Treat your children this Christmas and save 20% off all children’s organic clothing and organic baby clothes at Globalkids.

Globalkids also has all their eco friendly fleeces and organic hoodies at half price!

Globalkids are an ethical family business passionate about organic and fair trade products. They specialise in providing a unique range of beautiful organic baby clothes, unusual hand made organic baby gifts, organic baby skin care plus fun and sometimes quirky fair trade toys, books and games for children of all ages

Globalkids is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

As Christmas fast approaches this is the ideal time to start getting your home ready for the big day. With the whole family coming for Christmas dinner and inviting your friends round for Boxing Day drinks, your home needs to be in tip top condition to receive the increased number of people heading through your front door. With this in mind Myakka have the ideal solutions to your many Christmas quandaries.

If you are expecting a large number of people around for Christmas dinner then the Mallani Extending Dining Table may be the ideal solution. With two leaves which slot on either end of the table this table grows to comfortably seat eight to ten for dinner.  For every day use the table seats four to six and the leaves can be stored separately. If your large family dinners are the norm for you and your dining room is proportioned to fit,  then the Mallani Large Dining Table may suit. This table accommodates eight comfortably so is ideal for that big Christmas day celebration as well as every day dinners. Some may prefer a more intimate dining experience and the Mallani Small Dining Table would be the perfect solution. Seating four to six people this table is excellent for everyday family dining and welcoming friends for more formal occasions.

If you are looking for some clever storage to tidy away some of your prized possessions,  then we have a number of solutions which might  help. If you are overrun with books then we have a variety of different sized units which will sit comfortably in any room of the house.   

The Myakka  Mallani Mini Bookcase is a popular bookcase with lots of room for all your books as well as a handy drawer which makes ideal storage when space is limited.  If you have a little more space as well as an abundance of  books then the Mallani Large Bookcase or Mallani Tall Bookcase may be the perfect library solution.  With capacity to take more books then we can imagine this is ideal for even the most prolific book lover.

First impressions are always important so with this in mind your hallway needs to be in tip top condition. The Mallani Storage Seat is the ideal piece to tidy your hall and create a welcoming entrance. This popular item is now available in a smaller size for more petite rooms as the Mallani Single Storage Seat.  If you are looking for somewhere to store your house keys so they can always be found then a console table may be just what you are looking for.  Narrow enough to sit in the hall without taking too much space but with enough storage to ensure that everything is in its place, we have a number of options including a Mallani Large Console with three drawers and two slated shelves, a Mallani Petite Console as well as a Khimsar Console Table and the classic Thakat Console Table which are all smaller two drawer versions.

Having somewhere for guests to put their drinks or having a table to place a bowl of nibbles on is essential over the busy festive period.  We have a selection of  nests of tables or occasional tables which might be the perfect solution. Nests of tables are as versatile as they are handy as they neatly store away when not in use.  An occasional table provides a great option for a more permanent solution and can be used for anything from holding a lamp or plant, to perfectly presenting a bowl of nibbles.

Don’t forget to finish your home off with cushions , kilims and accessories to create the ideal look.  

Myakka is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

Myakka have a great Christmas treat for you this November with up to an amazing 12% off your order. Simply enter the promotion code YIPPEE at the basket page to claim your discount.  

The discount works on a sliding scale so the larger your order the larger your discount. Simply spend over £100 to receive an 8% discount, £250 and over  for a 10% or £500 and over for a 12% discount on your order. The order value excludes the delivery charge. This is a great opportunity to get your home ready with hard wood furniture for the festive season or to make a start on your Christmas shopping with fair trade gifts for friends and family.

The special offer expires on the 30^th November so shop now to save and for guaranteed Christmas delivery on all items (stock permitting).

The offer is only available to use once per person and cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer or promotion.

                                               SHOP NOW>>

Myakka is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

There is nothing better than to see smiles on other people’s faces.

As a social entrepreneur, I take my role very seriously and travelled to Gumu (Ghana) in June 2010 to work with one of our adoptive co-ops.  It was a great opportunity to witness what the money we had donated since October 2009 had been used for.  It was also a chance for me to see which area(s) could be improved.

One such area was to teach the co-op soap making to help sustain them and their community by creating more employment.

These are the first batches of soaps we made using fair trade unrefined shea butter (produced by the co-op), marula oil from Swaziland and moringa oil from Uganda.

and here are the individual bars of soaps – proudly made in Gumu (Ghana) and packaged in Sonning (UK).

We believe in empowering men & women
We believe in ethical trading
We believe in supporting communities
We believe in helping to make poverty history! 

Sheabutter Cottage is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

Please support our campaign to make real Christmas Trees fair trade

Christmas may seem a long way off, but here at Fairwind we have been campaigning all year to persuade growers and retailers in the UK to start selling fair trade Christmas trees this Christmas.

 We are making good progress but we need your help!

Every year many people in Georgia are injured or killed picking the cones needed to  extract the seeds to grow the UK’s most popular real Christmas tree, the Nordmann Fir.

Fairwind is working with the ONLY supplier of fair trade seeds and trees to bring “Fair Trees®” to the UK.

And here is where you can help:

 1. Join our Facebook campaign

CLICK THE FACEBOOK BUTTON!

2. Email/write to your local garden centre, Christmas tree farm or Homebase or B&Q

 Homebase and B&Q are the largest retailers of real Christmas trees and  here are their email addresses:

socialresponsibility@b-and-q.co.uk

info@homebase.co.uk

 3. Forward this email on to your friends, colleagues and family and get them supporting the campaign

We already have celebrity support from Katie Melua

Now we need your support!

And with a bit of luck you will be seeing this label on your Christmas tree this year!

 Thank you

Fairwind is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

Kilims are flat woven rugs made with a combination of jute, wool and cotton.  The origins of kilim rugs are unknown but there are different examples of these rugs across most of Asia and the Balkans with the earliest date back to the fourth or fifth century.  Being flat woven, kilims differ in appearance to the traditional pile that we are used to seeing in carpets and wool rugs.  For this reason they are quite thin, but due to the closeness of the weave and quality of materials, make for very durable floor coverings.

More recently, kilim rugs have been woven with a mix of 70% jute and 30% wool, but as the global demand for jute increases as an environmentally sound material, there has been a move away from jute and an increase in the levels of cotton and wool used in the weave.  The resulting closer weave which is produced in a 80% wool – 20% cotton kilim makes the finished product softer, more durable and kinder under foot.  The use of cotton and wool has the added benefit of the dyes being more readily absorbed which gives a much richer and vibrant colour within the woven, geometric design.

Many kilim rugs on the market today are made in India, often within small cottage industries.  The wool comes from the Bikaneer region of India which borders Pakistan, which is carefully hand spun, washed and hand dyed with traditional natural dyes before being woven into the geometric patterns which are so inherent of kilims.  More traditionally, the different symbols had specific meanings and reflected long life, fertility and family; however modern versions focus less on symbolic meaning and are more aesthetic appeal.  Depending on the size of the kilim, the craftsmen work either alone on the loom or in pairs and the work is often fitted within farming commitments, which can often make the supply a little unpredictable!  Once completed, the rugs are transported by any means possible (foot, bike, cart, etc) to the main warehouse, where they are given a final QC check and packed for shipping to the UK. 

At Myakka, we pride ourselves of offering an extensive range of both wool and jute kilims, in an array of sizes, all sourced through recognised fair trade channels. 

See all of our Kilim rugs, furniture and accessories at www.myakka.co.uk

Myakka is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

Ethical companies rely on people being willing to pay more to support a progressive idea, be it fair trade, sustainability or a green business. Assuming that most consumers know what these concepts mean, are they willing to pay more to support them, or will price always be the decisive factor?

With the mood of the country being dominated by talk of cuts in public spending and increases in taxes, and job security still very much at the forefront of many people’s minds, companies specialising in cheap are enjoying a boost in popularity.

Primark is the prime example, if you will excuse the pun; the brown paper bag with the letters ‘PRIMARK’ printed across it dominates the cities of the UK at the moment. Primark’s whole appeal is price. They are arguably the cheapest high street clothing brand. They have also been linked to UK sweatshops, with the BBC exposing a supplier to Primark with workers on 12-hour shifts at £3.50 an hour. As Neil Kearney of the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers’ Federation is quoted as saying in the BBC article, “There’s no such thing as cheap clothing, somebody has to pay and in this case it’s the workers in Manchester”.

The report linking Primark and UK sweatshops came out in January 2009, yet the company has since enjoyed continuous growth throughout the UK. The link between cheap clothing and underpaid producers has been made and is well publicised, yet consumers do not seem to care enough to pay that little bit more and shop elsewhere.

There is simply no way that ethical businesses, such as the By Hand fair trade shop, can compete on price. Supermarkets sell silver earrings for a couple of pound a pair, bags can be bought for as little as a few pounds. Although the cheap prices can sometimes be explained by economies of scale – by the sheer quantity sold by the big players – more often than not the prices are cheap because the producers are forced into selling their goods for far lower prices than they are worth, or because the products are made in factories in countries such as Indonesia and China where workers work 12+ hour shifts, have no rights and are paid a pittance.

There is a reason products are cheap: exploitation. But do consumers care?

By Hand is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

Alessia Aromatherapy handmakes a range of natural skincare products using plant extracts and essential oils.  Each product formulation has been developed by Susan Alexander, an experienced Clinical Aromatherapist, to maximise effectiveness and performance for different skin types and conditions.  The raw ingredients have been sourced from suppliers with an ethical policy to support the primary producers of each ingredient and where possible organic and fairtrade ingredients are used.  There are no animal derived ingredients in our products and no unnecessary ingredients.

The company is based in rural Perthshire in the wonderful village of Comrie.  The village is currently involved in a project to reduce it’s carbon footprint and has bought an old MOD site at Cultybraggan for community use and plans to run this site in an enviromentally responsible and sustainable way.

Our website http://www.alessiaaromatherapy.co.uk has lots of information about our products and the ingredients that we use.  Please take a look and let us know what you think.

Alessia Aromatherapy is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

Two women – Marianne Bols and Teresa Owen, with support from Katie Melua (international singer) – are fighting to bring justice and ethical responsibility to the Christmas tree market. Both Teresa and Marianne are raising young families and managing their own businesses whilst running a campaign to make all Nordmann Fir Christmas trees fair trade (Fair Trees®).

This press release tells how the Fair Trees® movement began and how these women have dealt with corruption, industrial espionage and intimidation in a male dominated industry in order to provide hope and welfare for thousands of impoverished people in Georgia.

As World Fair Trade Day approaches (8^th May 2010), 20 tonnes of Nordmann Fir Christmas tree seeds are being planted in nurseries across Europe. Most of these seeds will have been sourced from the natural forests of Georgia by a corrupt and dangerous industry where the weakest in the chain suffer the most. The Fair Trees® project aims to change all of this and to educate the retailers and consumers of Europe about the ethical issues surrounding a popular Christmas tradition.

The Nordmann Fir seed industry

About 5 million Nordmann Fir Christmas trees are sold in the UK each year. Nordmann Fir Christmas trees have historically been imported into the UK from Denmark, but more and more are being grown here in the UK by UK nurseries. Denmark and the UK are now the main suppliers of Nordmann Fir trees for Europe and countries like Singapore, Malaysia and Australia.

The seeds for 90% of these trees come from the natural forests of Georgia as they can’t be farmed. The cone pickers of Georgia are paid a pittance to risk their lives picking cones from which the seeds are extracted and every year many Georgians are badly injured, or even killed. Until Fair Trees® was set up.

Fair Trees®

Marianne Bols is the driving force behind the Fair Trees® project. She has run her Danish Christmas tree nursery, Bols Planteskole, since 1989 with her husband Lars. Their first business trip was to Georgia, in 1989, to buy 8 tons of Nordmann Fir seeds. As Georgia was then still part of the USSR, it was a long, tough battle to get the seeds and have them shipped to Denmark. Marianne and Lars were moved by the generosity and warmth shown to them by the Georgian farmers: “Even though they were poor, they invited us in and many of them remain close friends. They were also one of the main reasons why we continue to collect seeds from Georgia.”

But the more Marianne learned about the industry the more dissatisfied she became. The corruption, disdain for the local Georgian people and the natural environment was breath-taking and she decided to do something about it. She started giving the Georgian cone pickers modern safety equipment, provided training and support and, of course, paid them fairly. Soon cone pickers were queuing up to work for her.

In 2007 Marianne set up the The Bols Xmas Tree Fund and shortly afterwards the Fair Trees® brand was certified by Fair Trade Danmark. The Fund aims to create awareness about and improve the terrible conditions under which the Georgian cone pickers live and work. The Fund provides the cone pickers with Danish-made safety equipment and ensures that the workers are instructed on safety. In addition, the Fund works towards creating proper conditions for workers and their families through financial support for schools, books and health care. And of course the workers are paid a fair price for their work.

Collusion on a grand scale

To source seeds from Georgia it is necessary to buy a licence from the Georgian government. Until 2009 this was pretty much a “closed shop” where licences were awarded annually to “favoured” companies, e.g. in 2008 the Georgian government awarded a monopoly licence to one Danish company for the entire harvest for that year.

But in 2009 Marianne decided to enter the auction for seed collection licences. To make sure she stood some chance of getting at least one licence, Marianne placed bids for all of the available lots and, in accordance with the auction rules, paid the upfront advance fee of €125,000. She then discovered that her competitors had managed to avoid paying this fee and that the Ministry had leaked confidential information about her decision to bid for all of the lots.

She faced organised resistance from fellow Danish tree growers and nurseries who collaborated to exclude Marianne from the auction as much as possible. And when it came to bidding for the lots Marianne had only one opponent on 26 out of the 28 lots; one large Georgian seed company. Where were all the others?

But the collusion didn’t end there. Marianne’s opponents put in enormous bids to try to price her out of the auction; the Georgian government estimated that the auction would generate about €631,000 for all 28 lots but in the end the bidding process raised the overall prices to €26.3 million!

Despite their efforts, Marianne managed to secure 3 good quality lots. Just as she was about to pay the licence fees that were due she received a letter from the Georgian government stating that the payment terms had been increased from 45 days to 18 months. The competition was clearly having problems coming up with the money!

Industrial espionage

Three days after the auction, Marianne’s offices were broken into. The alarm system was over-ridden, the keys to the office and her home were stolen and telephone and computer records were deleted. Nothing else was broken or stolen and although there were obvious clues pointing towards the culprits, the police took no action in the end due to “insufficient evidence”.

And Nordmann Fir seeds are being traded illegally in Europe using seed stolen from Marianne. She discovered seed being sold at €86 per kilo to a well respected forestry business in the Belgian Ardennes. This price was clearly far too low (Marianne charges €107 per kilo which includes a €10 donation to The Bols Xmas Tree Fund). Marianne managed to trace the seed back to her own lot, where at least 1 tonne of seed had recently been stolen! And interestingly, the Belgians claimed that their Georgian supplier could provide proof of provenance!

Bringing Fair Trees® to the UK

In summer 2009, Marianne contacted Teresa Owen in London to ask for help in bringing the Fair Trees project to the UK. Until then Teresa, along with almost everyone else in the UK, had no idea about the ethical issues surrounding Christmas trees.

Teresa had been running her own fair trade gift and accessory business, Fairwind, for almost 9 years and so had lots of experience and contacts in the fair trade market in the UK. She agreed to help and started a marketing and PR exercise in September. She also imported and successfully sold some of Marianne’s trees through her shop and website that Christmas, thus becoming the first ever retailer of fair trade Christmas trees in the UK. Coverage in The Observer, on the radio and in magazines and newspapers all over the country helped to start raising the awareness of this issue immediately.

Teresa is now working on persuading the UK Christmas tree industry to change its ways. She has been talking to growers and retailers across the UK, including B&Q, Homebase and other the garden centres, to inform them of the ethical issues and to persuade them to convert to supplying Fair Trees®. Marianne and Teresa have developed a Fair Trees® licensing programme that all UK growers can join provided they meet the necessary ethical criteria. Teresa is obviously meeting some resistance in an industry where change is slow to come. Concerns about cost, consumer awareness and general inertia are challenges that Teresa is fighting against but is determined to overcome.

Teresa managed to persuade Katie Melua to lend her support to the Fair Trees® project. The multi-platinum selling singer was born and raised in Georgia until she was 8 and so is passionate about helping the Georgian cone pickers.

“I am absolutely thrilled that fair trade has reached the poor cone pickers of Georgia. Fair Trees® is a wonderful project that helps improve the lives of many people in remote areas of Georgia, the country where I was born. I urge anyone who loves a real Christmas tree to buy a fair trade one this year”.

Katie’s support is ongoing and invaluable to the Fair Trees® project. 

For more information please contact Teresa Owen at Fairwind

Fairwind is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

Eco Veggie Awards 2010, honour the movers and shakers of the Green, Fair Trade and veggie circles – the people, organisations and products that are making a difference right now.

‘The Eco Veggie Awards honour the real heroes, not the actors. This is not make believe, this is real life.’ Says awards organiser Tim Barford from Bristol based hemp firm Yaoh. ‘The threat of Climate Change, and the reality of poverty, injustice and environmental destruction, are there for us to deal with – this is the challenge to the generations of today. We aim to focus on the positive, not the negative, it’s the only way forward to achieve solutions, and for this reason we are honouring some of the brightest and biggest achievers on the planet. For them, this is not a rehearsal.’

Sue Jueno, co-founder of Book of Green said: ‘We were delighted when we discovered we had been nominated for the award. We created the national paperback eco directory last year to promote a collective set of eco/ethical businesses. We made it free to enable the public to gain access the genuine green marketplace easily. We had such a fantastic response in 09 we’ve doubled our print run to 60,000 copies for 2010, and we are looking forward to launching our free iPhone app soon’

Other categories include Best Campaigners (With Sea Shepherd, Greenpeace and Viva! amongst the nominees as well as various products including Best veggie product, Best fashion and Best beauty product.

The awards are voted for by the public and people can vote 3 times – once a month from March 8^th up until midnight May 29^th The winners of the ten categories will be announced on Sunday May 30^th at The Bristol Eco Veggie Fayre.

To see all the 10 categories and 10 Nominees in each, go to bristol.ecoveggiefayre.co.uk and to vote for your favourites (and  Book of Green!) please visit  bristol.ecoveggiefayre.co.uk/awards-vote

Book of Green is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more