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We have some beautiful wooden fairtrade childrens toys made in Sri Lanka on special offer. Find them at http://www.ethictrade.com/toys/games-playscenes.html
Ethictrade LLP is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more
Why not visit ethictrade.com to buy some beautiful ethical gifts this Christmas. Some of our best sellers are our leather wallets from Nepal made by a community helping people to recover from leprosy.
Ethictrade ltd is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more
The online eco directory My Green Directory has recently partnered with King Lion Media, the publishers of GREEN Magazine to create a paperback eco directory.
GREEN is distributed quarterly in the Guardian’s Saturday Supplement, and it has been announced that the My Green Directory paperback will also be distributed with GREEN in the Guardian in January 2012.
‘We’re delighted to have been given this opportunity. The sole purpose My Green Directory is to help and inspire the environmentally conscious, bringing to light green companies, green issues & green lifestyle choices, so to get our advertisers in front of a broadsheet audience is just fantastic.’ said Sue Jueno, Director and founder of My Green Directory.
‘Online we promote all types of eco businesses, a large number of which are small start-ups with little advertising budget. Our low cost paperback options now give even the smallest of businesses the chance to be seen in main stream media’
Not only will the paperback be with GREEN Magazine in the Guardian, the 200,000 copies will also be distributed by Permaculture Magazine, the Eden Project, Mamapacks – the ethically influenced mum & baby sample packs, Suma Wholesale’s distribution network, Planet Organic in London, The Eco Village events throughout the summer, at Bricks & Bread, the leading Sustainable Living Centre, at the London Green Fair and more…
Unlimited free digital copies will be available from January 2012 and you can reserve your copy here.
Eco/ethical companies – to book your space please email Sue on hello@mygreendirectory.info or call Jo / Livia on 01737 237900. See our media pack for more information.
My Green Directory is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more
Our 2011 ‘Different Journeys’ programme is now complete. It was our most ambitious programme of visits to date, taking the public to see 20 of our borrowers during National Ethical Investment Week.
These visits have enabled us to share directly with our customers and the public the difference that money saved and invested in Charity Bank is making to charities, social enterprises and communities across the UK.
Our stakeholders were offered the opportunity to meet borrowers and the people they work within their local area. In doing so they have cemented a three-way bond among savers and investors; borrowers; and the Charity Bank team, reinforcing the values that the bank has developed.
They evidence how everyone can choose to use their savings to make a difference whilst earning a financial return. And as one commentator put it, the visits are ‘bringing trust and responsibility back to banking’.
Charity Bank remains committed to showing that everyone can be a ‘Social Investor’, or ‘Social Saver’ – and we believe there is no better way to convince people than to show them the projects their money could be supporting.
To learn more about Charity Bank visit our website, to catch a flavour of the visits you can view our photo album, or to receive details of future visits please sign up for the Charity Bank news bulletin.
Charity Bank – Ethical Bank is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more
Have you ever wondered where real Christmas trees come from? No doubt at that hectic time of year you don’t have time to give it a second thought.
But if you knew that the most popular kind of tree, the Nordmann Fir tree, started life in a remote area of Georgia (formerly part of USSR) and that people are injured or even die so that we can decorate a tree for a few days, maybe you would start thinking?
The Nordmann Fir tree (or the “non-drop tree”) is a high quality tree that keeps its needles well and has a lovely symmetrical, bushy shape. These great qualities have made it increasingly popular and now about 5 million a year are sold in the UK alone. These trees are farmed, but they can only be grown using seed sourced from the natural forests of Georgia – the seed can’t be farmed to a high enough quality, even if the farmer can wait many years for a tree to produce enough seed cones.
Every September the seeds are harvested by the local people in the Ambrolauri region of Georgia, a remote and poor area of a poor developing country. These people, or “cone pickers” are mainly subsistence farmers living high up in the mountains who have little or no income all year until the seed harvest comes round. They then climb 30 metre high trees to pick the seed cones – without safety equipment, ropes or health insurance – and are paid a pittance. Every year someone is injured and there have been deaths too. The seeds are then sold off to farms in Europe where the trees are grown for huge profits, often using illegal immigrant labour and with little regard for the environment.
But things are starting to change thanks to the only fair trade certified (WFTO) real Christmas trees in the world. Set up by Danish Christmas tree grower Bols Forstplanteskole, Fair Trees® sources its own seeds from Ambrolauri using fair trade principles. All of the Fair Trees® cone pickers are paid a fair wage and are provided with modern safety equipment and health insurance. Fair Trees® has also set up a charitable fund in Georgia called The Bols Xmas Tree Fund to help the cone picking community. So far the Fund has provided dental care and health insurance for the local children and invested in community projects. Fairwind, along with an insurance repairs business called MAAssist, is currently raising £10,000 for the Fund to renovate the local school in Tlugi which is in a desperate state.
Fair Trees® not only grows ethical trees, but it is also campaigning to get Christmas tree growers to change their ways and to join the Fair Trees® programme which sets out clear ethical and environmental requirements.
Fair Trees® are for sale this year at www.fairwindonline.com. For more information please go to www.fairwindonline.com or Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/groups/114553318582105/ or www.fairtrees.co.uk. To see a video of the cone pickers go to http://www.bolsxmastreefund.com/video-en.php
Fairwind is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more
Support independent, ethical UK small businesses this Christmas!
At www.OVnaturals.co.uk we are a tiny UK business, passionate about what we offer you, striving to be as ethical as we can be & offering great products & services.
Invest in UK independent businesses this Christmas & find unique gifts that will wow the receiver!
OV naturals is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more
After much hard work, some tears and a great deal of patience from our IT guys we have done it. The brand new Fairwind website is here with more features and useful services to help make your shopping experience with us even better.
It’s the same website address and the same great service, just with a new look and more features.
Website features
My account – store your details, delivery addresses, track your order and save time.
My wishlist – send your wedding, birthday or Christmas list to friends and family with our wishlist service.
Search by event or interest – shop for animal lovers, the eco-conscious, a wedding or christening and more.
Up to date stock – you will know as soon as you “Add to basket” whether the stock is on its way or on backorder.
Image zoom – get a really good close up look at the product images before you buy.
More ways to pay – choose from Sagepay, Paypal and Google checkout.
Gift vouchers – email or post gift vouchers for any amount from £5 to £500.
Blog – follow our blog and get the latest news and events from Fairwind as well as our musings on the world.
Share – more ways to share products with friends through social networks.
Overseas customers – better service with clear delivery charges and immediate ordering
Free delivery offer
To celebrate the launch of the new website we are offering free standard UK delivery for all orders until the end of the month. Simply shop online now – no promotion code needed.
So go on give the new website a try – and let us know what you think
Fairwind is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more
The term ‘throw away fashion’ has been banded about for several years now, but what does it actually mean? And what is its impact on the environment?
In the past, it seemed to apply specifically to high-fashion, low-cost women’s clothing that could be thrown away after just one season; now the term is being applied to children’s clothes too. More and more parents seem to be buying items with the intention of only using them for a few months, without considering the environmental impact of this behaviour.
But it might not just be caused by changing fashions either, but by changing lifestyles too. Many parents have abandoned mending clothes that have been damaged simply because they lack the time and energy. It’s far easier to dispose of children’s clothes and buy new ones than it is to repair them.
Both of these factors mean that landfill sites around the country are receiving clothes that could be reused if there was time.
Not only that, but many of these clothes are made from synthetics, which do not decompose as fast as their natural counterparts, like cotton. Unfortunately, the levels of waste are increasing because it is far easier to throw clothing away than it is to make repairs.
The impact of throw away fashion is compounded when the production process is considered too. The manufacture of many clothing products, cotton included, involves harsh chemicals that can not only harm the environment, but the health of those producing the clothes too.
Cool children’s clothes retailer Boys&Girls have decided to take a different path. Their range of cotton clothing is hard wearing and organic, meaning that there are no harmful chemicals involved in the production process and that they also last longer – so the clothing won’t be disposed of so quickly.
However, creating organic clothes doesn’t mean giving up on style and fashion. Kids love wearing the trendy slogan t-shirts, colourful hoodies and jogging bottoms, which are great when hitting parks and playgrounds.
If you would like to be more environmentally friendly and still get fashionable yet ethical clothing for your kids, visit Boys&Girls online today.
Boys&Girls is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more
Bristol-based wholefood producer and wholesaler Essential Trading is celebrating its Ruby Anniversary year from September 16, 2011 to September 2012.
A variety of themed activities and promotions will run throughout the year, culminating in a celebration in September 2012.
“The last 40 years have seen the wholefood market grow exponentially,” says Eli Sarre, marketing manager for Essential. “Back in the 1970s health food stores were novel and the foods they stocked relatively limited,” she explains. “But now, through education, a distinct rise in vegetarian and vegan diets, growth in free-from diets and the shift towards organic and ethical foods, we have a strong and thriving industry. It has been most gratifying for Essential to see the changes and improvements down the decades, and we are looking forward to seeing what the next 40 years will bring.”
“Essential supplied organic and fairtrade food long before it was trendy to do so, for ethical reasons,” says Eli. “The last few decades have seen significant turning points and boosters for our market. Of particular note were the F-Plan Diet in the 1980s that encouraged people to eat more fibre and less processed food and Gillian McKeith created a massive demand for pulses,” she recalls.
Despite the supermarkets moving into the ethical, organic and wholefood markets in the 1990s, Essential has stayed true to its values and supplies only the independent health food trade. This helps retailers retain many unique lines that they know customers cannot find elsewhere.
Essential adheres to a strong code of ethics that runs through its business, employees and suppliers. It actively supports organic and fairly traded goods and continues to call for the banning GM crops. It currently carries over 6,000 products as a wholesaler including over 100 of its own Essential branded goods.
For more information, contact:
Katherine Selby, Katherine@prworkshop.co.uk; 020 8657 4422
Essential Trading Co-operative Ltd is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more
Fairwind is making way for new autumn lines that will be coming online with the newly built website at the end of the summer. Bargains include recycled leather cushions at £12, embroidered hearts now only £5, and elephant memo boards at £16.
Stocks are limited so check out the full range of sale items now at http://www.fairwindonline.com/category.asp?cat_id=61
Fairwind is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more
