Fair Trade and Composting Awareness Weeks to talk to your children about

Hi all,

The Fair Trade Fortnight is on from May 4-19. Your children may recall a very spontaneous but captivating conversation in the Neighbourhood about Fair Trade as we were reading 'Mirror' by Jeannie Baker last term. 

We were comparing the daily routines of a family in Morocco and a family in Australia and noticed that rugs that were being made and sold in a market in Morocco were also being sold in stores in Australia. We spoke about how far it would have had to travel and why we purchase things from overseas. This lead into a discussion on the wonderful diversity of products we have at our fingertips but also that it is important to support our local producers and that it is important to be aware of who makes the things we buy and whether those people are being treated fairly.

Click here to visit the Fair Trade Website
Australian website on Fair Trade:

While there doesn't appear to be a huge range of Melbourne activities related to this, it is an AWARENESS campaign so perhaps you could chat to your children about what you think Fair Trade is and maybe try and purchase one thing that is certified 'fair trade' over the fortnight. 

Products like coffee and chocolate are often imported from developing countries overseas so these are a good place to start. Have a look at Oxfam stores.


The other campaign that is coming up is the COMPOSTING AWARENESS WEEK from May 6-11. Our soil is such a valuable organic resource and we can look after it better.
Check out their website and watch this cool little animation: 

Happy Awareness!

Simone and The Year Two Neighbourhood Team