As promised here is some information about another UK superstore that is doing its best to be socially responsible, ethical and green. Sainsbury’s have set up a Fair Development Fund to enable more farmers and growers in developing countries to benefit from Fairtrade.
Sainsbury’s have recently made all their bananas Fairtrade. To mark this occasion they are giving double nectar points on all Fairtrade products. This does however exclude Fairtrade clothing. What else is the company doing?
Sainsbury’s is tackling its corporate responsibility on five fronts. These are Best for Food and Health, Sourcing with Integrity, Respect for our Environment, Making a Positive Difference to our Communities and Great Place to Work. As part of this they are launching an ‘organic concept orchard.’ They explain what this is here:
‘ Sainsbury’s is launching a brand new farming initiative that will see more UK-grown organic apples on its shelves than at any other supermarket. Announced just as Organic Fortnight commences, the industry-leading scheme pioneers the way organic apples are grown, and sees Sainsbury’s make a long-term commitment to securing the future of British organic apple growing industry.’ A good place to buy your apples from then….In fact they stock a whole range of organic products.
The organic products that Sainsbury’s stock are made from compostable packaging. As the company explains ‘In 2000, we launched fully compostable packaging with breakthrough biodegradable trays on some of our organic produce. In 2002 we held the first organic conference by any supermarket, leading to the launch of our design award winning Sainsbury’s SO organic range in 2006.’ As far as we understand they are only using this for their organic range and not throughout their own brand products. We’ll do some digging and see what we can uncover for you!
It’s also worth noting that under their sourcing with integrity 100% of their primary use chicken is from the UK. All their organic range meat, milk, fish, poultry and eggs are sourced from the UK as well.
To help tackle climate change Sainsbury’s are going to be the first major UK retailer to convert a fifth of its online delivery fleet to green electric vehicles. It has also stopped giving out disposable carrier bags and this Christmas will be encouraging people to recycle their Christmas cards!
Under Sainsbury’s commitment to the community it is attempting to tackle child obesity by launching the Active Kids Campaign which has donated £52 million worth of sports equipment since 2005.
As for looking after their workforce the company has signed up to Mencap’s WorkRight scheme that works with individuals with learning difficulties. They are also working hard to make sure that all their employees are happy people by launching various initiatives such as ‘Investors in People’ and making sure people are treated fairly.
So there we have it. It’s good to see what Sainsbury’s are doing to tackle climate change and become an ethical and green company. Visit their website www.sainsburys.co.uk for more information.
