Freeset

Freeset does what the name says – sets free! The Fair Trade company was started up in Sonnagachi, Kolkata, India, by New Zealanders Kerry and Annie Hilton in 2001, in order to create alternative jobs for women who were working in the sex trade. In Sonnagachi, there are more than 10,000 prostitutes ‘standing in line’ (ie waiting for clients) within a few square miles. Many of these women have been trafficked from rural India, Nepal, and Bangladesh, and previously there was not any way other way for them to earn money.

Freeset began with twenty women who were taught to sew jute bags. Now there are more than 150 women who work for Freeset. Freeset provides a healthy working environment and higher than average wages to its employees. The bags are also eco-friendly; jute is a biodegradable material, and it doesn’t need much in the way of fertilizers or pesticides. Freeset make a wide variety of gorgeous, funky bags, which can be bought at www.marketplacers.co.nz. Prices start at $11 for wine bottle bags. I have a couple of the Freeset bags, including the Courier Squares Black bag, $26 (although I got it for $10 new on Trade Me – score!).

Freeset now also makes Fair Trade organic cotton t-shirts. A few styles are available for sale at the Addington Coffee Co-op online store (Addington is a Fair Trade coffee company). The t-shirts can be bought at http://store.liminal.org.nz, and are $35 each. There are three designs available in the classic cut – Alphabet in blue, or green, Fork in blue, green or white, and Jailbreaker in black or white. The same three designs are available in the fitted cut, but the Alphabet is only available in blue, and the Fork is only available in white.

SAFE’s Choose Cruelty Free store (in Auckland, and at www.choosecrueltyfree.org.nz) sells three designs on fitted Freeset tees – a blue one designed by Annah Stretton , pictured, a brown one with a picture of a duck (which I have), and the I am Veg t-shirt, which isn’t pictured on the website. They are $40 each. SAFE (Save Animals From Exploitation) is an organisation which campaigns for the safety of animals, and all profits from products bought at the store go to help their work. So by buying one of these t-shirts, you’re supporting two really good causes.

I really like my duck t-shirt! I found that the sizes tend to be a little smaller than usual – I have a medium, which is often the same as a 12, but I usually wear a 10, and it fits me perfectly. It’s great to know that by buying Freeset bags and t-shirts, that you are helping women to have better lives.