UK tea drinkers consume 165 million cups a day. And 66% of UK tea consumers buy Fairtrade or would be in favour of their preferred tea brand converting to Fairtrade, according to a poll commissioned by international development charity Traidcraft.

The poll is published on International Tea Day, and tea drinkers are already making their views known, having sent over 20,000 postcards to the five brands that dominate the market – PG Tips, Tetleys, Twinings, Typhoo and Yorkshire Tea – calling for them to go Fairtrade.

The call is backed by the Women’s Institute and by Traidcraft, both of whom helped set up the Fairtrade Foundation, which awards the Fairtrade Mark.

An estimated 20 million people in the developing world rely on tea for their livelihoods and UK tea lovers understand the importance of giving tea producers a fair deal with 64% of tea buyers willing to pay more for Fairtrade tea.

The poll also revealed that Welsh tea drinkers top the survey with 25% of Welsh adults drinking five or more cups of tea per day, compared to only 11% of Scots.

The Network of Asian Producers, which includes tea producers in India and Sri Lanka, recently passed a resolution at their General Assembly in Chenai, recognising the unique benefits of Fairtrade: “While there are many labels in the market, Fairtrade is the only scheme which is producer owned, has a good track record on development and is best equipped to provide a better deal for producers via the assurance of a minimum guaranteed price and premium for our development.”

Camilla Porter, Traidcraft head of campaigns, said: “The big tea brands are lagging behind popular consumer brands like Starbucks, Tate & Lyle, Cadbury’s Dairy Milk and Nestlé’s KitKat, which have all made a commitment to Fairtrade.

“Right now there are 80 registered Fairtrade tea producers with spare Fairtrade tea to sell. PG Tips, Tetleys, Twinings, Typhoo and Yorkshire Tea have 72% of the market. Their commitment to Fairtrade would make a lasting difference to the lives of millions of tea workers. 

“The UK is truly a nation of tea lovers and the massive response by consumers calling for Fairtrade shows that they care about the people in the developing world who grow and pick the tea leaves to make our daily cuppas.” 

NFWI Chair Ruth Bond said “As founder members of the Fairtrade Foundation, the WI has long campaigned for many of our household goods to be produced to the Fairtrade standard, which ensures that producers in the developing world get a fair deal.

“This campaign gives tea companies a great opportunity to build on any ethical commitments they already have and show consumers that they are truly committed to giving their tea producers a fair deal.

Ordinary shoppers will really benefit from having a clearly recognisable standard on their favourite tea brand, which can help inform their choices when they do their weekly shopping.”

Eileen Oraputi is a tea picker at an estate in Kenya that is not currently benefitting from Fairtrade. She is 50 years old, and has seven children. She relies on loans to pay for school fees, and feels sick with worry about money. Photo: Traidcraft/David Ngetich 

Adriano benefits from Fairtrade and is a tea plucker at Kibena in Tanzania. Kibena have used the Fairtrade premium to invest in improvements at the primary school, cycle tracks to benefit the tea workers and wider community and a maternity ward. Photo: Traidcraft/Richard Else

Traidcraft is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

EcoChic collection-Short Film
 
Short and sweet, but we were delighted with our first short film recently shown at the Sussex Innovation Awards, discussing ethical and fair trade fashion, which we will launch shortly online to you.

EcoChic Collection & the Green Party

We were
thrilled to be asked to collaborate recently to launch a campaign for
Brighton to become an ethical centre for jewellery. Our campaign was
featured  this week in the Sussex Argus Newspaper

   
“Congratulations to the Green Party for spearheading such an important
campaign for Brighton. EcoChic Collection is delighted to be
collaborating on this vital issue and supports the work of the work of
ARM (Association For Responsible Mining) who alongside CRED jewellery
have worked tirelessly to promote this issue.”

Read more here: A Green Collaboration

EcoChic Collection live on Brighton Radio 

Much
fun was had alongside Alex Phillips from the Green Party at radio
reverb this week when we discussed the possibility of  an ethical
jewellery centre for Brighton.

EcoChic Collection partners with Ethical Weddings

And
finally, we’re delighted to announce that we are now official partners
with the inspirational Ethical Weddings. We’ll be working together to
spread the word about ethical weddings and eco chic style far and wide.
Look out for joint special offers and promotions coming soon.

Latest Offers
Win 1 of 4 pieces of La jewellery worth over £20.00 including cufflinks and earrings.
 
Enter the draw to win one of four jewellery pieces by La Jewellery, previously presented to HRH Camilla. Just spend over £40.00 (to include jewellery) and we’ll enter you in the draw.
 
These beautiful pieces have been kindly donated by our friends at La Jewellery. La design and handcraft their exceptional jewellery range in Wales by local silversmiths who use responsibly sourced silver. The La social business model is also an inspiration with valuable charity work and enabling their employees to work from home, promoting the work-life balance.
 
La Jewellery is inspired by nature and is truly unique and beautiful.
 
View our La range here: EcoChic Collection La Range
 
This offer is being promoted on The Prize Finder
 

The Ethical Tea Partnership (ETP) is pleased to announce it is evolving to maximise its effectiveness in improving the lives of tea workers and assuring its members’ supply chains.

The ETP is an international non-competitive alliance of 20 tea packers who share a vision of a thriving industry that is socially just and environmentally sustainable. The new approach will see the ETP build on its long-standing estate monitoring work by establishing new relationships with certification programmes, governments, NGOs, and other specialists to deliver increased social and environmental improvements.

One significant driver of this increased effectiveness is that the ETP
will no longer monitor any tea estate which has achieved certification
status from Rainforest Alliance, Fairtrade or UTZ CERTIFIED. Avoiding
duplication in this way will reduce the audit burden on tea producers
and enable the ETP to concentrate its resources on producers that are
not currently being monitored by certification programmes.

ETP’s
co-operation with certification programmes will help streamline the
certification process for tea estates and increase the speed at which
tea from certified producers enters the market. If an ETP member is
interested in part of their supply chain becoming certified and the tea
estate is interested in certification, the ETP will now work with the
producer and certification body in question to achieve this as
efficiently as possible.

“Co-operation amongst environmental and
social standards systems is essential if they are to fulfil their
potential in scaling up critical environmental and social impacts.
ETP’s collaboration with independent third-party certification systems
and the fact that it brings together such a large proportion of the tea
industry gives it the potential to enable significant change in the tea
sector”. Sasha Courville, Executive Director, ISEAL Alliance.

ETP’s
social and environmental improvement work will be underpinned by its
new global monitoring standard. This is being rolled out across estates
that supply ETP members and are not involved in any certification
programmes.  It covers key elements of all the relevant certification
programmes, which will help ease the transition for any producers who
become interested in certification at a later date.  ETP’s monitoring
remains free to producers.

The ETP plans to increase its work on
the ground with government departments, NGOs, UN bodies, and technical
specialists, on projects designed to help producers make practical and
sustainable improvements, in particular to the lives of their workers.
New capacity building partnerships will continue the ETP’s track record
of bringing about improvements in a wide range of areas, including
market access, living and working conditions  and health and safety.

Leading
the ETP into the next exciting stage of its development is new
Executive Director Sarah Roberts who has a background in development
work and multi-stakeholder partnerships. Sarah is supported by a team
in the UK and a network of Regional Managers based in India, China, Sri
Lanka, Kenya, and Indonesia. These are local people with wide ranging
experience of the tea sector, development skills and enabling
sustainable change.

“The ETP has the potential to make a
difference at scale, rather than just on the margins. With its 12 years
of experience, detailed first-hand knowledge of the tea sector and
continual engagement with producers, the ETP is uniquely placed to
drive sustained change within the tea sector.

I am looking
forward to building on the many practical improvements that the ETP has
already brought about, from resolving tricky labour issues in East
Africa and Sri Lanka to health and safety improvements in Indonesia and
China”. SARAH ROBERTS, Executive Director, ETP.

Today’s news
builds on 12 great years of work by the ETP. It reflects a significant
step forward and extends the relevance of the ETP’s work in line with
the changing demands of its many and varied stakeholders.

Volunteer to help at the Homeless World Cup in Australia 

We are offering a 17 day trip from November 29 to December 15 that gets guests involved at the tournament and then explores some of Australia’s scenic highlights – Sydney, the Blue Mountains, the Daintree Rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef!

Background to the Homeless World Cup
The Homeless World Cup is an annual, international football tournament, uniting teams of homeless, excluded individuals in a once in a lifetime opportunity to represent their country and change their lives. The event attracts around 25,000 people who take part in training and trials around the world, with the top 500 players from 48 nations competing at the Homeless World Cup.

The impact on participant’s lives is significant, with around three quarters of players changing their lives for the better by coming off drugs and alcohol, getting jobs, an education, homes, training or being reunited with their families. Some even go on to become players and coaches for pro or semi-pro football teams!

Volunteers are needed as:

• Online Match Reporters
• Match Photographers
• Photographer Assistants
• Media Assistants 
• Access Monitors
• Catering Assistants – Competition Venue
• Catering Assistants – Player Village
• Player Storage/Changing Rooms Monitor

The Trip
This meaningful 17 day trip not only gets you making a valuable contribution to the tournament, but you can then experience Sydney, the Blue Mountains, the Great Barrier Reef, and the Daintree Rainforest!  

The price per person is £1,590 for 17 days in 3* accommodation throughout, excluding all flights. Click here for more information or to book.

19 September is Tea Time 

Who fancies a lovely cuppa with some clean water, food and shelter thrown in? World poverty seems like such a huge problem to tackle that we don’t know how to start – but here’s a chance to make a difference just by taking half an hour out of your day and enjoying a nice cup of your favourite tea, piece of cake and a good old gossip with your friends! It’s so easy… and a great excuse to put your feet up!

Christian Aid’s TEA TIME is a fundraising event which is so simple to get involved in and absolutely everyone is welcome – wherever on earth you live. You can hold a tea party anywhere you want – at home, at work, in schools, in the park or even in bed! Last year Tea Time parties were held from London to Sri Lanka, Haiti to Columbia – and people dunked everything from coconut biscuits to banana crunch cake into hundreds of different kinds of tea. And out of all the fun came a pot of almost £200,000 for poor communities around the world.

Teatime will be launched on Friday 19th September at 4pm. There are no rules as to how to hold a party.  Christian Aid’s tea time pack is full of tips and recipes to inspire.  Just ask everyone who attends to give a donation to Christian Aid, in return for a cup of tea and a biscuit or two. To find out more and sign up for your free Tea Time pack visit www.christianaid.org.uk/teatime or call 0870 076 7766.