Do You Know Who Made Your Rug?

Is there pain and strife sewn into one of your rugs? With GoodWeave, a new social-responsibility certification, you'll know the moral fabric of your rug down to every single fiber.
This post was published on the now-closed HuffPost Contributor platform. Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. If you need to flag this entry as abusive, send us an email.

For years, RugMark International, a nonprofit organization, has been working to prevent child labor in the rug industry through its RugMark certification label, which guarantees that rugs are made only by adult artisans. Now it’s taking that crusade another step forward with a new brand label, GoodWeave.

Rugs with a GoodWeave label have been made by companies that follow the International Social and Environmental Accreditation and Labeling Alliance’s (ISEAL) Codes of Good Practice.
These standards allow GoodWeave to address not only child labor, but
also other future social and environmental issues. It also allows
GoodWeave to incorporate other textile products into its certification
program in the future.

To obtain GoodWeave
certification, rug-making facilities must agree to let GoodWeave
inspectors randomly monitor them for illegal child labor. If GoodWeave
inspectors find children in the workplace, it partners with local
non-governmental organizations to facilitate their rescue and place the
children in schools.

To prevent counterfeiting, each GoodWeave-certified rug comes with a number that can be traced back to the producer. Enter the number online
to learn the rug’s origin, the craft process used to create the rug and
the community programs that the rug’s purchase will support.

Purchase a Goodweave-certified rug on the GoodWeave website or find a retailer near you.

Popular in the Community

Close

What's Hot