AP’s Holiday Sale! Get a head start – supplies are limited!

 

Fair Trade-Organic Cocktails: Midsummer Mango Mojitos

Awww there is nothing quite like a refreshing cocktail to cool down on those warm midsummer evenings. Even better, when that cocktail is made with Fair Trade and organic ingredients. One of our favorite drinks of all time are mojitos, however in the summer heat, the classic minty flavor just ins’t enough to cool down. In order to solve this we have added one of the newest in Fair Trade certified products and a delicious, refreshing fruit: mangoes!

Midsummer Mango Mojitos 

• 1/4 Cup Fair Trade Maine Root Lemon Lime Soda
• 1 oz Fair Trade Organic Papagayo Light Rum
• 1/4 Cup Fresh Crushed Fair Trade mangoes 
• 4-5 Organic Fresh Mint Leaves

Peel the mango and cut into slices. Mush the mango in a bowl an set aside. In a sturdy cup, drop the mint leaves in and add 1 ounce of rum. Let the leaves soak for about a minute and muddle with a muddler or handle of a wooden spoon. Add in 1/4 cup of mushed mango and mix. Add in ice and pour the lemon lime soda. Mix and garnish with a sprig of mint or lime wedge.

 

More Than Just a T-Shirt: Our ‘Fair Trade’ Tee

You may have noticed that within our collection of USA-made, graphic tees, one tee is actually produced in India: our ‘Fair Trade’ tee — and you’ll see that through its impact on its workers and the environment, it certainly lives up to its name!

Our workers are treated respectfully: Our ‘Fair Trade’ tee is produced in conjunction with Hae Now, an organic, animal-friendly and Fair Trade manufacturer in southern India. In an industry that typically exploits its workers with meager wages and sweatshop-like conditions, Hae Now’s workers receive independently assessed fair living wages, safe working conditions, as well as medical, paid leave, retirement benefits, job training, and free education for their dependents. Additionally, our workers are paid pre-harvest with fair prices, which means reliable and steady income.

Organic cotton means no harmful chemicals: The cotton used to produce our ‘Fair Trade’ tee is farmed from a farmer-owned collective in central India. Cotton is considered the world’s ‘dirtiest’ crop due to its heavy use of pesticides — the pesticides used in cotton were originally developed as toxic nerve agents during World War II! Therefore you can imagine how harmful they can be to farmers and the environment: poisoning farm workers, drifting into neighboring communities, contaminating ground and surface water, and kill beneficial insects. The cotton we use in our Fair Trade tee is entirely organic: no pesticides means no ill-effects on workers, farmers, and the environment.

Sustainable farming is practiced throughout: Sustainable techniques like hand-farming, botanical pest control, and crop-rotation are practiced at our farms in India. Besides being better for the environment, crop-rotation gets rid of many costs associated with disease and pest control. Oftentimes Indian farmers rely heavily on expensive pesticides, which easily drags them into spiraling debt. Practices like crop-rotation uses no pesticides and keeps soil enriched and healthy. Because organic, sustainable farming is more labor-intensive, it’s become a powerful vehicle in worker empowerment by creating job opportunities at all levels.

Proceeds support our local community: For every ‘Fair Trade’ tee sold, $5 goes to Fair Trade Resource Network and Fair Trade Boston to help them continue to promote Fair Trade and grow the movement!

And an additional fun fact: the design on our ‘Fair Trade’ tee came from a t-shirt design contest we held last year! High schooler Cathi Schwemin from Hanover, Massachusetts produced this design after learning about the common exploitation of workers and discovering Fair Trade.

**In celebration of World Fair Trade Day, we’re excited to share that our ‘Fair Trade’ tee is 50% off! It’s on sale at www.autonomieproject.com. Know that with this tee, you’re not just looking good, but you’re also supporting so a very important movement of ethical, safe, and fair treatment.

 

Autonomie Project Ethical Pet Collection PLUS Two New Low-top sneakers!

 

Mother’s Day Gifts That Spread Your Ethics

It just so happens that Mother’s Day lands on the same weekend we are celebrating World Fair Trade Day! It also comes a few weeks after Earth Day and some are even suggesting celebrating Mother Earth Day. The great thing about all these holidays falling so near each other is that you can purchase your Mother’s Day gift while celebrating Fair Trade and the Earth. We have come up with a fun list of ethical gifts to give your mom, whether they be Fair Trade or eco-friendly, they’re sure to bring a smile to any Mother’s face.

Mother’s Day Ethical Gift Guide

Re-cycled Cards: Every Mom loves a card that expresses her child’s love. Rather than spending $5 on a store-bought card, make one out of old cards and paper around the house. This is an especially fun project with small children, as they will enjoy making something for Mom. There are tons of great sites online that will give you ideas. Here are a few we like: Recycled Items, e-How, and Mother’s Day Cards.

Organic Herbs: If your Mother has a green thumb, check out some of these great gift ides. We love the Growbottle, which are indoor hydro-gardens. The look is modern and sleek and you can choose from organic chives, basil, oregano, mint, and parsley. Just pick out your gardening Mom’s favorite herb or buy her the whole set. Another great idea is to give her a set of organic seeds which she can grow in her outdoor garden. Seeds of Change is a wonderful resource and you should be able to find organic seed packets at any local hardware/garden store.

Fair Trade Goodies:  No mother can so no to a goodie basket! Try putting together your own basket of Fair Trade treats. Chocolate is a great place to start. Fortunately, Fair Trade chocolate is made in many forms from bars to truffles. You can also add  Fair Trade wine or vodka to eat with the candies. If your Mom doesn’t drink, check for Fair Trade soda, tea, or coffee.

Fair Trade Scarves:  No Mom can deny a good scarf, especially if it comes with an ethical background. Luckily Fair Trade scarves are fairly easy to find.  There are a lot of lovely scarves to be found at Fair Trade stores such as Ten Thousand Villages, World of Good, and Global Good Partners, all who carry Fair Trade products. We especially love the”Block Printed Scarf” from Global Good Partners.

Green Jewelry: And we don’t mean the color here. There are plenty of great eco-friendly jewelry on the market. If you are looking for something to really dazzle your Mother, check out Green Karat. They use recycled gold, silver, and gems and never use diamond mining in their jewelry. If you are looking for something a little less fancy, check World of Good and Etsy for recycled or eco jewelry. We personally love these Fair Trade and eco bracelets from the Andean Collection. They are made with the  Tagua nut, harvested from the forest floor.

Fair Trade/Organic Flowers: We know our Mothers love getting flowers for Mother’s Day, so if you want to go this route, you have an ethical choice. Take a look at Organic Style.  Not only are many of their flowers organic with high labor standards, their vases and packaging are recycled and they purchase carbon offsets. You can choose from beautiful roses to Spring mixed bouquets.

Fair Trade/Organic Tee: If your Mom is the laid back type that likes to wear her heart on her sleeve. Why not get her this organic, Fair Trade certified tee from Autonomie Project. When she wears it, she can promote her and your philosophy of Fair Trade. She’ll not only think of you while wearing it, but spread the values of Fair Trade.

 

World Fair Trade Day Scavenger Hunt!

Next week marks the beginning of World Fair Trade Day! It’s a day to celebrate and bring awareness to the issues of labor rights and Fair Trade. Only a few days after International Worker’s Rights Day, World Fair Trade Day is just as important when it comes to labor issues. It is a day to draw attention to a different way to do commerce, a responsible way.  Although there are many ways to support Fair Trade in your daily life, but to celebrate the movement in one day across the world is pretty exciting!

What’s more exciting is we are participating in Fair Trade Boston’s World Fair Trade Day Scavenger Hunt! We have teamed up with Fair Trade Boston and Cambridge’s Sudo Shoes to participate in this awesome fair trade party. The Scavenger Hunt will take place all over the cities of Boston, Cambridge and Brookline on Saturday May 12th from noon to 3pm.  People wanting to participate are encouraged to RSVP and download the free SCVNR app.

All day on Saturday, participants will be visiting many locations including Ten Thousand Villages, Ben & Jerry’s, and Sudo Shoes. The best part is you can win a Fair Trade prize at every location you visit! The more locations you visit, the more likely you will win one of the Grand Prizes from awesome Fair Trade companies including yours truly (Autonomie Project), Ten Thousand Villages, Equal Exchange, Haley House, Ben &
Jerry’s, and City Feed and Supply.

But the fun doesn’t end there! After the Scavenger Hunt ends, everyone is invited to a Fair Trade Ice Cream Social! All are asked to meet at the Equal Exchange Cafe to have delicious Fair Trade ice cream floats from Ben & Jerry’s, Maine Root, and Equal Exchange.

We are super excited to be participating in such a unique and fun event for Boston area residents! If you are in the area, please join us for the Fair Trade Scavenger Hunt on May 12th and win some awesome Fair Trade goodies. Why not go?

 

Celebrate International Womens’s Day with Fair Trade

Today is International Women’s Day, a time to celebrate the accomplishments of powerful gender of female. But also, it is a day to highlight the struggles that continue for women today. The theme of 2012 is “Connecting Girls, Inspiring Futures.”  We thing it is a perfect theme for Fair Trade to embrace, as Fair Trade is a viable and empowering alternative to conventional life for many women. In several countries around the world, Fair Trade is sometimes the only outlet woman have to find work to send their children to school and thus improving the lives of their families.

As a female owned and founded business, International Women’s Day is important to us. We thought in honor of the day, we would highlight some of our own Fair Trade woman warriors. One of our products that uses plenty of female Fair Trade power is our footwear. Ethletic sneakers, flip flops, and rain boots are all made from Fair Trade sourced rubber, tapped right out of a certified sustainable rubber forest. Many of the female workers here are Tamils, which have long been disenfranchised and oppressed by the ruling government. Many women in the region do not have many options available to them. But working at the Fair Trade Rubber Plantation is a viable option. The women who work there receive health care for themselves and their children, assistance with school, and they banded together to bring water and electricity to their villages. Society and the government does not give these women advancement or access to their needs, so they have empowered themselves and are working for Fair Trade ideals. Now that their children can go to school and electricity is running in their towns, the next generation will have even more opportunity then the last.

Another great female empowerment story is behind the Proxy Jewelry we carry. The jewelry is made by a women’s worker owned cooperative in Guatemala. The women live in a community outside Guatemala City and had very little opportunity to find work. That’s when they decided to take their lives into their own hands by starting a co-op. As owners, they have full control over their lives and work, in fact every member of their cooperative has an equal vote. Using their awesome jewlery making abilities and sewing skills together, they now run a cooperative where the children receive help with school, healthcare, and child care as well. They also now run a soy milk store and school through their cooperative. We are completely impressed with their story and find it inspiring. Since they could not find work through conventional means, they made work for themselves and have improved their own lives as well as their families and most important their children.

Both the female Fair Trade workers of Sri Lanka and Guatemala have met the theme of International Women’s Day by connecting each other and definitely inspiring the future. They have chosen to provide for their families and inspire their daughters to make an even better future for themselves. And every time you support the products they have made and other Fair Trade items like these, you are empowering them even further.

In celebration of all the awesome women behind our Fair Trade workers you can find the Ethletic Flip Flops on sale for only $5.50 (that’s a 75% savings) and all the Proxy Jewerly 10% off.  Both are great to add to your upcoming Spring wardrobe and even better you can tell their story every time someone compliments your style. So here is to all the female workers of the world: Happy International Women’s Day from the women workers at Autonomie Project. <3

 

Our Favorite Fair Trade Valentine’s Gifts

Valentine’s Day is meant to spread love and devotion to those around you. So when you are choosing what to give your sweetie or loved one, think about the energy that was put into the product you buy. Purchasing something ethical, such as fair trade goods, will be made with love that you can pass on to your recipient. We enjoy buying ethically and are excited to choose Fair Trade for our Valentine’s Day needs. We have done a few gift guides for Fair Trade Valentine’s over the years, but this year we decided to choose our favorite Fair Trade V-Day gifts! Sending our fair love to you.

Sweet Earth Chocolates Heart Box

1) Sweet Earth Chocolates Heart Box: Who doesn’t love a good box of chocolates? We love Sweet Earth Chocolate’s Red or God Heart Box which are filled with 11 heart shaped chocolates. We prefer the Gold Box, filled with an assortment of vegan chocolates. All their sweets are Fair Trade and organic. Plus the traditional red and gold heart shaped box gives an old school feel to your Valentine’s Day. Also, you can’t beat the price, coming in around $22.50 for organic, fair trade, and gourmet chocolates.

 

Organic Style Crown Majesty Roses

2) Organic Style Crown Majesty Roses: Not usually a fan of pink, but this beautiful light pink rose bouquet is one of our favorites. Organic Style is a great eco and socially conscious flower company that we have used on many occasions. These beautiful, antique looking roses are Fair Trade and have high labor standards. On top of that, the flowers are EcoBlooms certified, certified sustainable, the vase is made from recycled glass, all packaging is recycled, and shipping is green using carbon offsets. All around this bouquet and many like it on Organic Style’s website is all around ethical!

Ten Thousand Villages Valentine Banner Card

3) Ten Thousand Villages Be Mine Banner: If you are looking to make a big statement this Valentine’s Day, consider Ten Thousand Villages Be Mine Banner Card. The card states “Be Mine, I’m Yours” on a handmade Fair Trade card from Bangladesh. The red and pink card is made from Water Hyacinth paper and comes with it’s own envelope. You could give it as a card or hang it as a banner to spice things up! Plus you can’t beat the price at $7.00!

 

Ten Thousand Villages Hearts Afloat Candles

4) Ten Thousand Villages Hearts Afloat Candles: Spice up your night with these lovely floating Fair Trade candles. These lovely candles are handmade in India and would really get the romantic vibe right in a bath for two or set the tone for dinner by floating in a centerpiece. They come in a nice box which states “Melt My Heart” so they are already gift wrapped for those on the go.  You can’t miss with these thoughtful and sweet Fair Trade candles.

 

World of Good Cupcake Set

5) World of Good Cupcake Set: If you want to show your cupcake just what you think of her, here is the perfect gift! The matching handmade and Fair Trade cupcake earrings and necklace are made in Mexico. This adorable set is perfect for any cupcake in your life including your daughter, friend, wife, girlfriend, or even mother. We love the simple and cutesy look of this set and would be proud to wear it ourselves.

 

Autonomie Project Fair Trade Jewelry Sale

6) Last But Not Least:  We couldn’t help but take the time to announce our own lovely Fair Trade Valentine’s Gifts at Autonomie.While some of our items are unconventional gifts such as red sneakers and flip flops, we do have beautiful Fair Trade Jewelry from our friends at Proxy Apparel.  And just because we love our customers so much, we have a Valentine’s Sale going now of up to 50% off and an additional 15% off when you purchase two pairs of sneakers.

 

Autonomie’s Big Valentine’s Day Sale!

 

The New Corporation: NY & CA Ahead of the Curve

In mid December a groundbreaking law was quietly approved in Albany, NY. Not even a month later the same exciting law went into effect in Sacramento, CA, with people in line to sign up. So what could this new innovative law be? It is the beginning of a new era in responsible companies! Both California and New York were the first to enact a law that would include conscious corporations as a type of business. Not only will these new laws benefit the corporations who are certified, but society.

Companies who will be classified as “Benefit Corporations” will be held accountable for how their business impact the environment, their workers, and their community. They will be required to publicly publish environmental and social performance which will be monitored by third parties. Basically, this is going to provide a new frontier of transparency for the consumer and a new era of corporate responsibility. The New York law was largely written and sponsored by B-Corp, which has spearheaded the idea of the benefit corporation for a while now. Their co-founder, Andrew Kassay, urged the importance of this law taking effect, “The benefit corporation bill will unlock billions of dollars in impact investment capital and enable entrepreneurs across [NY] to start businesses that solve some of society’s greatest challenges.”

The real question is, will corporations and businesses make this move? Will they want to become a Benefit Corp? It seems likely, especially in the wake of California’s inauguration of the bill. Classification of Benefit Corporation began on January 3rd, 2012, with twelve eager companies ready to sign up! The first and possibly the largest to sign up was the clothing company, Patagonia, which has long lead the way in environmental outdoor clothing. They had championed the bill and wanted to show their support by being the first company to file in 2012. Founder and CEO, Yvon Chouinard, released a statement about the historic day: ”Patagonia is trying to build a company that could last 100 years. Benefit corporation legislation creates the legal framework to enable mission-driven companies like Patagonia to stay mission-driven through succession, capital raises, and even changes in ownership.“ Some other companies who signed up this year were Give Something Back Office Supplies, Green Retirement Plans, and Thinkshift Communication to name a few.

Major corporations such as Patagonia and smaller green/socially conscious businesses signing up means good news for the consumer and new Benefit Corporation classification. This could also mean good news for states like NY and CA who adopt this legislation. With the economy causing businesses to flee these states due to high taxes, bureaucracy, and expensive property, this could be a useful for drawing in new business or keeping other socially conscious businesses in state.

A new way of business has begun and we are happy to see it happen. Even better news, in both NY and CA, the bills were able to pass without much object. This means the political and social climate is accepting of transparent business tactics and changes like these could take hold in other states. Now if only more states could come on board, Benefit corporations could flourish in our nation.