Here at ethicTrade we think our mums are special. Then again, who doesn’t? That’s why every year, we come up with a fantastic range of ethical and fair trade gift ideas that you can purchase right from ethictrade.com.

We also think the people around the world who design and produce the lovely things we give our mums also deserve a break. That’s why we only buy from projects, cooperatives and companies who pay a fair price to their workers, don’t exploit them in any way, and provide clean and safe working conditions.

Just take a look at some of the moving stories behind the fair trade gifts ethicTrade sells.

Here are our Top 10 hot picks from 2012’s Mother’s Day Gift Range:

‘Carnaby Scarf’- A beautiful, muted stripe, eco friendly, bamboo scarf

‘Bamboozle Knee High Socks’ – Incredibly comfortable bamboo socks in a range of exciting colours

Citrus Scented Oil and Salts Gift Set -  A gorgeous bath gift set made with Fairtrade sugars

One of our bestsellers: ‘The World of Streetfood’ Recipe Book

Gifts for less than a tenner, like these great little Scented Candle Tins in a choice of four fragrances

Has your mum got a good sense of humour? Then she’ll love this funny ‘Diet Rules’ apron!

Or how about this classy square table platter – perfect for that beautifully presented dining table

We’ve got a huge range of high quality knitwear too, like this ‘Villarica’ Chullo Hat in a choice of designs

Or these matching gloves

And there are beautiful handmade knitted jumpers too, like this Chamonix Hoody

Mother’s Day in 2012 is on 18th March. Don’t be late!

Ethictrade LLP is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

Fall in love with a wonderful Valentine’s offer from The Natural Works Company – get 10% off when you spend £15 or more!  Just enter VAL12 at the checkout to receive discount.

With gorgeous natural products for him & her you’re sure to find the perfect Valentine’s gift!

shop@www.naturalworkscompany.co.uk

The Natural Works Company is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

There are many of us who try hard to do the right thing.  We may buy Fairtrade food, worry about our carbon footprint and recycle our packaging.  Yet most of us have not the slightest idea what our money is doing when we aren’t spending it.

For the majority of us with accounts in high street banks, it’s not that we don’t care; it’s that we don’t know.  A survey commissioned by Charity Bank last autumn revealed that 78% of us are not sure what our banks are doing with our money.  They are not obliged by law to tell us, and we don’t like to ask.  Stories such as the Independent’s last summer, which revealed how UK high street banks are funding the arms industry, make us uncomfortable but unsure what to do.  Changing bank accounts is a hassle and it is much easier not to think about it.

The good news is that there are alternatives out there.  The Move Your Money UK campaign is supported by a whole range of organisations offering alternative ways in which to grow your money, from the Co-operative Bank to local credit unions.   Since the economic crisis, alternative providers have benefited from public distrust of major high-street banks and at Charity Bank this has seen our deposits book doubling in size since 2007, to over £65million today.

While mainstream banks are often focused solely on the principle of profit maximisation, alternative providers implement the triple principle of profit-people-planet.   For Charity Bank this means we adhere to three principles that are in short supply with high street banks:

1) Responsibility. We know our customers personally and expect our borrowers to use loans responsibly and only for the greater good.

2) Transparency. Unlike many mainstream banks, Charity Bank knows and shares where we lend our savers money.

3) Sustainability. While most mainstream banks are focused on creating short term profit, Charity Bank is focused on creating long term social change.  We reinvest our entire surplus for charitable purposes.

So if you are wondering whether to open a new savings account, give some thought to the good that your money could be doing while it’s invested.   It will help you to sleep more easily.

Charity Bank is an ethical bank that offer savings accounts and an ethical ISA where customers not only receive a competitive return, but can also be confident that their savings will help Charity Bank lend money  to charities and social enterprises.  Charity Bank is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (207701) and is a registered charity (1091648). Registered Office: 194 High Street, Tonbridge, Kent. TN9 1BE. Registered in England and Wales (4330018).

Charity Bank – Ethical Bank is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

So after 10 years of reelfurniture.co.uk and many new designs beyond the original it needed a new footprint, a new brand, so here is David Meddings Design. It was back in 2001 at the Norwich Festival that I demo-ed a rather rough looking rocker made from adiscarded cable reel, (picture on film somewhere) the response was so positive that reelfurniture.co.uk was created. And for the web – well a cable reel is a simple bolt together affair so inspiration for a self assembly Reel Rocker, flat pack worldwide.

David Meddings Design is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

With the sudden drop in temperature over the weekend, hope that most of winter might be behind us has been abandoned, and the fight to keep warm is back on.

Here at Boys&Girls, we thought we’d put together a brief guide to help you keep your kids warm this winter, the ethical way.

1- Layer up

Dressing your children with several layers instead of just a thick one is the key to keep them warm. Layers help trap warm air between each item, which acts as further insulation from the outside cold. Wearing layers will also help them regulate their body temperature better, by opening or taking off one layer when overheating, and putting it back when they’ve stopped running around. Tuck vests into trousers rather than pulling over the outside, and make sure that the layers are not too tight and don’t restrict movement so blood flow is not impeded.

2- Prefer natural fibres

Layering is even more effective if the layers are made of natural fibres, like cotton, silk or wool. Because natural fibres let the skin breathe better, if your kids work up a sweat, they won’t be cold later on.

It is even better if you go for organic clothes: with no harsh chemicals used in the production process, their skin won’t get irritated, which is especially important in the winter when they will be wearing more layers for several months.

3- Don’t forget their extremities

Remember that up to 40% of body heat is lost through the head, and that feet and toes usually get cold quicker than the rest of the body. Gloves, a hat and thicker socks are therefore indispensable in colder weather, and also allow you to add splashes of colours to outfits that tend to get a bit dark in winter.

At Boys&Girls, we createcool clothes for kidsthat are bright and cheerful, but also made of 100% organic and fairly traded cotton. With our range of colourful long-sleeved t-shirts, hoodies, leggings and sweatpants available on sale, you will be able to keep your kids warm with an on-trend, funky look that doesn’t cost the earth. And for extra coziness, all our Autumn/Winter hoodies and sweat pants are made in our SuperSoft fabric, a brushed sweat providing ultimate comfort.

Boys&Girls is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

Search advertising is a colossal business that touches pretty much every web user. So a search engine that diverts the bulk of the cash raised to protecting a rainforest in northern Brazil looks, like all the best ideas, simple and good.

The site is Ecosia and has just passed £500,000 in funds raised, 24 months on from its launch. The search engine mask at Ecosia.org, is powered by Bing and Yahoo, and 80% of the revenue from the search advertising goes straight to the WWF Amazon Initiative, which manages a number of conservation projects in the Tumucumaque region.

The Tumucumaque region in northern Brazil harbours one of the world’s largest tropical forest reserves (38,867 square kilometres) – it’s also one of the most biologically diverse regions on the planet – making it a widely accepted global priority for conservation and sustainable development.

By making Ecosia your default search engine, you can turn your web searches green, reduce your carbon footprint and make a real difference to the planet. Instead of causing CO2 emissions with your searches, you can actually help to avoid climate change because your searches will help to save endangered rainforests.

Not only does Ecosia make it easy to help save the rainforest – they also offset the emissions from each search with PURE and the Gold Standard. Ecosia’s own servers even run on green electricity, so they do not cause any CO2 emissions.

There are other green searches, like Green Maven and Ecosearch, but Ecosia impresses us most. In addition to the benefits mentioned above, Ecosia is also the best choice if you are concerned about privacy. Some search engine companies store your web searches for several months and even analyze them to create a profile of you. They sometimes even sell this information to other companies. Ecosia, in contrast, deletes all user-related data within a maximum of 48 hours.

If you like what Ecosia are doing, help them spread the word!

Volunteer Latin America is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

How fair is fair trade?

With Fair Trade Fortnight fast approaching we thought we would try to answer some of the questions that often come up about fair trade. There are plenty of fair trade facts on the internet but what is a fair trade?

There is a lot of confusion about what fair trade is about and we often get asked “What does fair trade do?” Many people confuse it with the organic and environmental movements and while they may recognise the fair trade logo on a banana and realise that it’s a good thing, many people still do not understand who benefits from fair trade.

Fair trade in a nutshell

Fair trade is about people. It’s as simple as that. Fair trade arose from the unfair international trading practices that meant that small producers in the developing world were being paid far too little for their products. Producers such as coffee farmers were being paid less than the cost of production as the international prices were so low. This meant that they were working hard but losing money, unable to send their children to school or get medical care or even feed them adequately.

Fair trade guarantees sustainable prices and better working conditions. In return for receiving a minimum price for their goods, producers must meet certain social, economic and environmental requirements that ensure the sustainable and fair development of their organisations and workers. The minimum price is set in consultation with producers and can never be less than the market price.

A premium is often paid over and above the minimum price and this extra money is used to invest in social, environmental and economic developmental projects that the producers wish to pursue.

So while consideration is given to environmental issues, the over-riding purpose of fair trade is to improve lives.

Fair trade certification

There are 2 main certification organisations recognized in the world:

1              Fairtrade Labelling Organization (FLO). The Fairtrade Foundation is the UK member of the FLO and it works with businesses, civil society organisations and individuals to improve the position of producer organisations in the developing world and to help them achieve sustainable improvements for their members and their communities. Certification and product labelling (through the FAIRTRADE Mark) are their primary tools. The backing of organisations of producers and consumers as a citizen’s movement for change is fundamental and integral to their work. They mainly deal with commodity products such as coffee, sugar, bananas and cotton.

2              World Fair Trade Organisation (WFTO). This fair trade certification system takes a slightly different approach to the FLO and so covers a wider variety of products, such as gifts and handicrafts. Provided a producer or manufacturer can meet the 10 fair trade principles (go to http://www.wfto.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2&Itemid=14 to view them), a producer is certified as fair trade no matter what he makes. By committing to poverty reduction, fair trading and prices, no child labour and more, the producers get access to western markets which they would normally be unable to reach. The accredited member could be a UK importer, Indian manufacturer or social enterprise in any developing country. The UK representative of WFTO is the British Association for Fair Trade Shops (BAFTS).

Fair trade and the UK consumer

Fair trade is doing well in the UK and fair trade sales continue to grow in spite of the recession. Fair trade for the consumer is not about consuming more, but about taking the fair trade option. If you are going to buy some coffee, a gift or a cotton t-shirt choose the fair trade option where it is available.

Fairtrade Fortnight 2012 (27^th February to 11^th March) is about taking a step for fair trade. This means swapping your brands for Fairtrade brands at home, school or at work. Whether it’s tea, coffee, gifts, clothing or sweets, there are fair trade brands available. And by buying them you really can make a difference to someone’s life.

For more information go to www.wfto.com and www.fairtrade.org.uk.

Fairwind is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

At Gecco Interiors, we have always carried a range of beautiful, soft and vibrant hemp fabrics that worked equally well for curtains as domestic upholstery – Hardy Organic Hemp. Recently we launched our 2^nd hemp fabric range, this time a textured, hard wearing yet gorgeous upholstery fabric mixed with wool – Hemp Plus. We thought it was time to examine the wonderful properties of this amazing plant for it is slowly becoming known as an environmental hero.

History

The first recorded piece of canvas is made of hemp fibres from 8000BC and it survives to this day! The Chinese created paper using hemp over 2000 years ago. During the great days of discovery almost all ships set sail using hemp ropes and sails. Pioneers crossed the newly found American frontier beneath wagons covered in hemp canvas sheets. Hemp seed was a mainstay in bread making in this country before wheat came along. It seems that hemp has always been a supercrop and yet it has been left behind with the advent of the industrial revolution and the introduction of foreign crops and fossil fuels, but all that may be changing.

Global Warming

As scientists and researchers look into new products to help tackle climate change, hemp, one of our oldest recorded crops, is taking centre stage. Here are a few key facts about this amazing crop

Pesticides & Pollution – Hemp can grow anywhere and needs much less pesticide control than other crops especially when compared with cotton which uses 25% of the world’s pesticides every year! Even more incredible is that hemp actually draws up toxins from the earth, almost cleaning it through a process called phytomerediation (1^st-ecofriendlyplanet.com)

Erosion – due to the long roots of the hemp plant, soil suffers less erosion when a hemp crop is grown

Carbon Emissions – according to a recent report for LBJ, an acre of hemp has been recorded to remove up to 10times the amount of C02 from the atmosphere as an acre of trees.

High Yield – the same acre of hemp can produce fibres to make four times the amount of paper that the acre of trees can produce. One hectare of hemp can produce 1 tonne of fibre which in turn can create 5,400metres of hemp fabric.

Fast Growing – Hemp is one of the fastest growing crops on Earth reaching 3 metres in just 120 days, making it much more sustainable to farm than trees which can take up to 25years to reach the same height.

Low Irrigation – Hemp does not need anywhere near the amount of water demanded by thirstier crops such as cotton

Clean production – both paper and cotton industries are a huge source of pollution not least of all due to the fact that their fibres must be bleached, traditionally with chlorine. Hemp fibres do not need bleaching which makes for a much cleaner manufacturing process.

Biofuel potential – the hemp seed itself is high is oil content that is easily converted into hemp plastics and bio fuel similar to ethanol, thereby reducing our reliance on fossil fuels. It also releases much less carbon dioxide when burned and almost no sulfur dioxide compared with burning fossil fuel.

It seems that there is no end to the environmental advantages of this supercrop and the industries now using hemp in their own manufacturing grows daily, here are just a few:

Fuel

Plastics

Cosmetics

Construction

Paints

Medicines

Health and Well-being

Paper

And of course……Fabric!

Hardy Organic Hemp is suitable for curtains, blinds and domestic upholstery, comes in 13 vibrant shades and costs £79.00/m

Hemp Plus is suitable for all kinds of upholstery and curtains, comes in 31 gorgeous colours and costs £32.00/m

The applications are endless but the choice is yours!

Gecco Interiors Limited is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

Further reductions in our sale on organic baby clothes and children’s organic clothing.

Global kids is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

We all know that vitamins and minerals are good for our body when we take them in our diet.  They are also outstanding for our skin when applied topically.  Many natural beauty products contain vitamins and so are a great source of nourishment for the skin.

Vitamin E is an antioxidant and plays a role in helping to reduce the signs of skin ageing, such as wrinkles.  Many natural beauty products contain Vitamin E for this very reason.  Vitamin E is highly recommended for healthy skin because it also helps to reduce damage caused by UV rays and the environment.  Without sufficient Vitamin E you may find your skin becomes dry and cracked, and more prone to damage.  Therefore it is important to ensure your skin receives a good amount, and using natural beauty products containing Vitamin E are an ideal way to do this.

Another key vitamin is Vitamin C, which is also an antioxidant and one of its key roles is to make collagen which helps to increase skin elasticity and strength.  Vitamin C promotes skin hydration and is also an antioxidant.  When it is applied topically through natural beauty products, Vitamin C is easily absorbed by the skin and can bring benefits to it quickly.  Another benefit of Vitamin C is that it can help the skin to recover from sun damage, so is especially recommended if you enjoy spending a lot of time in the sun.

Cleansers, toners and moisturisers are an essential part of a good skincare routine.  Because natural beauty products are designed to nourish your skin you will often see that pure natural extracts containing these key vitamins and minerals are included within them.  With natural beauty products you can rest assured that your skin is being well taken care of and nourished.

Lush Duck is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more