Perhaps this holiday season you tossed conventional marketing practices out the window and bought sustainable products or opted for experiences instead.  While “buy sustainable” education and marketing efforts are definitely becoming more mainstream, there is an increasing focus to shed light on products that utilize child labor.

Although it is hard to get exact figures from around the globe, figure roughly 115 million children are in forced labor, defined by the U.S. Department of Labor, which includes terms like “slavery,” “forcible recruitment” and “work that is likely to harm children’s health, safety or morals.”

Here’s a list of consumer goods that are the top offenders to child labor and “humane” places to purchase these items.

1. Cocoa: The DOL indicates that the countries of Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea and Nigeria all utilize child labor to harvest their cocoa crops.  Global Exchange offers a great list of 100 percent fair trade cocoa distributors and retailers.
2. Diamonds: Angola, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe are all countries reported to force children into the diamond business.  Brilliant Earth is an online retailer that specializes in “conflict free” diamonds as well as eco-friendly Gold and Platinum.
3. Coffee: Unfortunately, many countries, including Colombia, Cote d’ivoire, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Guinea, Honduras, El Salvador, Kenya, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Tanzania and Uganda use exploited children in the coffee bean fields and manufacturing plants.  While Global Exchange’s website offers a list of fair trade coffee suppliers, it’s worth noting that 81 percent of Starbucks coffee beans purchased in 2009 met their new socially ethical standards.
4. Cotton: Sadly, the DOL reports that children are forced into labor to help export cotton in 16 countries, including Argentina, Azerbaijan, Benin, Brazil, Burkina Faso, China, Egypt, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Pakistan, Paraguay, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Zambia.  Because it is a raw product, it can be sold to another country that utilizes it for the production of textiles that we use everyday such as clothing, linens, etc.  Online retailers such as Gaiam.com sell fair trade products and apparel.  Looking for products made in the USA is also another way to shop responsibly.

Resolving to buy humanely this season will not only help smaller businesses and organizations, but ultimately, help curb child labor in the manufacturing process of these products. 

Where do you shop for Fair Trade products?