Take action
Image © Adrian Arbib
Get your school or college to switch to Fairtrade cotton.
Most young people don’t know about the terrible conditions their school and college clothing was produced under. It’s important to raise awareness about this issue so that more people understand these problems and will support your campaign.
“I think the college needs to be made more aware of the issues of fairtrade clothing and how much of a difference it can make to people’s lives.”
Louise
Your school is more likely to take you seriously and do what you want if you have lots of support from other students, so getting others excited about Fairtrade is really important.
Here are some great ways to get your school or college excited about the Wear Fair campaign:
Greendown Community School model Fairtrade cotton
Put on a Fairtrade cotton fashion show
Ethical designers are now at the forefront of fashion design. Displaying Fair Trade fashion on the catwalk is a really exciting way of building support for Fairtrade cotton clothing and can help you gain valuable skills and meet new people. We’ve got lots of advice and tips to help you do this.
“Ethical fashion is definitely becoming more trendy and accepted, it just needs the support it deserves.”
Stacey Dooley, star of ‘Blood, Sweat and T-shirts
Kate from Princethorpe tells her college to Wear Fair
Give an inspiring presentation or assembly
In schools it is usually the younger years that wear uniforms - this is a great way to get them to support Fairtrade, and can build up your skills and confidence. Get tips and advice on how to do this on our guide to public speaking.
“I would like to deliver a talk to the rest of a college along with my class mates to encourage the college to buy fairtrade cotton uniforms.”
Jade
Hayesfield school get people to sign a Fairtrade pledge
Get people to sign a petition
Your school is more likely to do what you want them to if you can show you have the support of many students. A petition is a great way to do this. The best way to get signatures for a petition is at an event or assembly, or on a stall. Download and print our ready-made school Wear Fair petition or college Wear Fair petition to get started right away.
Films are a fantastic way of getting your message across
Make a film
Get together with others, collecting skills and equipment, and bring your campaign to life. Animoto movies are seriously simple to put together and look great!
“People need to be made more aware so websites, campaigns and videos should be made to promote this and get people to join in!”
Hannah
Start a poster campaign
You could stick posters up around the school letting people know about Fairtrade cotton. Have a go at ‘subvertising’ by changing the wording on advertising slogans to give a different message that reveals something negative about an unethical fashion brand.
There are many more ideas which you can use throughout the year in our Fairtrade fortnight action guide. Here you can also find tips on getting media attention from your action so that even more people can hear about Fairtrade cotton.
