Two Ethical purchases for the well heeled

1.  Shade Grown Coffee

I tend to be a bit of an agnostic when it comes to a lot of environmental issues, but this one seems pretty compelling.

I became aware of the issue, when we were staying at the Lake Atitlan Nature Reserve Hotel.  The thesis is quite simple.  There's organic coffee.  Now there is "Shade Grown Coffee".  The two concepts overlap.

Here is a picture of a monkey in the grounds of the hotel.  This monkey is actually moving around in a working coffee plantation.  The coffee grows in the shade of a diverse range of trees.  These trees preserve bird corridors, counter soil erosion and improve the chemical balance of the soil.

Of course there is going to be a lot of "shady" business when vendors label their coffee as "shade grown" - but hell you have to start somewhere! 

Here is a website of an organization that sells Shade Grown Coffee:

http://www.groundsforchange.com/learn/shadegrown.php

 

2.  Mercado Global's Mayan Handbags

I am not an expert when it comes to handbags, but I would like to believe that this particular line of rather expensive bags are a good thing in more ways than one.

I had never heard of these bags until we spent a very crowded eight hour bus journey to Semuc Champey, sitting next to Ines Tamaddon of Mercado Global.  She is working for next to nothing as a fund raiser based out here in Panahachel.  Here is her picture taken from the company's website (http://www.mercadoglobal.org/collections ).

Inez was pretty eloquent in the way she described the approach of this NGO.  The idea is to build a bag that is original and requires exquisite craftsmanship.  This way they can charge more for the bag, and consequently pay more to the ladies who make them.

Canadians can buy the bags from Holt Renfrew.  Here's a link to a full list of the retailers carrying the bags http://www.mercadoglobal.org/pages/retailers .