Verified Fair Trade Brand in USA | Eco Bags and Handmade Jewelry

June 19, 2025 Cera Muchiri

Why Fair Trade Matters in 2025

In 2025, consumers in the USA are thinking beyond just aesthetics and price tags. They’re asking harder questions about how and where products are made. Ethics now sit alongside design, and brands are being held accountable for the stories behind their products. At Ecodunia, our answer is clear: our eco-friendly bags and brass jewelry are handmade with dignity, sustainability, and fairness.

We are a proud Fair Trade Federation (FTF) Verified brand. This isn’t a marketing slogan it’s a long-term commitment to ethical business practices that serve both people and planet. Every handmade brass ring, every stitched canvas sling bag for men and women, every decision we make honors this promise.

What Fair Trade Verified Means

Being Fair Trade Verified goes far beyond slapping a sticker on a product. The Fair Trade Federation (FTF) verifies the full operations of a business not just one bag or one piece of up-cycled brass jewelry. It looks at how a brand functions at every level, from sourcing of raw materials to production of our handmade eco bags and brass jewelry (ethical craftsmanship) to how it treats workers.

Ecodunia’s verification is based on our long-standing commitment to:

Paying artisans fairly and promptly never squeezing for lower costs.
Maintaining clean, safe, and empowering working conditions.
Centering relationships over transactions through long-term partnerships.

This status is reviewed and upheld annually, keeping our practices transparent and accountable.

Ecodunia’s Fair Trade Practices at Work

Fair Trade isn’t just a value we’ve built our business around it. Our team works directly with local artisan for example in crafting of our brass up-cycled jewelry from the slums of Kibera, which is the largest slum in East Africa. These are not anonymous factories. They are real people, many of them women, who are empowered to lead and grow their craft.

Some of our core fair trade practices include:

Paying wages that are significantly higher than local standards
Offering consistent orders and paying deposits upfront
Sourcing almost all raw materials locally to support the Kenyan economy
Creating small-batch collections that reduce waste and overproduction

This model reduces economic vulnerability while honoring the talent and skill of each artisan in Kenya.

How Ecodunia Promotes the 9 Fair Trade Federation Principles

At Ecodunia, Fair Trade isn’t just a stamp on our label it’s a daily practice built into the way we work, collaborate, and create. As a Fair Trade Federation Verified brand, we honor all 9 principles through our day-to-day operations, from our full-time eco-bag artisans in our Nairobi workshop to the independent up-cycled brass jewelry makers in Kibera. Below is how we bring each of these principles to life:

1. Create Opportunities for Marginalized Producers

Our mission begins with people. Ecodunia partners with artisans who are often excluded from formal employment opportunities. This includes independent brass jewelry makers in Kibera, Nairobi, where we provide consistent income opportunities in a community that has long faced economic marginalization. On the other side, our in-house eco-friendly bag team formally employed full-time staff benefit from stable, salaried employment with structured hours (Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.). For both groups, the goal is the same: dignified, meaningful work that helps them support their families and plan for the future.

2. Develop Transparent and Accountable Relationships

We build long-term partnerships, not transactional ones. With our full-time artisans, we hold regular check-ins, pay on time, and maintain clear communication about timelines, goals, and expectations. With our independent jewelry makers, we collaborate on designs, pricing, and delivery schedules transparently, ensuring they are part of the process from start to finish. We share successes, challenges, and ideas equally—because that’s how mutual trust grows.

3. Build Capacity

We don’t just place orders we invest in people. Our in-house artisans receive skills training, machine upgrades, and safety workshops, helping them enhance their technical abilities. Meanwhile, our handmade brass jewelry artisans in Kibera are supported with new tools, design assistance, and product development knowledge so they can grow creatively and economically, even beyond Ecodunia. The goal is always to support long-term independence, not dependency.

4. Promote Fair Trade

Fair Trade values are embedded into every product, from the product tags to our customer newsletters. We take time to explain who made each item, how it was made, and why that matters. Our U.S. customers aren't just buying a sling bag or a brass bracelet they're learning about Kenyan culture, artisan stories, and the ethics behind their purchase. It’s storytelling that respects both the maker and the buyer.

5. Pay Promptly and Fairly

We pay what our artisans ask never less. For our formal workshop employees, we offer a stable monthly salary and paid time off. For our independent jewelry artisans, we pay the agreed-upon rate as soon as work is delivered, with no delays or deductions. We don’t haggle, we don’t cut corners, and we don’t defer payments. We believe in respecting people’s time, skill, and effort.

6. Support Safe and Empowering Work Conditions

Our Nairobi workshop is designed to be a clean, ventilated, and well-lit environment. Break times are honored. Tools are well maintained. Artisans can speak up without fear. For our brass jewelry artisans in Kibera, we regularly check in to ensure safe working setups, provide access to protective gear, and offer technical support to improve efficiency and safety. Empowerment also means creating a space where voices are heard and respected.

7. Ensure the Rights of Children

We have a zero-tolerance policy for child labor across the board. But our commitment goes further. Many of the artisans we work with are parents, and the income they earn ensures their children stay in school, get access to healthcare, and enjoy a stable home life. Our work contributes to generational change supporting not just the artisan, but their entire family.

8. Cultivate Environmental Stewardship

From product materials to packaging, sustainability matters. Our brass is made from recycled scrap metal. Our leather is locally and ethically tanned, and we avoid synthetic dyes or plastic fillers. Packaging is minimal and plastic-free. We design everything with durability and end-use in mind to reduce waste and keep products in circulation longer.

9. Respect Cultural Identity

Kenyan culture isn’t just an influence it’s the foundation. From Kitenge lining in our eco-bags to the traditional shaping techniques in our brass jewelry, we highlight, not hide, the heritage behind each piece. We give credit where it’s due, our artisans are not anonymous, and their cultural identity is never erased. Instead, it’s woven into every stitch and molded into every design.

Handmade, Ethical, and Sustainable: A Look at Ecodunia Products

Eco-Friendly Handmade Bags

Our eco bags are sewn by hand, one at a time. Many are lined with vibrant African Kitenge fabric, adding personality and story to each piece. From crossbody belt bags to structured totes, these bags are designed to be both useful and meaningful.

Each bag reflects:

Locally sourced and durable materials
Minimal waste during production
Patterns and construction that reflect Kenyan artistry

Handmade Brass Jewelry

We use recycled brass in all of our brass jewelry. Every piece whether it’s a ring, bracelet, or pair of earrings is hand-cut, shaped, and polished using traditional techniques. No molds. No factories. Just skilled artisans and simple tools.

Our jewelry reflects:

Sustainability and recyclability
Minimalist, wearable design
Craftsmanship rooted in heritage

Why U.S. Shoppers Are Choosing Fair Trade Brands

Across the United States, more consumers are turning to brands that match their values. Fair Trade Verified brands like Ecodunia offer more than a product they offer a transparent, human-centered story.

Here’s why our U.S. customers keep coming back:

They want their money to support fair labor, not exploitation
They care about the environmental impact of what they buy
They want to give gifts that actually matter
They trust that verified brands are accountable

Ecodunia isn't fast fashion. It's slow, intentional craft. And that’s what makes it last.

Carry What Matters

We’re not here to follow trends. We’re here to stay true to a deeper mission: one rooted in fairness, dignity, and craftsmanship. From our Nairobi workshop to your doorstep in the U.S., every product carries a story worth telling.

When you carry a handmade bag, genuine leather wallet or leather fish wallet or wear a piece of brass jewelry from Ecodunia, you carry more than a product. You carry your values with you.

Browse our collection of handmade fair trade bags and jewelry and support verified ethical craftsmanship today.