Churches are consumers. Food, beverages, plates, utensils, cleaning supplies, office paper and equipment, and more are purchased on a regular basis. To bring purchasing practices in line with our social, economic, and environmental values, we can take several important steps including buying fair trade, organic, and natural products.

Purchasing fair trade products is one way to promote social justice, address poverty issues, and ensure environmental stewardship in the production of the products. “Fair trade” refers to the development of direct trading partnerships that provide farmers, artisans, and other producers a fair wage so they can profitably maintain their small businesses. In addition to fair wages, the focus is on showing respect for the cultural values and identities of the producer communities and supporting sustainable local businesses that provide safe conditions for workers; do not use forced child labor; invest premiums paid for producers into local educational, environmental, and other community development projects; and use environmentally friendly business practices (Mertz and Korfhage, n.d.; Fair Trade Federation 2008).

Fair trade means that money reaches the hands of the small farmer, seamstress, or artisan instead of going to high-commission middlemen/women. It is the opposite of the all-too-common economic practice of using the cheapest labor possible in terrible working conditions to mass produce products by using methods that pollute and degrade the natural environment and often destroy the social and cultural community of the workers. Instead of having to research companies to determine if they are involved in child or slave labor, sweat shops, or practices that pollute the air and water or destroy rainforests, we can buy Fair Trade Certified products and purchase from producers, wholesalers, or retailers who are members of the Fair Trade Federation. Then the work of researching the business’ practices is done for us. We promote social justice, economic justice, and environmental justice just by choosing products wisely. Fair trade products do tend to cost a bit more, but when we factor in the “true cost” of cheaper goods – produced at the expense of the workers’ economic and physical health and at the expense of the health of the planet – fair trade items are a bargain. Buying fair trade products is a natural fit for people of faith simply because fair trade values are compatible with Christian values.

Other ways to wield purchasing power to engender positive and far-reaching social, economic, and environmental effects include buying organically grown food and fabrics, and buying locally grown and locally made products. In addition, we can choose to buy such items as paper products for the kitchen, bathroom, and office with a high recycled paper content; tree-free paper and flooring; and sustainably grown and harvested wood products. We can buy or make natural and nonpolluting cleaning supplies, and we can opt for compostable dinnerware when reusable is not an option. Most important, we can reduce what we purchase by rethinking our needs, reusing what we already have, and deciding not to buy certain Earth-unfriendly products – like polystyrene foam plates and cups, disposable dinnerware, and of course those ubiquitous plastic water bottles.

A word of caution as you choose your products: Read “Avoid Greenwashing” (page 76) to heighten your awareness of the tricks of the consumer marketing trade and to increase your green consumer savvy.

The Products chapter offers Facts, suggestions for Actions, and a list of Resources for each action to help raise awareness in your congregation about the power of your purchasing dollar and the far-reaching social, economic, and environmental effects of your consumer choices.