The purpose of our team’s project was twofold: to educate young students on fair labor practices across the globe and give them resources to be mindful consumers on a local level. We research and prepared a presentation to educate high schoolers on labor practices across the world and how they impact their life. We will utilize experts in related fields to provide a holistic presentation to students at their school. Through this presentation, we hoped to give students better insight into where and how they get the goods they use every day. In addition to a presentation on fair labor practices, we created a map of local establishments that uphold the values discussed in the presentation. We hope the map of resources will serve as a starting point for students to ease into more mindful consumption. In summary, our goal was to give students a better understanding of what makes up fair labor practices within and outside of their own community, while also providing them with a resource to support fair labor practices.
We took a passive and active approach to spread information about ethical consumerism as it relates to human rights.
Passive Component: The Map
The first component consists of making a map of ethical businesses in the Columbus area. These businesses use international materials or resources that they use to make their final products are gathered ethically in environments where no human rights abuses took place. Our four categories, each thoroughly researched by one group member are 1) cafés and coffee shops, 2) restaurants, 3) clothing and shopping retailers, and 4) galleries and art.
This compact two-page handout encourages more businesses to follow ethical practices and empowers citizens of the Columbus community to choose companies that value international human rights.
Active Component: The Presentation
For the active component, we present to the 9th, 10th, and 11th grade cohorts of a global leadership society at Bexley High School. We informed students about the importance of ethical consumerism and how this practice can improve the condition of international human rights. Our partner organization, Global Gifts (a non-profit fair-trade store in the Short North) supplied a short video about their mission and how individuals can support fair trade in their daily lives. This was followed by three short international case studies that highlight specific issues concerning fair trade around the world — conflict minerals in the DRC, chocolate in West Africa and Brazil, and fast fashion in Bangladesh. Group members have researched ethical consumerism and the implications that this practice has globally, along with strong ties to how this relates to protecting human rights. To add legitimacy/ethos to the presentation, the group has consulted academic sources and consulted professionals with knowledge of their respective issues.