International Women's Health Coalition. I thought the stats were particularly interesting and thought you might like to read them:
67% of the world's work is done by women
10% of the world's income is earned by women (Megy's note: so where does the other 57% go?)
1% of the world's property that is owned by women
15 - age by which 1 million of the world's girls will be forced to marry
15-19 - the typical age of brides in Sub-Saharan African (the average groom is 10 years older)
76 million girls in the world who have never received a single day of schooling
$35 is the cost of sending an Afghani girl to school for one year
$10 billion is the amount it would cost each year to send all the world's children to school by 2015 (less than the annual amount the world spends on ice cream)
Makes you stop and think, doesn't it?
Until next time...make it a fair trade day!
-Megy Karydes, Founder
www.World-Shoppe.com
67% of the world's work is done by women
10% of the world's income is earned by women (Megy's note: so where does the other 57% go?)
1% of the world's property that is owned by women
15 - age by which 1 million of the world's girls will be forced to marry
15-19 - the typical age of brides in Sub-Saharan African (the average groom is 10 years older)
76 million girls in the world who have never received a single day of schooling
$35 is the cost of sending an Afghani girl to school for one year
$10 billion is the amount it would cost each year to send all the world's children to school by 2015 (less than the annual amount the world spends on ice cream)
Makes you stop and think, doesn't it?
Until next time...make it a fair trade day!
-Megy Karydes, Founder
www.World-Shoppe.com
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
www.World-Shoppe.com's New Year's Resolutions
As we ended 2007, we were thankful for all of the support and kind words of our customers, friends and family. Since 2004, when we launched our e-boutique, we’ve been seeing sales increasing annually which is a wonderful testament to how far fair trade has been growing.
I wanted to share some www.World-Shoppe.com New Year’s resolutions with you so you can become more involved in our company’s growth, too!
1) Reach out to more customers to communicate the importance of fair trade
2) Educate more American consumers about our artisan partners and their handmade products.
3) Better merchandise and tell the story of our artisan partners at our new retail shop at the Andersonville Galleria (5247 N. Clark Street in Chicago’s popular Andersonville neighborhood).
4) Post blog entries more regularly so our customers and friends can hear and learn about things happening in our www.World-Shoppe.com community.
5) Continue to be involved in our local non-profit organization, Chicago Fair Trade. As an active board member, I feel we’re stronger as a team and we can do so much when we involve others! You can learn more about the group by visiting www.ChicagoFairTrade.org.
6) Continue to find great, high quality, handmade items from more artisan groups all over the world for our customers.
Think we’re missing something? Please let us know. Fair trade is more than just great handmade items from artisans – it’s about living. It’s about sharing our neighbor’s cultures and heritages with others. It’s about sharing. It’s about giving and receiving more than just physical and tangible products.
I’m excited to be a part of this movement and hope you’ll be right there with me this year.
Until next time…
Megy Karydes, Founder
www.World-Shoppe.com
I wanted to share some www.World-Shoppe.com New Year’s resolutions with you so you can become more involved in our company’s growth, too!
1) Reach out to more customers to communicate the importance of fair trade
2) Educate more American consumers about our artisan partners and their handmade products.
3) Better merchandise and tell the story of our artisan partners at our new retail shop at the Andersonville Galleria (5247 N. Clark Street in Chicago’s popular Andersonville neighborhood).
4) Post blog entries more regularly so our customers and friends can hear and learn about things happening in our www.World-Shoppe.com community.
5) Continue to be involved in our local non-profit organization, Chicago Fair Trade. As an active board member, I feel we’re stronger as a team and we can do so much when we involve others! You can learn more about the group by visiting www.ChicagoFairTrade.org.
6) Continue to find great, high quality, handmade items from more artisan groups all over the world for our customers.
Think we’re missing something? Please let us know. Fair trade is more than just great handmade items from artisans – it’s about living. It’s about sharing our neighbor’s cultures and heritages with others. It’s about sharing. It’s about giving and receiving more than just physical and tangible products.
I’m excited to be a part of this movement and hope you’ll be right there with me this year.
Until next time…
Megy Karydes, Founder
www.World-Shoppe.com
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