I have a priceless bracelet

This bracelet is priceless.

Actually, it cost my parents $9.99 at the Taronga Zoo gift shop, but don't tell them that I know that. It was a birthday present, and birthday presents are always suppose to have an undisclosed price value. I am not sure why. Perhaps it is to represent how the giver sees the receiver as 'priceless', and so wants to emulate that in a gift? So using that logic, why not just give them an empty jar, because air is priceless, is it not? Tangent time. Must stop now.

So anyway, this bracelet is actually priceless to me. It was made by the local women of Tanzania (I wish that the label would give a more enlightening/detailed description, but that is the best that I have) who receive half of the profits from the sale of this item (only five bucks I know, but a little bit does go a long way), and the other half is dedicated to helping fund regeneration projects to ensure that there is enough savannah for the giraffes to graze in. A tall order, (geddit) but a very noble one indeed.

Products that are produced with a conscious is a passion of mine. I have receipts dating back to 2011 of online purchases of all sorts of fair trade chocolate, mats, bowls, key rings and paintings, especially from the Oxfam shop. I have to tell myself, LIMIT YOUR PURCHASES! Now that I have moved out of home and am finally independently supporting myself, I can afford to buy more expensive items, but at the moment, I do not need anymore. For now.

So, get passionate about Fair Trade items! Fun fact - my first Facebook profile picture was this:

Which is the symbol that you need to look out for on products to make sure that they are actually Fair Trade. Aldi supermarkets also have a UTZ label:

Which operates under a similar logic. These products are guaranteed to have no association with malpractice in the cocoa production industry  in terms of fair wages for employees, child labour and general human rights abuse. Whilst you are at it, looking for the rainforest alliance label is also super-duper:

As we really need to ensure the wellbeing of our wildlife for many generations to come.

Watching the documentary, The Dark Side of Chocolate last year made me really appreciate the need for transparency and fairness in the cocoa harvesting industry. The shocking instances where children were trafficked from their local communities made me feel outraged. How could this happen? I had no idea that the simple act of me purchasing chocolate had such a flow on effect, to the point whereby communities were suffering at the loss of their children.

So the next time that you are buying a birthday gift for someone, or browsing the aisles of your local supermarket, please choose the black, blue and green logo!