!Hello everyone! Thanks for checking out the SlideShare for “Fair Trade and the Power of the Conscious Consumer.” My name is Toby Kriwiel, and I am the founder of a new Fair Trade

sports brand, Matano. You can check out Matano’s website at www.matano.co

I am very passionate about the Fair Trade movement and am excited to share about this topic with you today!

In the world today, there is currently an estimated 1.2 BILLION people living in extreme poverty. I know this is a vague statistic to emotionally absorb, but this means that these people are living

on less than $1.25 a day.

This 1.2 billion people living in extreme poverty equates to about 14% of the world’s population.

However, for “low-income countries,” 44% of their population are living in extreme poverty.

Now many of these “low-income” countries actually have valuable exports to offer, but they don’t currently have the ability to really capitalize on those exports. This is one of the main reasons why

the poverty level is so high in these countries.

It is not the lack of resources, but lack of access to the market that hinders their ability to move out of poverty.

And to top it off, many of the big brands that use the exports from “low-income” countries are

consistently pushing down on the cost of labor and cost of production. This increases the profits of these companies, but often can come with serious human rights issues in their supply chains.

The Fair Trade movement is an alternative to this system of business. It’s driven by companies and

consumers who want products that have a positive impact on the people who made them, and on the overall environment.

Fair Trade is a certification for products that makes sure the workers who made the products are being

treated fairly.

What this means for the workers is that they:

1. Can earn a “livable wage.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Living_wage) 2. Have a more supportive working environment. 3. And most importantly, there is no child labor or forced labor

There are two main non-profit organizations who certify products as Fair Trade:

1. Fair Trade USA 2. Fair Trade International

These organizations essentially audit the producers of Fair Trade products, to ensure that the workers are being treated fairly, and also that they are following the environmental guidelines as well.

So, when you are out shopping and you see one of these labels ^^^ … you will know that this product

was made ethically and is eco-friendly.

So what does all this mean for you, the consumer?

I didn’t want to put these slides together just to explain what Fair Trade is, but rather I wanted to show you the impact you can have as a consumer, and why you should choose Fair Trade.

I think we need to better recognize the power that we carry as consumers.

There are HUGE brands paying millions of dollars to get our attention…. And this gives us power!

Imagine if every consumer in America stopped buying a certain brand’s clothing because it was found that

they use child or forced labor in the production of their clothes. One of two things would happen: 1. They would quickly figure out how to produce their clothing ethically

2. Or the brand would eventually fail, because they would have no sales.

And this doesn’t just apply to Fair Trade. Even when we choose to buy an item from the local hardware store

or the big-box retailer… We are choosing to support something with every purchase we make.

There’s a new wave of businesses who are intertwining social impact with their business strategy.

As this sector of “Social Enterprise” grows, the amount of products that have a social impact has grown as well.

Now consumers can choose to support brands that are having social impact in almost every industry of

personal items. You can get your clothes, shoes, socks, groceries, ice cream, coffee….

…. sports balls, eyeglasses, headphones, medical scrubs, and sports apparel.

You can get all of these items and have a positive impact on the world.

The fact that there is 1.2 billion people living in extreme poverty really bothered me, but I didn’t know much

about what I could do. I knew I could donate money to non-profits who are doing great work to alleviate poverty, which I am all for. But I really wanted my everyday lifestyle to be having a positive impact as well.

As I’ve researched the Fair Trade movement and found many Social Enterprises, I’ve realized that I can have

a positive impact in the world simply by being a Conscious Consumer and by remembering:

“Behind every product is a person.”

Thank you for your time! I hope you are encouraged to live your life in a way that positively impacts the world

every day! Please feel free to connect with me via social media if you have any questions/comments.

You can also check out the (rough) talk I gave using these slides here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0lUQseeh90

Peace. - Toby K.