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| Help create jobs in sub-Saharan Africa when you buy organic t-shirts and blank t-shirts from edun LIVE, the socially conscious brand created by Ali Hewson and Bono. |
Why is this important? It is important because Africa accounted for six percent of world trade in 1980, but by 2002, Africa’s share of world trade had dropped to only two percent. If Africa could regain its share by one percentage point, the continent would earn an additional $70 billion in exports each year. The skills required in clothing manufacture are ones that many can learn, and the investments are relatively low. As a result, the clothing industry is a primary means by which these struggling African economies can climb onto the ladder of development. Your edun LIVE purchase provides these communities with jobs that otherwise might not exist. This leads to better education for their children, better health care, and an all around better standard of living. Sustainable trade like this is truly an effective way of alleviating poverty in Africa.
Why organic? By now, everyone who doesn't live under a rock knows the multitudinous benefits of organic food, but did you know that organic clothing is super-important too? Click on this link to find out why organic cotton is so important to edun LIVE and to me. I first learned about organic cotton when I worked for Patagonia a few years back. About 12 years ago, Patagonia did something brave and dangerous (if you care about profit, that is)...they switched all their cotton to organic! For the environmentally-conscious company, it was like seeing the wizard behind the curtain: once they saw how detrimental to the environment conventional growing practices of cotton crops are, they couldn't possibly continue on with producing conventional cotton products. So they threw back the curtain and went totally organic. This switch was costly and difficult - they couldn't even find enough organic cotton farmers to fill their production needs - they had to get farmers to switch back to organic growing! However, this switch not only helped the environment, it also provided an educational platform for people to learn about what was really going on in the conventional cotton crops, and a way for more farmers to grow cotton without poisoning their land, their family, and themselves. So there you have it...my first experience with organic cotton and now another - edun LIVE.
What else? edun LIVE is a sub-brand of EDUN Clothing. EDUN is a socially conscious clothing company launched in Spring 2005 by Ali Hewson and Bono. The company's mission is to create beautiful clothing while fostering sustainable employment in developing areas of the world, particularly Africa. I love the style of these clothes...this isn't your typical hippie-organic-muumuu-and-karate-pants stuff! This is STYLE!
Style that helps people, countries, the environment, and the global economy - what more can you ask for?
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