the cost of rubber

I just had to replace two of the tires on our van. I wanted to make sure that they would last a while and were good quality since it's my family riding around on them all the time. In the past I probably wouldn't have thought much about the cost other than to complain that it was a lot. But in the past four years I've made multiple visits to the Firestone rubber plantation in Liberia, Africa. Working with kids there you see the living conditions, the rates of pay and the amount of work that goes into collecting raw rubber from trees. Throw in a lease for the land that is horribly lopsided in Firestone's favor and there's little question that fair trade is not in play.

Thanks to Wendy for these pictures.