Comercio Justo, or “Fair Trade” products are often seen in “socially conscious” retailers like health and “whole” food shops. It presents a novel approach to doing business that takes into account social and environmental factors in its pricing to consumers and directly compensates commodity food producers, like coffee and cocoa farmers. Here proponents explain the philosophy from several different vantage points.

Can an educated public really create a kinder, gentler, consumer society? Do informed buyers make decisions more sensitive to their world? Can you have your cake and eat it too? Some activists think that voracioius consumers need not be subdued, but only that their desires be tweaked, redirected…

Do those who control the wealth in a society also dictate its desires? In this segment we’re able to listen in on the discourse of Spanish intellectuals critical of the modern consumer culture, which they see as something of a Svengali-like oppressor and manipulator of the masses.

Can a consumer-driven market be replaced by an informed system of mutual cooperation by a like-minded populace? Is the market always at odds with the well being of the planet? Is it true that otro mundo es possible? Let’s find out what some experts think…

Let's visit a forest with Cristina, where she'll teach us a lot of basic, nature-related vocabulary!

Ecuadorian "Poné," or shamans, utilize plants for their medicinal effects. In this video, we learn about some of their beliefs and wisdom.

The Tsáchila community has undertaken the task of opening its doors to foreign visitors, giving them the opportunity to learn more about their traditions and culture.

See how students at the Rodríguez Casado de Palos de la Frontera Institute in Huelva, Spain learn to use the oil found at home to make biodiesel, an alternative car fuel.

In the second part of this series, we see the rest of the process of making the alternative car fuel, biodiesel, with some students from the Rodriguez Casado Institute in Palos de la Frontera, Huelva, Spain.

From a photography exhibit on endangered vultures to students who prefer the beach to the classroom as a manner of studying their environment, a Spanish news channel reviews a plethora of eclectic news briefs.

The Ideas Club presents eclectic news briefs on student map-making contests, a dedicated dancer of many styles, climate change and a forestry training program for unemployed workers.

“El Cerro de Monserrate” [Monserrate Hill] is a famous Hill in the center of Bogota, Colombia, which is a destination for pilgrimages and home to many tourist attractions, including a church, funicular and aerial cableway. Our host, Edwin Galve, who works bringing people to Monserrate’s several restaurants, tells us about these and more!

New York has the Hudson; Paris has the Seine; London has the Thames. Rivers were important in the building of these cities: they were commercial routes and also a source of food. Aterciopelados (in English, literally “The Velvety Ones”) the well-known Colombian band, remind us of the importance of our rivers with the title song of their socially conscious album Río.

Silvia tells us about the active volcano on the Spanish island of La Palma as well as some interesting facts about volcanoes you might not know, including the types of particles they expel and some different types of eruptions.

On the island of El Hierro in the Canary Islands, where Silvia lives, there is a famous tree called "Garoé." Associated with a well-known legend, it has become the symbol of the island and even appears on its official coat of arms. Silvia tells us more.