In the heart of the countryside, our restored 17th century stone farmhouse is surrounded by forests and olive groves and the sounds of nature. Slow Life Umbria is not only our inn, it is also an expression which means to live life according to the rhythm of nature and to rediscover moments of serenity and harmony with nature and within ourselves. In our restaurant we serve 100% organic and biodynamic food, carefully selected from small organic and biodynamic farms. We also have our own organic garden. Our organic olive oil won an award in 2009 as one of the best olive oils in Umbria. We make our own homemade pasta, bread, cakes and desserts. We offer organic and biodynamic wines, selected from small local producers. http://www.organicholidays.co.uk/at/2824.htm

Organic Holidays is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

The Old Granary is a delightful cottage on an organic dairy farm with stunning views of the sea. Peace, tranquillity, fresh air. The farm nestles in rolling hills and overlooks the River Yeo. It is a favourite with young families and walkers. Enjoy a Devon cream tea on arrival. Watch the cows come home for milking, and the farmer working the land and caring for the wildlife. If you try our organic beef you will definitely want to take some home. Identify an abundance of wildlife and plants on the farm’s nature trail. The lanes around the farm are scented with wild flowers. With their traditional high Devon hedges they have remained the same for centuries. Come and discover this unspoilt corner of North Devon. http://www.organicholidays.co.uk/at/71.htm

Organic Holidays is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

Our stone built 17th century farmhouse faces south in one of the hidden valleys above the River Exe on the southern edge of Exmoor. Come and enjoy a unique rural experience on our friendly working farm, where we take pride in real food and genuine hospitality. We grow our own pork, beef and lamb, and the garden and greenhouse provide many different types of vegetables, fruit and herbs. By walking the farm trail, you can enjoy the changing seasons, as summer flowers follow primroses, bluebells and orchids. You can sit on a bench under the oaks and watch the sun go down in the company of red deer and owls. We have achieved the Gold Award from both the Green Tourism Business Scheme and Devon Wildlife Trust. http://www.organicholidays.co.uk/at/63.htm

Organic Holidays is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

Beautiful location, peaceful surroundings, comfort, relaxation, and a warm welcome are all to be found at Easdon Cottage – a classic stone house on the edge of Dartmoor with historic roots back beyond the seventeenth century. Bed and breakfast accommodation is a cosy ensuite double / twin room. A vegetarian or vegan breakfast is prepared using organically produced food wherever possible, including home-grown in season. Packed lunches are available from £5 per person. Evening meals are available by prior arrangement. At different times of the year the countryside is rich with native species of wildlife and wild flowers. Artists and photographers find much to inspire them, and it is good walking, riding and bicycling country. http://www.organicholidays.co.uk/at/70.htm

Organic Holidays is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

First, Our Facebook Competition

Our first Facebook competition  has launched. Win a set of pillow cases in 100% organic cotton from our Elsa organic bed linen range. To see more details and enter, simply visit our Facebook competition page or read on to find out how to enter.  Answer a simple question and email the answer to info@foufurnishings.com. Let us know that you like our Facebook organic bed linen page and that you are attending the competition. All answers are strictly confidential. The closing date for the competition is the 21st of June. The lucky winner will be drawn out of an ‘organic’ hat and informed by email by the 22nd of June.   If you don’t want to enter the competition but would like to be the first to hear the latest updates from us at Fou Furnishings and much more besides then you can follow us on Twitter and join our Facebook group anytime.

fou furnishings is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

Many companies now say that are an ethical business. But what does this actually mean? How ethical are they? What is the relationship between green and ethical? And how does this all related to being responsible, and doing well for people and planet?

“We’re all only ethical as far as it suits us. Where do you draw the line? – What’s the ethical standard? If we had an Ethical Association, what would their criteria for membership be? If we had to meet standards for ethical-ness, what would those standards be and how would we be judged by the relevant authority?” Max Wiseberg, director of HayMax, a natural drug-free pollen barrier for hayfever on the subject of ethical. 

HayMax manufactures a drug-free pollen barrier aimed at hayfever sufferers, many of whom find it works either to partly or completely relieve their unwanted hayfever symptoms including sneezing, runny nose, itchy face, throat and eyes. It is a Small-Medium Enterprise (SME), employing less than 10 people. Find more about HayMax at www.haymax.biz.

HayMax considers itself to be an ethical business. For them, this means acting responsibly – both towards people and the environment. They do this partly by being as green as possible. So the business reduces waste, recycles, has as small a carbon footprint as possible and aims to be carbon neutral by offsetting any carbon emissions. It uses local ingredients which are also organic and fair-trade wherever possible. And partly by conducting business in an ethical way – treating others fairly and resolving any disputes that arise amicably without resorting to legal action, as well as having what they consider to be an ethical product itself. 

HayMax is a natural, organic product that people can use for hayfever.  It traps pollen and the idea is that if you trap enough pollen then this will help curb unwanted symptoms of hayfever and ease the suffering without having to take drugs and possibly suffer unnecessary side-effects. Drowsiness, for example, is a commonly reported side-effect of taking antihistamines for hayfever.

Charitable giving could be another marker of ‘ethical-ness’. HayMax fulfil this too – they started donating to local charities once the business went into profit and say they will give more as they continue to grow.  And they use an ethical PR company – Excellart – also an ethical business to promote themselves.

What about other ‘ethical’ businesses?  Can ethical also apply genuinely to a large corporate, or conglomerate or international business?

Cafedirect, another ethical business is a large international business. They make coffee from fair-trade beans, giving farmers in the developing world a fair price for their product. They aim to support sustainable livelihoods, as well as the environment and say that this depends on tackling economic and social issues. They set out their values and beliefs as dealing with others fairly, acting with integrity, empowering everyone they do business with or help or employ and taking an ‘inspirational and creative’ approach to business.  They say they make a quality product, which could be another marker of ethical-ness. They are a large, successful, international business but they clearly conform to many markers of what is ethical. More information about Cafedirect on their website at www.cafedirect.co.uk.

Ethical and Green

Being green (namely tackling climate change by a number of means and supporting a sustainable environment)is often associated with being ethical – it is certainly a big part of being ethical. You could look at it in terms of acting responsibly towards the planet, as well as people.

There is something approaching an ethical monitoring organisation for business. Ethical Consumer is an organisation that works on behalf of the consumer to expose unethical business practices and to rate businesses in terms of the service they provide, one of these markers being how ethical they are. Companies at the bottom of the scale include Tesco and BP, and at the top of the tree (in terms of how ethical they are) is Liberty International and Intercontinental Hotels. So being a big business doesn’t necessarily mean being unethical.

So in conclusion, ethical in business can be marked by a number of things. Including, but not solely limited to: green-ness, how a business deals with other companies, how it treats its employees, what ingredients it uses in its product or its materials, the quality of the service or product it delivers, the impact it has on the world and the environment and how it functions on a day to day basis. Essentially – the impact it has on the world around us: both people and the planet, including its values and how these are applied to both. These factors can apply to small and large businesses alike.

HayMax Limited is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

Beautifully converted Devon long barn, full of colour and atmosphere, in a stunning location overlooking the edge of Dartmoor. Relaxing, restful, refreshing. Start the day with a healthy organic traditional English meat, vegan, lacto-vegetarian, wheat-free, raw food or other customised breakfast to suit your dietary needs. Organic beverages in double and twin rooms with filtered water. Our food is certified organic and locally sourced where possible (average 95% organic). We adhere to the Soil Association’s open book certification for small businesses. We are a non-smoking, ecologically sensitive, environmentally friendly household. Children welcome. In-house nutritional naturopathy / iridology / tutorials / PGCE, MIfL. http://www.organicholidays.co.uk/at/58.htm

Organic Holidays is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

This is the fourth occasional newsletter for Habitat Aid’s friends and partners to let you know how we’re getting on. You can get this post by automatic subscription with links and pics please fill in the form on our website or visit http://habitataidnews.wordpress.com. You can also find us on Facebook.

This cold dry weather is a nightmare, but I suppose at least it’s given me time to sit down and write a newsletter. I’ve been a busy boy over the last month, so much to catch up on.

We ran our first course in April, which seems to have been a great success. Tutored by Hugh Roberts of  Environments for People we all learnt how to build a wildlife pond, now sitting in front of me. Thanks to Hugh and to our wetland plant supplier Gower Wildflowers. The pond’s already populated by a selection of interesting looking invertebrae, and the swallows are collecting mud from it as I write. All very rewarding. Next off are our meadow days, run by  Sue Everett, on the 11th and 12th June.

I flogged up to Sheffield last week to go to an intriguing workshop on Green Roofs and Living Walls, which is an area we’re keen to get more involved with. We already have a relationship with a consultant, and supply generic native seed and plug mixes for green roofs, but hope to do a lot more in future to encourage folk to plant native plants rather than just use the sedum mats they have done in the past. Green Roofs in particular seem to me to be a fantastic and practical way to encourage biodiversity in urban areas – among other advantages.

I also hope we can do more work with seeds, where we are starting to supply end business customers directly. After a successful trial we are supplying the British Beekeepers’ Association (BBKA Enterprises Ltd.) with two native seed mixes particularly helpful for bees, which I have high hopes for. We’re also supplying Flowerworld with the seed for a 50,000 sachet promotion at Morrisons to promote the Bumblebee Conservation Trust.

Our other bee related news is that we’re expanding our range of plants and exotic trees for bees as a result of some suggestions from Andy Willis at the BBKA Spring Convention and Norman Carreck at the Laboratory for Apiculture and Social Insects at the University of Sussex. They’ll be supplied by R.V.Roger and available from this autumn.
 
We are seeing the first fruits of our work with designers, sourcing native plants for some very exciting schemes. We’re both promoting those currently working with habitat creation in mind, and encouraging others to think about it more.

As to life here, Kingsley the new ram has been a success and the mad Runner Ducks are laying again, albeit mostly not in their duck house. My bees are happy too, and I’ve set up a couple of bait hives for them. Mike the gardener’s grand veg plot looks great and our various mini-meadows look promising too – if only it would rain!  

Habitat Aid Ltd. is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

 Two years ago after visiting a client in their not even moved into brand new house and being asked to rip out an unused kitchen Caroline and I had a “this can’t be right” moment. In an increasingly throw away society when even brand new kitchens are disposable we felt that we could do better and Eco Kitchens Online was born.

For the last two years we have been researching and developing a range of free-standing kitchens that are able to tick all the boxes from style and design to real sustainability.

As we set off on this journey to develop the kitchens my first thought was “well this will be easy” but after a lot of research and testing later and the idea proved not to be as simple as I had thought. With eco friendly paint not drying, sourcing the components that were as eco friendly as possible but still gave our clients the feel and quality they require was an interesting balancing act.

We also had to test and develop different ways to use the materials that we had selected to ensure that we delivered the best that we could. So from the compacted waste straw board that we use instead of the dreaded MDF to the recycled yogurt pot work tops everything had to be right.

With so much “green-wash” out there customers are rightly sceptical about how green products are and have a general perception that recycled materials are not going to look very good.

Our kitchens have been designed to be practical and also look great it just so happens that we decided to use recycled and sustainable materials to make them from. We also make them free-standing so customers can take them with them if they move, the ultimate in sustainability.

So why start this blog? In hindsight, which is a wonderful thing, starting a new venture like this over the last couple of years probably was not the best idea but when you feel passionately about some thing you have to go for it.

Well after two years of setting off on this journey and a few set backs, including being approached by a company to supply them and then them setting themselves up to do the same thing to our design, we need your ideas and help as to how we can move our company forward. We don’t have a massive budget but make up for that with passion and hard work which we do have in abundance.

Thank you.

Tim & Caroline Rigby

Eco Kitchens is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

The small converted barn is separated from our house by a drive and a large herb bed. A single dwelling beside a single track road, the barn backs onto a small field full of wild flowers in summer. We are surrounded by 13 acres of fields with a large wildlife pond. All our vegetables are organic [available to purchase in season] and are grown on our land. Herbs are free. The house and barn are situated about half a mile outside the rural village of Woolfardisworthy [Woolsery] between Bideford and Bude. The village has a pub and a general store and post office. An outside tennis court is available by the new village hall. Many sand and stone beaches nearby, and lovely walks both coastal and inland. http://www.organicholidays.co.uk/at/56.htm

Organic Holidays is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more