Eco – Congregation Green Sheet No.7

Some details from the

Traidcraft Make Poverty History Campaign.

· Of $3.6 trillion goods exchanged globally, fair trade accounts for only 0.1%.

· More than 1 billion people live on less than 60p per day.

· 60-70% of the artisans providing fair trade hand-crafted products are women. Often these women are mothers and the sole wage earners in the home.

· Traidcraft has almost 300 different products sourced from more than 100 producer groups in almost 30 developing countries.

· Sales of fair trade products have been gaining momentum in the UK in recent years and they are now more widely available than ever before.

A few notes on Traidcraft

· We Trade: By selling their products and providing support, Traidcraft plc help craft workers and farmers across Africa, Asia and Latin America build a better future for themselves, their families and their communities. We also show that it’s possible to run a good business without exploiting people. Traidcraft Exchange has been involved in setting up trading companies in developing countries and facilitating links between poor producers and international buyers.

· We Support: We work with local people to help them trade nationally and internationally. Producers often lack the knowledge and skills to access markets.Traidcraft Exchange provides information, training and consultancy – practical support which makes a real difference.

St. Bridget’s Eco - Congregation Award Application

· We have applied for the above award and are now awaiting two inspectors to come and assess us. These are volunteers, and one will be a person who understands the church context and one will be someone who is much more of an environmental expert. As they are volunteers it takes a while to recruit people who have the time, so we may wait a little while for our inspection. We will obviously keep you informed of our progress, and when we gain the award, St. Bridget’s will of course continue to add to all we’ve achieved so far as it’s an ongoing practice.

· Do look in the Eco – Congregation file at the back of church, there is lots of information in there regarding advertisements for green products, for ethical investment advice, bible study notes, newspaper articles on environmental financial and ethical issues, recycling envelopes for ink cartridges and mobile phones and lots of other relative information which you can add to or copy.

· Don’t forget that on most Sundays there is a collection bucket for safe disposal of your household batteries and Kathrin Holme has been in contact with our MP to lobby for a disposal site that will be more local than we have at the moment.

· You can also purchase environmentally safe cleaning products from Sue Harrison on the 2^nd Sunday of the month and at a sensible price in the Church Centre.

· At the back of Church there is a wide variety of ethical, science, nature, and environmental magazines for you to take and read and then pass around your friends, these have kindly been donated by congregation members in another form of recycling!

· Should anyone like to have a go at doing a Green Sheet themselves on something they feel we should all be aware of and which will help to protect our planet, please tel. Sally on 625 2659.