Being a 'Concious Consumer'

This past weekend I had the honor of joining my dear friend, Amy Young, at the 'Not For Sale 2011 Global Forum'. The Not for Sale Campaign combines technology, intellectual capital, abolitionist groups and a growing network of individuals like yourself – joined together to end slavery in our lifetime. It was a two day conference in San Jose, where I learned, in more depth, the heartbreaking truth about human trafficking (modern day slavery). Human trafficking is a 32 billion dollar illegal industry. Though I was made more aware of the disheartening stories and facts, this was a conference with the goal to create change and give hope to these men, women and children. 

 When you get dressed in the morning, do you think about where your shirt was made and what working conditions it was made in? Cotton has been proven to be a major end product of forced labor (human trafficking and modern day slavery). Human Trafficking is: When someone is forced to work for little to no pay, under the threat of violence, and cannot leave. We as Americans, tend to not want to hear about the horrible acts behind the products we buy. We would rather stick our head in the sand and pretend we don't know what's happening to these precious children, or we throw our hands up in the air and say, "Well what can I do? It's happening all the way across the world and I'm just one person?" The truth is, we are the ones driving the production of such imports simply by continuing to purchase unethically made items such as clothing, cars, toys, and more! It's the simple cause and effect of supply and demand. We stop the demand, we stop the supply. If we refuse to purchase items that have been made using forced labor and human trafficking, these traffickers lose money and are no longer benefiting from modern day slavery.

I heard inspiring stories from NGO's (Non-Government Organizations), about the many women and children they have rescued and treated. But the best part, in addition to care and hope, they also provide a sustainable future, in which they teach these incredible survivors skills such as making fabrics, clothing, jewelry and more. These products are then sold and the money goes back to the survivors who made them. The cycle is being stopped because they are providing long term income and continuous job opportunities.

Here's where you come in and play a HUGE role in helping to fight and ultimately end modern day slavery and human trafficking! A new free app called 'Free2work' has been created for your cell phone, that puts the power in your hands to be a conscious consumer. This app rates name brands that we purchase and use everyday based on their supply chains (where they get the supplies that create the end product), and lets you know if the company has made the information for their supply chain known to consumers or if they are hiding their information. This app also has a bar code scanner, which allows you to scan a products bar code, just as a cashier would at the check out counter, and tell you if it is a fair trade product, or if it was made with forced labor. This app is such an accessible tool that puts the information right in your hands, and allows you to make a decision based on what you know. Still don't think you can create change? Still think your just one person? Share this app with a friend and now you are 'two'. Together we can create change and ultimately END modern day slavery! Are you with me?