Five new area rug companies have recently earned the GoodWeave® Child-Labor-Free label. The international nonprofit organization who is working to end child labor, now licenses over 80 North American importers to use the GoodWeave label on their products. Every company that is part of the program pays licensing fees that go to support the rescue, rehabilitation and education of at-risk children in weaving communities among other social initiatives.
“As GoodWeave participants, these companies help bring positive social change to the communities where their rugs are made and demonstrate a commitment to the quality and integrity that only a skilled adult weaver can bring to the craft of rugmaking,” said Nina Smith, executive director of GoodWeave USA. “Each company that joins GoodWeave and the consumers who purchase their child-labor-free rugs help bring us closer to ending child labor.”
GoodWeave’s new industry partners:
- CALVIRUGS, based in Monterey, Mexico, creates sculptural rugs using hand woven wool, silk and hemp. These highly textural pieces use designs derived from natural textures and urban materials. Considered a pioneer in bringing modern, artistic rugs to Mexico, CALVIRUGS is also collaborating with the Mohair Council of America by donating yarn to indigenous Mexican weavers.
- Christina Ruhaak Design in Chicago, Ill., uses silk and hand-spun Tibetan wools to make rugs that play with saturated bright colors and texture. Committed to the fairness of production, owner Christina Ruhaak sought out ethical mills through GoodWeave before beginning her business.
- Indo Designer Rugs Trading Inc., based in Calgary, Canada, sells hand knotted wool and silk rugs to customers in North America, Europe, and Japan. Owner Rana Mehrotra travels to Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal and his wife and co-owner Anchal’s home town of Varanasi, India to find rugs for the company’s customers.
- InnerAsia, based in Hanover, N.H., works to revitalize Tibet’s rich rug weaving heritage and promote Tibetan arts and crafts. Tibetan-born founder Kesang Tashi has trained new generations of weavers and created wide ranging collections of wool and silk rugs in traditional, transitional and contemporary designs. The collaboration with GoodWeave embodies Tashi’s Buddhist heritage and longstanding commitment to social responsibility, merging commerce with compassion.
- West Coast-based company Shivhon integrates social responsibility into the production of custom, handmade wool and silk knotted rugs with nature-inspired designs. Shivhon aims to make rugs in an environmentally sustainableway while also ensuring fair prices for consumers and fair wages for workers.
The rugs produced by these five companies are available in nearly 50 retail locations across North America, helping make GoodWeave certified rugs accessible to a greater number of consumers. Full-length profiles of all GoodWeave member companies, as well as a complete list of the nearly 1,000 retailers that sell GoodWeave certified rugs, are available at www.GoodWeave.org.
About GoodWeave
GoodWeave works to end child labor in the South Asian carpet industry by inspecting weaving looms and providing rehabilitation and education for former child weavers and other at-risk children. The GoodWeave label is the best assurance that no child labor was used in the manufacture of a carpet or rug.
More than 7.5 million GoodWeave certified rugs have been sold worldwide; in North America alone, the sale of GoodWeave certified rugs has contributed $1.4 million to the organization’s mission of ending child exploitation in the rug industry. GoodWeave has rescued more than 3,600 children from debt bondage and other egregious forms of child labor, and provided each one with a fully sponsored education. More than 9,000 at-risk children have also received educational support, helping keep them off the looms.
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