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Back in 2007, we set ourselves a challenge for Fairtrade Fortnight: to find fair trade wedding items for every day of the fortnight.

It was pretty tough going sometimes but we did it.  Now, 6 years on, we’re doing it again – and we’re hoping it will be a lot easier! We’ll also see who’s still fighting the Fairtrade fight from the suppliers we spotted in 2007.

Fair trade retailer, Ten Thousand Villages – Horizon Collection pictured – offers a gift registry

Today we’re looking at fair trade gift lists and gift options (see our 2007 Fairtrade Fortnight Gift List post here). It’s important because this is one area that goes beyond the Big Day right into your married life together. And while your guests browse your fabulous, fair trade choices, who knows? It might just tempt them to make a few fair trade purchases of their own.

Now it’s over to Tara to take us through her top tips for fair trade gifts…

Seven seriously fair wedding gift list ideas

Your first port of call for research and info about Faitrade gifts and products should undoubtedly be The Fairtrade Foundation where you’ll find an exhaustive list of suppliers who stock luxury, Fairtrade certified products. From cotton sheets to chocolate and fine wine, you can choose from a growing range of ethical items which help improve the livelihoods of producers in the developing world.

As for the wedding gift list mechanism itself, after a flurry of activity around the time we did our original Fairtrade Fortnight Challenge – when a new ethical gift list seemed to launch every week, many sites now appear to have abandoned it (a sad goodbye to Fairgift.co.uk who launched in 2007 and closed early this year).

Perhaps it was too costly or too complicated to run, whatever the case, there are still more fantastic, fair trade gifts out there than ever so there’s nothing to stop you from setting up your own gift list from your favourite fair trade websites using a free wedding list maker such as wishwish.co.uk or whattogive.com.

1. Ganesha

Still going strong after featuring in our 2007 post, Ganesha is a fair trade partnership with a shop on London’s South Bank.  They import beautiful, quality home furnishings and accessories from India, sourced from or developed with co-operatives and producer associations.

2. Ten Thousand Villages

One for our US and Canadian readers, Ten Thousand Villages offers:

“Intricately embroidered textiles from India, carved wood from Kenya, finely worked silver from Nepal. Ten Thousand Villages is your fair trade source for distinctive home decor, textiles, tabletop items and giftware. All of our products are handcrafted by fairly paid artisans in 38 countries around the world.”

What’s more they do have their very own online gift registry so we say use it, don’t lose it!

3. Daisy Daisy Ethical Gifts

Daisy Daisy Ethical Gifts are proud members of the British Association for Fair Trade Shops and Suppliers (BAFTS) and specialise in bringing together a fabulous collection of Fair Trade and Ethical gift ideas from around the world, “All of our gifts and goodies are lovingly chosen for their unique style and ethical credentials“.

4. Traidcraft

One of the first fair trade retailers, with everything from fabulous fashion and accessories to unique homeware and gifts, Traidcraft’s new range of fair trade products makes a difference to their producers’ lives in the developing world.

5. The Fairtrade Furniture Company

For those relatives with a slightly bigger budget, or bigger pressure to purchase a substantial gift for their offspring, The Fairtrade Furniture Company sell a range of distinctive furniture. A small, family-owned company, they are committed to making fair trade a way of life, to minimising their environmental footprint and to complete transparency in their communications.

6. The Fair Traders Co-operative

The Fair Traders Co-operative was launched in 2010 by members of the Holme Valley Fairtrade Support Group.

They say: “We are pleased to offer a wedding list service for discerning couples who want to receive fairly traded and ethical gifts on their wedding day. Every item stocked by The Fair Traders Co-operative has been assessed for it’s social, economic and environmental impact.”

Find out more about their fair trade wedding gift list service here.

7. FAIR

Located in the heart of sunny Brighton in Sussex, Fair is an independent shop dedicated to fair trade and eco fashion and products.

Their gorgeous shop is well worth a visit but they also trade online where in addition to ethical fashion you’ll find a range of fair trade homeware items, including super soft, organic, fair trade cotton bedding in a choice of colours.

The 2007 survivors

Before we leave you for today, we wanted to give a quick shout out to the fair trade suppliers still fighting the fair fight since we wrote about them in 2007. Ganesha we mentioned above but One World Shop in Scotland is also going from strength to strength and offers a wedding gift list if you get in touch with them.

Meanwhile, your guests can buy you vouchers for our other 2 survivors, Chandni Chowk and One World Is Enough.

We’ll be back tomorrow with some fair trade decorations and favours to brighten up your fair trade wedding.

Tara Gould

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