Building a World of Good

"If you could change a life while you shop ... would you add it to your shopping list?"

When I first heard about World of Good this past summer, the idea struck me as nothing short of brilliant. With the holiday season upon us, it seems like a perfect new venture to keep in mind as we engage in the festivities of giving, receiving, reflecting, and planning for the new year.

Okay, so what is World of Good? And why is it a big deal?

For 5,580 artisans and their families from 34 countries around the globe, World of Good, Inc. provides a bridge to the U.S. retail market, thereby providing an opportunity for these artisans to share their best work, while at the same time gaining access to fair wages, safe working conditions and long-term economic sustainability.

Since 2004, women in the United States have purchased more than one million Fair Trade products from World of Good. That translates into one million choices of empowerment instead of exploitation. World of Good, Inc. is creating, well ... a - world - of good.

E-commerce is one of the main channels used by World of Good to distribute the artisan products it sources from developing countries around the world. While e-commerce has been around for over a decade, with companies like Amazon and Netflix now enjoying household name status in many U.S. homes, World of Good's spin on e-commerce is a fresh, perhaps cutting edge, model that provides a glimpse of the direction that many companies are bound to follow as the trend in sustainability and equitable, fair trade commerce goes mainstream.

The great news is that World of Good's socially responsible business practices turn out to be good for the bottom line as well. With a presence in over 1,000 retail locations, as well as an online presence, World of Good reported sales growth of 300% in 2006.

The impact is significant in artisan communities: sixty to seventy percent of the artisans providing fair trade handcrafted products are women, and often these women are mothers and the sole wage earners in the home. According to World of Good ...

"Through Fair Trade craft production, women improve the lives of their families, as well as their own lives, and report that their work has given them self esteem and the opportunity to participate in decision making in their communities.

Studies show that when the earning power of women increases to more than $2 per day, there are many quantifiable social impacts such as decreased infant mortality, longer life expectancy, and lower health care costs."

As if all this was not "good" enough, World of Good, Inc. further helps to improve the lives of its artisans by re-investing 10% of profits in the artisan communities through its non-profit partner, the World of Good: Development Organization, a 501(c)(3) focused on strengthening international fair trade industry standards and implementing commmunity development projects.

So, with each purchase of one of World of Good's beautiful handicraft items, consumers can contribute to the economic and social improvement of artisan communities around the world.

Fair Trade products are a bridge to economic freedom. In the things we buy, Fair Trade is the ability to shape the lives of people in a respectful, humanitarian manner. It is a way of doing business in which everyone in the supply chain can benefit.

Priya Haji, Co-Founder and CEO, World of Good, Inc.