Plans announced by the OFT to investigate dubious pricing practices on the internet have been welcomed by http://www.keen2learn.co.uk, the educational games website, which has attacked many pricing techniques as misleading and “a whisker away from illegal cons.”

The pricing practices exemplified by budget airlines leave many customers reeling at the additional charges hidden until the final pages of the checkout. Know as “drip pricing” they cover a host of extra charges for electable and non electable features. They include carriage, VAT, handling fees and minimum order value surcharge. The list is as long as the inventiveness of the perpetrator. The worst is the charge for using a credit card when there is no other way of funding the transaction. “It’s ludicrous for a website operator to charge additional fees as means of generating income by stealth. It has the same connotation as charging a premium for the phone call through 0870 numbers before they were exposed” said Alistair Owens MD of Keen2learn. “There are huge advantages to web site operators and customers from ecommerce. We should resist any sharp practice based on web anonymity that would meet with contempt in face to face contact in a high street shop”.

Keen2learn provides educational games and teaching resources to schools. The games, matched to the National Curriculum, have equal application with parents wanting to give their children extra personal support at home. The fun games develop positive interaction with parents rather than watching them slog through conventional homework at arms length. “We are at the start of the learning curve for children. An ethical base is at the heart of the operation. This includes “non-drip pricing” that has absolutely no hidden extras; the price you see alongside each product is the final price you pay” said Alistair Owens

About us:

Keen2learn is an award winning website started four years ago to give parents access to the educational games used in school. Practice is crucial in learning retention and often children in a busy classroom lack the opportunity to practice what the teacher has said. The fun games played in class can be a bit of a rush. Playing the games at home at leisure allows parents to engage in the schooling process far more effectively than conventional homework. Since the launch schools have become large customers of keen2learn. Teachers like the extensive range matched to the National Curriculum and ease of ordering from one location rather than ploughing through multiple printed catalogues.

 Contact:

Alistair Owens

Managing Director keen2learn

Tel 0845 643 0585

Fax: 01302 590030

Mob: 07716 515 808

Email: alistair@keen2learn.co.uk

Keen 2 Learn is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

Ethical Fashion and more at Richmond’s first Eco Christmas Fair

Guest speaker Zac Goldsmith – local champion of independent retailers, organic wine and nibbles, and a special Eco Christmas raffle!

There will be a range of eco and ethical stalls including: beautifully designed organic cotton eco shopping bags Bags of Change that get you discounts when you shop with them at over 70 stores; Bourgeois Boheme’s stylish ethical vegan fashion accessories; Kenyan fairly traded sisal and sustainable soapstone products from Voodoo Blue; Bam’s bamboo clothing for men and women; Plant Your Tree gift cards, organic T-shirts and towels from One Green Earth and Green Sisters; plus sustainable stocking fillers from the Sea Shepherd marine conservation charity.

WHEN: 6.30 – 9.00pm, Wednesday 2nd December 2009

WHERE: Bourgeois Boheme Showroom, Hydrex House, Garden Road, Richmond TW9 4NR.

This event is organised by Bags of Change and hosted by Bourgeois Boheme and Voodoo Blue.

Bags of Change is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

Since Christmas is coming up fast and the MoreEco team know you’re all very busy, we’ve decided to make things easier for you! Twice a week we have been publishing our top ten eco christmas gift ideas to make this Christmas something to remember.

Keep checking back to see what we’ve added to help you have a very merry eco Christmas!

Natalie Barnwell of Eco Ezee Ltd named one of the Future 100 Young Social Entrepreneurs for 2009 

Natalie Barnwell founder and Managing Director of Eco Ezee Limited is announced as one of the Future 100 Young Social Entrepreneurs of the Year during Global Entrepreneurship Week 2009.

Global Entrepreneurship Week is looking to unleash people’s enterprising ideas to tackle some of society’s biggest issues such as climate change, poverty, gender equality and health.

The Future 100 Awards puts the spotlight on young people aged 18-35 who are demonstrating entrepreneurial flair and innovation in running a responsible business venture; one which demonstrates a balance between economic, environmental and social goals to achieve ultimate business success. 

Founder of Striding Out and organiser of the Future100 awards, Heather Wilkinson said: “The future of our world is in the hands of individuals who are committed to generating commercial and ethical returns. 

Challenging economic times can offer opportunities to question the way we operate as both a business community and a society. We are profiling the ‘Future 100′ young entrepreneurs who are changing the face of everyday business and improve commerce’s impact on the wider world.”

The Future 100 awards encourages and rewards extraordinary vision, ethical business practice and social responsibility. They aim to showcase businesses that offer innovative and sustainable solutions to social problems. The Future 100 Awards is organized by Striding Out www.stridingout.co.uk, a social enterprise which is committed to supporting the development and growth of young and ethical entrepreneurs.

Eco Ezee Limited is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

How to instantly get 30% more value on your flowers!

We’ve all been there. You order a dozen roses to find that on delivery your beloved only has 9. Why?

Ordering from a middleman instantly reduces your value for money. Most middlemen charge between 20-25%. And then the florist he calls takes between 5-10%. That’s an average of a whopping 30% just for taking your order and calling a florist himself.

You’re paying for the brand name. You’re talking to people that hardly see flowers in their day to day life. You’re talking to people who may have never even seen a bouquet being made.  Calling a middleman is like buying a raffle ticket – sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. And unfortunately these days, it’s most often lose.

We try to be as transparent as possible. We charge you a delivery fee on top of your order. This is calculated by the distance it takes to travel to your destination: it’s not a set fee where sometimes you’re paying too much and other times you’re paying too little (and therefore the fee gets taken out your flowers!). The prices you pay for delivery to London is for hand delivery, by our own drivers. The price you pay for UK deliveries is what we pay to our courier. All of the flowers we deliver come straight from our studio to your recipients home.

So say you order a £100 bouquet from a middle man: he’ll take 25% of that immediately. Then the florist takes a 5% cut. Suddenly you’re £100 bouquet is only worth £70. Oh, and then there’s the hidden delivery cost, which is probably between £5-£10.

Many florists working with the middlemen end up feeling ripped off. They’ve only gotten 5% from your order, while the big boys have gotten 25% just for calling them. That 5% in their total orders often doesn’t add up to enough to pay the bills. And that’s why you’ll get 9 roses instead of 12.

Todich Floral Design LTD is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

The Big Green Guide (www.biggreenguide.co.uk) has launched a Cut the Christmas Carbon Campaign and is inviting businesses and individuals to sign up.

As part of the campaign, we’re inviting people to give us their best green tip for Christmas. These will be published on the site and one will be picked from the hat to win £20.

The campaign page on our website gives details about how to green your Christmas and cut waste this festive seasion. We’ll also be adding advice and tips for the 12 Days of Christmas.

And we’ve got ourselves a special present for Christmas – the site is being professionally designed and the new version should be available in the New Year. (Until then, apologies for its poor layout!)

We hope to make the site self-financing through google ads and affiliate links and that will allow us to improve and update it more often.

Your green tips for Christmas are needed now – closing date is December 15 – so visit www.biggreenguide.co.uk and give us your

The Big Green Guide is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

 
ETHICAL FASHION SAMPLE SALE!

Come and grab a bargain in time for Christmas.
 
This weekend on Brick Lane there is an ethical fashion extravaganza taking place!

You can find some amazing ethical bargains from some of the top eco fashion labels including HOWIES and KUYICHI, with up to 80% off the retail prices.  

From men’s organic denim to fair trade t-shirts and 100% organic dresses to fair trade hand made shoes. The ethical fashion sample sale is the perfect one stop shop for all your Christmas presents.
 
The ethical fashion sample sale is taking place from Thursday 26th November until Sunday 29th November at:
 
Dray Walk Gallery (next to Big Chill Bar)
Dray Walk
The Old Truman Brewery
Brick Lane, London, E1
 
Thursday 26th November 5pm – 9pm
Friday 27th November 10am – 7pm
Saturday 28th November 10am – 6pm
Sunday 29th November 10am – 5pm  

Foundation Agency Ltd is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

This one day event is a celebration of 10 years of Earthships in Europe

Saturday 19 June 2010

For full details & online reservation please visit: http://www.brightonpermaculture.org.uk

Brighton Permaculture Trust is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

“Irresponsible, lazy, ignorant, insensitive, disrespectful, uninformed and with no purpose”

This is the opinion of people and places – which is a volunteer recruitment organisation! But they’re not talking about young ‘gappers’ here. They’re talking about many of the organisations that recruit these young people for “volunteer” experiences.

people and places’ work has just been recognised by the Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Awards – the most prestigious and competitive of their kind in the world – winning the best volunteering category for 2009.

Judges Citation: “people and places has exercised leadership in a sector bedevilled by poor practice and established a replicable business model. Committed to reporting transparently on the money that volunteers pay, they ensure that the volunteers meet their full costs and are not a burden on the community; and carefully match the skills of volunteers to the needs of that community without replacing local labour. They have taken the ground breaking step of having their work externally audited and publishing it online. These four principles set not only a practicable standard for operators to aspire to, but offer valuable guidelines for tourists seeking legitimate and socially beneficial volunteering experiences.”

people and places has been working with local communities in Africa, Asia and South America for the last 4 years, matching skilled volunteers to community needs, with the vast majority of volunteers to date having been over 35, with hard skills to offer.

Now the organisation believes this programme can be extended to the GAP market. As a campaigning organisation, it is keen to bring about change in this least responsible sector of the volunteer market.

“There’s much debate about the validity of volunteering by the traditional ‘gapper’ – post school or university,” says Sallie Grayson, programme director at people and places, “but we firmly believe that these young people have real skills to share, and that with good management and planning, they can help to make a real difference in the communities we serve as well as having a meaningful adventure.

“We’ve worked with our local partners and their communities to design volunteer placements specifically for ‘gappers’, adding a younger element to the larger programme. These young people won’t be replacing local employment and will be part of an ongoing programme that is helping vulnerable communities build the future they want for themselves. We started people and places to campaign for integrity in the volunteer travel market and to promote responsible volunteering – we’re proud that our work has been recognised by such prestigious awards, but we’re not using this as an excuse to rest on our laurels! We see this award as an opportunity to raise the bar and challenge others to do the same.”

Well-run volunteer placements provide true social interaction and can develop a profound understanding among people – they can be life-changing experiences for volunteers and local communities.

BUT, all too often, a volunteer trip can be a recipe for disaster – for both parties.

When host communities are vulnerable and eager for assistance, it is a common occurrence for them to be bullied or exploited by volunteer service providers. All too often, a project has little say in the numbers or experience of volunteers who they feel obliged to accept. This lack of consultation can have devastating results – a school may be sent 10 or 12 young volunteers who find themselves hanging around with little to do, other than get in the way of hard pressed local people; gullible (but not guilty) young volunteers may arrive in their projects to discover that their hosts cannot afford to feed them because they cannot afford to feed themselves; volunteers find out that none of their hard earned money has found its way to these hard pressed communities.

There is often equally serious exploitation of young gappers.

“We hear far too many stories from young volunteers of abandonment at airports, last minute changes to completely inappropriate projects, placement in communities where no-one knows anything about them or the fact that they’re coming – until they’re “dropped of” by the local representative (who they can’t contact for the rest of their stay.)

“Inaccurate information is breathtaking and bordering on illegal – descriptions of homestay families who aren’t real but more of a ‘template’ to give a general idea of where these vulnerable young people “may” be staying.”

But how do trusting, well-meaning gappers find themselves in this kind of situation?

All too many volunteer organisations sell a smoke and mirrors promise, using all the buzz words and taking advantage of the fact that they can tell volunteers what they want to hear: “responsible, meaningful, sustainable, ethical, community driven – SAFE!”

people and places has developed a list of questions to ask – and they strongly suggest that all potential volunteers should ask these questions of any organisation they are considering travelling with.

“There are good organisations out there – usually with little or no marketing budget to compete with the presence of ‘the big boys’ – organisations like Blue Ventures, Peru’s Challenge, CREES, Azafady. We want to encourage gappers to find them, and we’ve produced the questions as a helpful tool – we also want gappers to search the chat rooms and forums, read newspaper archives, talk to their friends and families about volunteering.

“And if you’ve had a bad experience, post it on the web or contact us and we’ll post it.

“The bottom line is – do your research – use your head, not your heart!”

For further information

http://www.responsibletourismawards.com/

people and places is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

This course is for anyone thinking about building their own home and anyone interested in learning about Earthships and includes practical workshops

21-23 April 2010

For full details & online reservation please visit: http://www.brightonpermaculture.org.uk

Brighton Permaculture Trust is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more