At lunchtime on Wednesday may 12th the event 'Pants Off' made fair trade underwareness. A group of fair trade conscious people met (helped by triple j shout out on the radio!) at RMIT Kaleide Theatre, stripped down to their 'Pants To Poverty' label underwear, braved the cold and strutted down with a cheeky grin to the state library proudly shouting along the way “Pants To Poverty!” The event was organised together by non-profit organisation RMIT fair trade collective and Pants To Poverty Australia to bring attention and awareness to the concept of fair trade as part of the 'Big Swap – Fair trade Fortnight' trying to encourage people to change to fair trade products.
The idea of fair trade is just that, FAIR..TRADE. I'm sure we all have heard about multi-nationals and big corporations with their lack of policies for human rights? Slave labour, child labour, practically trampling over and ruining already impoverished communities so that they can make big profits. Watched blood diamond? I know it's Hollywood, but gives you some idea. Wouldn't you, as the consumer want to know where your money is going and whom it effects and how? Making the swap to fair trade won't make much difference to us, but can make the world of difference to farmers and communities in third world countries. So please next time you're at a cafe or the grocers ask if they sell FairTrade products. All it takes is choosing to pick up the coffee or the chocolate that has the FairTrade mark over Nescafe or Mars.
“Fairtrade is about better prices, decent working conditions, local sustainability, and fair terms of trade for farmers and workers in the developing world. By requiring companies to pay sustainable prices, Fairtrade addresses the injustices of conventional trade, which traditionally discriminates against the poorest, weakest producers. It enables them to improve their position and have more control over their lives.” (http://fairtrade.com.au/about)
Pants to poverty is an underwear brand that started in 2005 in England as part of the global Make Poverty History campaign. “We are a new type of underwear brand. Not simply content to make some of the most comfortable and stylish pants on the planet, we work with thousands of farmers and factory workers in India to celebrate fashion as a beautiful tool to change the world!”(www.pantstopoverty.com) Pants to Poverty support over 5000 farmers in India today and they need our support, as consumers so that they can extend that support to more countries such as Africa and Asia.
For more of 'The Big Swap - fair trade fortnight' events please visit:
http://www.fairtrade.com.au/thebigswap
or to get involved, learn more about Fair Trade please visit:
www.fairtrade.com.au
For more information on Pants To Poverty please check out their website at: http://www.pantstopoverty.com.au
Simply enter your postcode and the website will return all its stores, cafes and products within a selected range of kilometres that have fairtrade products: (available as iphone App)
http://www.fairlylocal.com.au/search/
Video filmed on the day of event courtesy of www.vagmag.org :
http://www.youtube.com/user/vagabondmagazine#p/a/u/2/34CXs7MkZzo
More Photos from the event:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/album.php?aid=15432&id=10000060489006...
There will be another event like this when it gets warmer. If you would like to be part of the next Pants Off event you can join these facebook pages to keep updated:
Pants to poverty Australia or http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/profile.php?id=100000604890063&ref=ts
RMIT Fair Trade Collective or http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/RMIT-Fair-Trade-Collective/365...
****Photos courtesy of Laurence Barnes - http://flickr.com/laubarnes
