Rugmark adds member as elson & company joins
Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 3/26/2001
WASHINGTON, DC -The Tibetan rug company elson & company is the latest to join Rugmark Foundation's no child labor certification program.
elson & company, based in San Francisco, recently joined Rugmark, a global program working to end child labor in the carpet industry. From now on, every exclusive elson & company carpet from Nepal will bear the Rugmark label and a unique identification number-an assurance that no child had a hand in its making.
"We joined Rugmark, because we strongly support the abolition of child labor around the world, particularly in the rug and carpet industry," said Diane Elson, the company's founder.
elson & company designs and produces collections of carpets created in collaboration with well-known designers. The Architects Collection, for example, is dedicated to the Tibetan people and their design heritage.
Each architect translated his or her impressions of Tibet into a design.
"Having an understanding about the history of anything artistic increases the value on a personal level," said Elson. "Just as I hope our clients learn about the rug-making process, they need to know about the child labor that exists in the carpet industry around the world."
The U.S. Department of Labor estimates there are up to 1 million children ages 6 to 14 working sunrise to sunset at looms in Pakistan, Nepal, and India.
To accomplish its mission to stamp out child labor in the handloom carpet industry, Rugmark inspects looms in those three countries and certifies carpets as child-labor free. The organization also runs schools and rehabilitation centers for former child weavers. Licensed importers sell certified carpets in the United States, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
elson & company's participation in the Rugmark program will help to improve and expand Rugmark schools.
