Fair Trade Plush Toys

I'm really excited to introduce, for the first time in the U.S., a line of super-cute, fair trade and organic cotton plush toys from France. The line is from Papili, a brand new 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.

Why is Fair Trade important? Take the article I recently read by a BBC journalist 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 that children can harvest the cotton.

Human rights groups estimate some 450,000 children are working in 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. But what about American companies? Check out the entire article at Child labour and the High Street.


Get 10% off the Papili collection with coupon code "papili" at Zoë b Organic. Offer ends 04/30/08