Fair Trade Sports, Inc is the first sports equipment company in the US to launch a full line of Eco-Certified Fair Trade sports balls, ensuring Fair Trade Certified wages and healthy working conditions for our adult workers. Be sure to also check out our sweatshop-free apparel. We have both an online retail store and wholesale store. Here are our product certifications.
We are committed to donate all profits after taxes to children’s charities, both domestic and international. Sound familiar? It’s a similar idea to the one behind the Newman’s Own brand you see in the grocery store. To learn more, take a quick trip over to our blog.
We expect to reach profitability in 2010. Until then, we donate $1000 annually to these charities, which benefit at-risk children worldwide.
Have a favorite charity to suggest? If it’s related to helping kids, then we’re interested. Drop us a line.
Here’s what others are saying about Fair Trade Sports in print and video:
 BusinessWeek Magazine |
 Outside Magazine |
 Forbes Magazine |
 O Magazine |
 National Geographic: Green Guide |
 Parents Magazine |
 Green America |
 Seth Godin |
 VegNews Magazine |
 Motto Magazine |
 Kiwi Magazine |
 Washington Post Newspaper |
 Supporter Magazine |
 Plenty Magazine |
 Sierra Club |
 Treehugger |
 Zem's List |
 Experience Life Magazine |
 Kitsap Sun Newspaper |
 Puget Sound Business Journal |
 Green America (interview p. 12) |
 Seattle Times Newspaper |
 Baylor University Magazine |
 US Airways Magazine |
 University of Notre Dame Magazine |
 Mindful Life Award |
 Yahoo's Green Gift Guide |
 LA Daily Newspaper |
| . | . |
 World Cup South Africa |
 MBA.com |
VIDEO
Quick summary of the unique aspects of our sports balls:
Daily Grommet :: fresh finds, true stories
National Geographic’s Green Guide :: environmentally friendly gifts are hot
ABC’s KOMO 4 News :: green gifts
New York’s WPIX News :: green gear
NBC’s KING 5 News :: how to pack an eco-friendly picnic
FOX 2 News :: Fair Trade Market
Groovy Green the “trifecta” of sports balls
ZapRoot :: eco-friendly basketballs
University of Washington :: Future of Fair Trade
Mother Nature Network :: green SuperBowl party
Here’s one of the talks FTS Founder Scott James did regarding the intersection we are creating between the world of sports and the sustainability movement:
…and the Q&A session from that talk:
And yes, we do think about more than just sports balls around here. Scott James from our team gave a keynote at University of Notre Dame to roll out the new business school theme, Ask More of Business, to the alumni and students. Scroll down to Scott’s talk, listed between T. Boone Pickens and Jeff Immelt.
Need more information? Here are a few posts that will give you some insight into our goals of running an authentic and transparent company:
- Our team
- Volume discount pricing for Fair Trade sports balls
- What others are saying about us
- Secrets revealed – rude FAQ!
- The story always matters
- Our children’s charities
- Who is stitching your sports ball?
- Where are your sports balls from?
- The benefits of Fair Trade
- How you can help, Part I and Part II
For our extended team (and interested customers), be sure to peruse our company’s Focal Areas. If you are interested in our Fair Trade Certified suppliers, the *ahem* extensive list is here: Vision Technologies. Yes, that’s right, there is only one (hey, they can do 2MM balls annually for us!), although we hope to double that number in 2010 with an additional supplier in Thailand (they are undergoing their Fair Trade certification now).
Interested in helping us spread the word? Have a blog? Well then…
↑ Grab this blog animation for your site
Or ping us directly for additional information:
[...] we move from coffee beans to volley balls. Fair Trade Sports in Seattle is making what they call “Fair Trade, Eco-Friendly Sports Balls”. Not only [...]
[...] and I’m sure the bright orange soccer ball is going to get some good use soon. In the meantime here’s a little history and information about Fair Trade [...]
[...] sees an opportunity such as this one to get the word out about Fair Trade, don’t hesitate to contact us and let us know. This is a “grass roots” sort of movement that requires conscientious [...]
Hi there I am looking for soccer jerseys that are not just regular Tshirts but are fair trade certified. Are either the Performance tee or the crewneck tee this type of jersey (I just can’t tell from the picture). I was wondering if it could be arranged to have them in other colours such as red, orange, green or yellow.
Thanks a lot
Mark
You bet, Mark. We can help. I’ll have someone contact you tomorrow AM.
- Scott
Greetings!
It is wonderful to see the fair trade philosophy integrated into sports! Village Markets of Africa is a fair trade initiative of the Kenya Evangelical Lutheran Church. We offer over 200 fair trade products that are handcrafted and purchased from our church-managed artisan cooperatives around Africa. We eliminate middle men and return profits to develop cooperatives in the form of grants, microloans, production upgrades and job training.
I would love to sell your soccer balls from our website!
Please visit http://www.villagemarketsofafrica.com for more information on how we do fair trade!
Jacob Schmalzle
US Coordinator
Village Markets of Africa
http://www.villagemarketsofafrica.com
(888) 4-VMA-STORE
Hello Scott,
Anyway, I hope I can help out. I live in California and would be delighted to find wholesale customers for you. Please let me know what you think. Thank you, and I look forward to hearing back from you!
We met at the San Francisco Green Festival about a year ago. I was making the documentary film on climate change (which is done). I am a sales representative and am looking for eco-friendly lines to represent. I now represent an eco-friendly jewelry line and will soon represent a children’s book on the redwoods and perhaps an all-natural BBQ Sauce. I am always looking for new lines to carry, and yours stands out. I have always wanted to be a part of the green movement, and I feel like getting “green” products out that is a great way to just do it. Great, now Nike will sue me.
Hi,
I found your company and you guys are doing some great things! I am the founder of Earth-List.com, the World’s Premier Environmental Resource, and I went ahead and gave you a free listing in the Green Biz Directory. Check out your listing and let me know what you think:
http://www.earth-list.com/world-eco-directory/sustainable-and-organic-living/sustainable-and-organic-products-and-services/other-green-businesses.html
Keep up the good work!
GreenMan Mike
Hello,
My name is Sarah Pietruszka, and I am a representative of the International Textiles and Apparel Association chapter at the University of Idaho. On May 2, 2010 we are holding a Conscious Consumer Awareness Fair. We will be highlighting labor rights specifically but will be covering all aspects of fair trade throughout the world. We want to show people that they can help improve the lives of others through something as simple and routine as shopping. We hope that by educating others about smart consumerism that we can be a catalyst to bring about change in our society’s collective mindset making the process a product goes through to get to the consumer more important than a small price tag, thus putting quality of life above money.
Your dedication to supplying eco-certified Fair Trade sports balls and ensuring fair wages and healthy working conditions for your workers is a great example of the type of organization we would like to showcase and we would appreciate your participation in any way you can, be it through donations, informational materials, or an actual booth at this event. Please feel free to call or email with any questions (or suggestions) you may have.
Thank you for your time, consideration, and the hard work you do.
Regards,
Sarah Pietruszka
ITAA UI President
503.812.3960
Scott, on case you haven’t seen this one. Chuck Wolf
http://www.wimp.com/soccerball/
p.s. saw the nice writeup in Forbes