Go Natural Baby™ manufactures our products under certified fair labor practices or we make them in the U.S. We do not want our name on anything unless we know that the people involved in making the garments (field workers,sewers, factory workers) are being paid a fair living wage, have a clean and safe work environment, and that no one under the age of 18 years old is making any of our garments. Fair trade garments are significantly more expensive than non-fair trade garments to manufacture, but we think it’s worth it. For those interested in exploring fair trade in more depth, click here. 

Because of our commitment to fair trade, we are supporting International Human Rights Day on December 10, 2008. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) turns 60 on this day.

The promise of this declaration is “Dignity and justice for all of us”. Know Your Rights 2008 also has a Children’s Corner with information, a video and a quiz. Human Rights Day is celebrated all around the world, and for a glimpse of celebrations in American cities, click here.

The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has a lot more information about human rights. Much of the time it is easy to forget the suffering of others, especially those we do not directly come into contact with. Can we be truly happy when we ignore the suffering of others? Without compassion for all beings, how deeply can we love those we care about?

Here are three of my favorite quotes about human rights:

This is the duty of our generation as we enter the twenty-first century — solidarity with the weak, the persecuted, the lonely, the sick, and those in despair. It is expressed by the desire to give a noble and humanizing meaning to a community in which all members will define themselves not by their own identity but by that of others. –Elie Wiesel

Washing one’s hands of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless means to side with the powerful, not to be neutral. –Paulo Freire

I think it would be a good idea. –Gandhi when asked what he thought of Western civilization

 Dale Borglum, Go Natural Baby blog editor, dad, Executive Director of the Living/Dying Project.