Buying Ethically for Mum

Join ACRATH and stand with the women (and mothers) who make our clothes and pick a lot of the produce used in our food and drink.  ACRATH has three gift suggestions for your mother this Mother’s Day that treat all mothers with love.

• Take your mother out for a Fairtrade or Rainforest Alliance coffee. If there isn’t a café near you that sells this certified coffee, ask them if they would consider stocking it.  Tell your Mum that this certification means the coffee producer is working towards eliminating slavery from the product’s supply chains.
• Give your mother some chocolates for Mother’s Day. Find some chocolates that taste delicious and are Fairtrade or Rainforest Alliance. This means the maker is working to ensure no slave labour is involved in the production of the chocolate, particularly in the picking of the cocoa beans. To find out how your favourite chocolate scores and visit Be Slavery Free Scorecard.  Some ACRATH favourites this Mother’s Day are chocolate from Alter Eco, Tony’s Chocolonely, Whittaker’s, Haigh’s and Beyond Good.
• Has your Mum asked for some clothing this Mother’s Day? Join ACRATH and consider how our favourite clothing brands stack up before purchasing that bathrobe/slippers/scarf for Mum. Consider buying something that will bring some joy to another mother as well. OXFAM’s powerful #whatshemakes campaign is all about focusing on the women who make our clothes and asking for them to be paid a living wage. Who doesn’t want this for their own mother?

So this Mother’s Day think about what you are buying Mum, check if the manufacturers are trying to do well by their garment workers and see where her favourite brand stands in the race to a living wage via the OXFAM company tracker and feel good about a gift that keeps giving. While you are sitting having a coffee and chocolate with your Mum, would you sign OXFAM’s pledge that asks big clothing brands to pay their garment workers a living wage. Honour mother’s who make a lot of the gear we wear.

“As a mother, I would love Mother’s Day to be a win-win for all of us mums. It means a lot to me knowing that women who produce some of what I eat, drink and wear are getting a fair deal. So join ACRATH this year and make Mother’s Day count for all mothers,” said ACRATH’s executive officer Christine Carolan.

Media Contact: Ange Duthie – 0430 488 011 or email networks@acrath.org.au.

(Photo – “Tania, outside her home in Dhaka. Photo: Fabeha Monir/OxfamAUS”)