To those enviro-social activists who keep writing me passionate, emotionally-raw emails asking what clothes and shoes to buy: Fair trade? Or sweatshop free?

My answer is: They’re the same thing.

Okay, they’re not EXACTLY the same thing. Basically, sweatshop-free means the stuff you’re buying wasn’t produced through slave (or slave-like) labor. Fair trade is like a subset of sweatshop-free. Basically, fair trade apparel means that the goods were made sweatshop free AND in a “third-world” country.

Meaning: both sweatshop-free and fair trade denote fair labor practices. Sweatshop-free can mean fair labor anywhere, where as fair trade means fair labor PLUS international trade.

More practically, sweatshop-free can mean LA-made by fairly-paid LA-workers, OR made in China by workers paid fair wages. In contrast, fair trade can ONLY mean made in a different country like China or Kenya but sold to the “west.”

My advice is: Don’t stress too much about the diffs between sweatshop-free or fair trade. Sure — If you want yr money to go to yr local garment industry, then vote for LA made, sweatshop-free stuff. If you’re about supporting “third-world” garment makers who’ve gotten a raw deal in the world trade market, then by all means, look for the fair trade label first. My point is, they’re both good options, especially considering all the NON sweatshop-free, UN-fair trade stuff clogging up our consumer options.

And for those of ya who think sweatshop-free, fair trade stuff is crunchy, ugly shit, look at the cute, fairly made, enviro clothes here :)

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