June 25, 2008
· Filed under Fairtrade, ethical fashion, socially responsible investing · Tagged ethical fashion, Primark, Panorama, unethical fashion, Fairtrade fashion, cheap high street fashion
This week in the UK the television show Panorama rightly expose Primark as using child labour to make their cheap clothing. Clearly this should not be a surprise considering how cheap the clothes are? Why it should have taken the UK media three years to unveil this in depth is a surprise. In 2005 Ethical Consumer magazine voted Primark the most unethical fashion store. The fact that Panorama has only just made a programme about this shows that, finally, ethical fashion is on the radar of the public.
The big question is will this actually stop people from buying clothes from Primark? At the moment money is tight due to the credit crunch so will people put their morals on hold until they can afford to shop elsewhere?
Stores such as Gap, TopShop and Marks and Spencer have all been highlighting their ethical fashion credentials recently. Could this programme shaming Primark finally signal a shift in the consciences of the public? It would be great for the planet and foreign workers if it is.
There are a wide range of ethical fashion designers popping up. We’ll be looking at ethical fashion in more detail. For now check out Quail, a UK based ethical fashion company, to prove that ethical fashion is fashionable!
The website is www.quailbymail.co.uk
June 16, 2008
· Filed under Fairtrade, carbon footprint, ethical fashion, sustainable living · Tagged ethical fashion, Fairtrade cotton, organic clothing, British fashion, ethical British fashion, non-GM fashion, ethical and green fashion designers, UK ethical fashion
The Ethical Fashion movement is really taking off and rightly so. Here in the UK a company called Quail caught my eye.
Making Clothes in Devon the ethical and green way
Quail By Mail is a clothing label located in Devon which specialises in organic and Fairtrade cotton clothing which has been designed and made in England. Quail believes in British ingenuity and only commissions British fashion graduates.
Design elements such as functioning pockets, pleats, generous cuts etc are Quail’s speciality and all clothing lines are produced as limited editions. Interested in producing vintage-inspired practical clothing with genuine ethical integrity, Shauna Chapman, founder of Quail said:
“Our aim is to add maximum design value to the organic and Fairtrade cotton fabric. Recently we discovered that larger sizes were needed to include a wider audience so we will begin to introduce sizes up to 20 before the end of Summer 2008.”
To combat Greenwash, Quail uses the phrase “Product Provenance“ to show customers exactly how their fashion purchase started from the non-GM seed grown organically in India to the recyclable paper and raffia bow packaging used to parcel up orders”. The entire lifestyle of the Quail founders at the live/work studio in Brixham, South Devon is devoted to energy- saving, buying local, organic produce, fairtrade, traditional, reuse, reduce and recycle. Having produced clothing with provenance, which is also ethical, green and British it is Quail’s aim to grow the business sustainably and create artisan, exciting ‘proper’ fashion!
In the past fashion journalists have commented that ethical fashion just isn’t cool. You can see from the pictures that just because it’s ethical clothing it doesn’t mean it’s not fashionable. I’d certainly wear these clothes as would a number of people who I’ve pointed in Quail’s direction. They have a really lovely box pleat shirt but I couldn’t get a picture on here.
Check out the website at www.quailbymail.co.uk
October 17, 2007
· Filed under CO2 emissions, Carbon Dioxide emissions, Companies going green, Fairtrade, socially responsible investing · Tagged climate change, CO2 emissions, ethical and green, Fairtrade, obesity, organic products, recycling, Sainsburys
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.
October 14, 2007
· Filed under CO2 emissions, Carbon Dioxide emissions, Companies going green, Fairtrade, ethical fashion, green money, socially responsible investing · Tagged carbon neutral, CO2 emissions, eco-stores, ethical and green products, ethical products, Fairtrade, green products, greener living, M&S, Marks and Spencer, renewable energy
A while ago I reported how Vodafone had put in place an ethical policy and now it’s time to take a look at Marks and Spencer. The company has both a green policy for its money products, such as insurance and also its clothing range. Alongside this the company is committed to becoming greener and more carbon neutral.
Firstly lets take a look at Marks and Spencer’s clothing range. As we reported in the Fairtrade section cotton was next on the list to add to Fairtrade products. M&S are now stocking Fairtrade cotton products such as T-shirts and shirts. They are also stocking recycled and organic clothing. Hats off to them for having such a range of environmentally friendly and ethical products!
Aside from the clothing range they are also stocking a range of home products to make recycling easier for us. Products include such items as split compartment bins to make recycling easier and compost bins. They are also using recycled materials for some of their products such as a bin made out of recycled newspapers! What’s more the products are affordable so people won’t be put off by the price tag which can happen with ethical and green products.
Next to the companies green policy. At M&S they are calling it ‘Plan A.‘ To quote from their website it is aimed at ‘working with customers and suppliers to make our UK and Republic of Ireland operations carbon neutral, send no waste to landfill, extend our sustainable sourcing and help people to lead healthier lifestyles –
without passing on the extra cost to customers.’ Excellent news! A leading UK high street store with a clear ethical and environmental policy!!
Plan A is a five year, 100 point plan and it hopes to involve the customer at all levels. Basically the plan looks at five areas, climate change, raw materials, healthy eating, waste and being a Fair Partner. Under climate change M&S will try to cut CO2 emissions and become carbon neutral. Raw materials looks at using materials from sustainable sources whilst healthy living is about giving people the opportunity to eat well. Under waste the company is aiming not to send waste to landfill sites and ensure that its customers do not need to throw away their products. Finally, being a Fair Partner aims at trading fairly and improving the lives of people in the local community and along the supply chain.
So how are M&S doing? Earlier this month they opened an ‘eco-store’ in Bournmouth. As they describe it :
‘The remodelled store boasts a host of eco features. It is being powered with green renewable electricity, uses energy efficient lighting and has a ‘green’ roof. As a result of these features the store now uses up to 25 per cent less energy than before the refurbishment and emits up to 95% less carbon dioxide than a similar-sized M&S store. ‘
M&S have also changed to using renewable energy in all its stores. As they report ‘
M&S has secured 100 gWh of renewable electricity from NPower. This will be used to supply all 200 of our Simply Food stores in England and Wales, head offices Waterside House and Stockley Park, as well as our Bournemouth ‘green’
store. This will reduce our carbon emissions by 24,000 tonnes a year. We have also secured 75gWh of renewable energy to power all of our Scottish stores.’
The list goes on about the steps the company are taking. If you want to learn more go to the Greener Living section of their website by visiting Marks and Spencer online. Click here.
October 2, 2007
· Filed under Fairtrade · Tagged coffee, Fairtrade, farming, organic
Have you ever wondered how Fairtrade came into existence? If so then this is the place to find out…..
Fairtrade started out in response to the commodity price of coffee collapse in 1989. Prior to this the International Coffee Pricing Agreement had kept the price stable. However companies soon realised that they could get cheaper beans on the free market, so the Agreement was dissolved. This was good news for farmers in Vietnam who were able to offer cheap coffee thus collapsing the market.
The knock-on effect for the farmers in other parts of the world was a decline in income by around 20%. They were left in poverty and consequently their childrens education and quality of life dropped significantly. In response the Fairtrade movement was was borne.
1994 saw the first Fairtrade labelled coffee go on sale. Since then the diversity of products has increased to include footballs, wine, bananas and tea. The next area to be developed is textiles and clothing. The benefit to the farmers is that they receive a stable price which is above that they would get on the free market. So everyone is happy!
One point to mention is that Fairtrade does not necessarily mean organic. The organisation does offer a higher price for organic products and as a prerequisite sustainable farming techniques must be used.
I hope this clears up a few questions you may have had.
For me I needed to start at the very beginning and find out exactly what organic wine is.
