Product Releases

Ten Thousand Villages Introduces New Artisan Partners

Fair Trade Retailer Begins Relationships with New Artisan Partners around the Globe
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Ten Thousand Villages Offers Educational Toys for Back-to-School

Handcrafted Puzzles, Musical Instruments and Games Make Learning Fun
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Company Releases

Ten Thousand Villages Introduces Heirloom Anthology

New Collection Inspires Theme: Preserving Cultures, Sustaining Lives
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Ten Thousand Villages Introduces Carved Home Decor Featuring Angkor Motifs

Artisans in Cambodia Inspired by 9th Century Carvings
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Ten Thousand Villages Named to World’s Most Ethical Company List

Fair Trade Retailer Named to Top 100 List by Ethisphere Institute for Third Year in a Row
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Ten Thousand Villages. One Perfectly Green Gift.

Fair Trade retailer offers handcrafted gifts from recycled materials.

(AKRON, PA) – Looking for a way to “green” your holiday gift giving this year? Consider Ten Thousand Villages’ unique collection of fairly traded gifts handcrafted from recycled materials.

Ten Thousand Villages offers an eclectic collection that celebrates artisans’ ingenious creativity and use of recycled resources. Featured items include hot mats made from coiled newspaper, baskets made from recycled snack bags and candy wrappers, and tote bags made from recycled fish feed bags.

Square Recycled Paper Hot Mat

Perfect for the environmentally conscious consumer, this hot mat is created using recycled materials. Artisans coil recycled newspaper around a broom bristle, join the blocks with thread and glue, and starch the hot mat for durability. Mats will stand up to heat and moisture that comes with average use. Measures 6 inches square. Handcrafted in the Philippines. Suggested retail price, $8.

Recycled Wrapper Basket Set

This basket set offers bright beauty from humble materials. Artisans wash and dry post-consumer snack bags and candy wrappers, wrap them around thin bamboo strips, then weave and stitch these beautiful baskets, using traditional basket-weaving techniques. The nesting baskets measure 13×5x2 and 10×4x2 (inches). Handcrafted in Bangladesh. Suggested retail price, $18.

Fish Tote Bag

Durable, funky and fun. Making ingenious use of recycled fish feed bags, artisans working with Rehab Craft—a nongovernmental organization developed to create employment for Cambodians with disabilities—handcraft this novel tote bag. Bag measures 14Wx12H. With strap, measures 25H (inches). Handcrafted in Cambodia. Suggested retail price, $34.

Bicycle Chain Photo Frame

Cherish a bike riding memory with this bicycle chain photo frame. Crafted by artisans in India from a used bicycle chain, this stylish and eco-savvy circle photo frame holds a 4-inch (diameter) photo memory. Suggested retail price, $16.

What good is a recycled soda can? At Bombolulu Workshops, in Mombasa, Kenya, artisans craft beautiful jewelry and ornaments from a number of recycled materials including recycled bottle caps and aluminum cans. This “World’s Children Ornament” represents the hope and unity the artisans at Bombolulu share. Decorative only. Keep out of reach of children. Suggested retail price, $16.

 

Ten Thousand Villages carries out a conscientious approach toward minimizing its environmental impact. From store operations to product selection to marketing practices, Ten Thousand Villages strives to meet the “triple bottom line” of economic, environmental and social sustainability, allowing it to proudly claim distinction as one of the “World’s Most Ethical Companies,” a title bestowed by The Ethisphere Institute and Forbes Magazine.

A fair trade retailer, Ten Thousand Villages offers artisan-crafted home decor, personal accessories and gift items from around the world. Ten Thousand Villages features products from more than 130 artisan groups in 38 countries and offers a network of more than 150 retail outlets throughout the United States.

For more than 60 years, Ten Thousand Villages has established fair, long-term buying relationships in places where skilled artisans lack opportunities for stable income. Ten Thousand Villages is a nonprofit program of Mennonite Central Committee (MCC).

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