Organiska och rättvisemärkta mjukisar

I'm really happy to introduce a line of super-cute, fair trade and organic cotton plush toys from France. It is very rare one can find organic toys certified Fair Trade.

The soft toys line is from Papili, a small French company, and is certified by the Fair Trade label Max Havelaar. That means the entire process - from growing the cotton to manufacturing - adheres to strict fair trade standards.

The objective of this small French company is to participate and contribute to a more ethic and fair trade. The soft toys are made of organic cotton labelled Max Havelaar, from ecologically cultivated cotton in Mali and have been produced in Tunisia by small organisations under Fair Trade work conditions. A Fair Trade label is attached to toys thus certifying that the toys have been tested, both for its natural quality and social aspect (fair paid and no child labour).


Why is Fair Trade important? In my regular search about Fair Trade, I discovered a BBC article which I think I should share with you. It is about cotton harvesting in Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan is the 2nd largest exporter of cotton in the world. I was shocked to learn that the Uzbek government closes schools from September to November - so children can participate in the harvest of the cotton.

Human rights groups estimate some 450,000 children are working on the cotton fields of Uzbekistan during every harvest. The goal of the BBC journalist was to find out if major UK companies like Marks & Spencer knew where the cotton used by their suppliers was coming from, since that department store prides itself on its strict ethical standards. It appears that they did not. Since then, many European companies have banned their suppliers from using Uzbek cotton.

Check out the entire article at Child labour and the High Street.