EcoChic Fairtrade

In this months Vogue, EcoChic’s funky chunky bracelet got the fashionista’s seal of approval.

It’s fantastic to be recognised from these style leaders, but it’s even better to be able to pass this praise onto the producers of the bracelet, the Yakanaka beading ladies from Zimbabwe, especially at this turbulent time in Zimbabwe. Speaking to Katie Maxwell yesterday from Yakanaka, she told me how the team of beading ladies are extremely fearful at this time. Please support us, so that we can to continue to support Yakanaka.

Aswell as our partnership with Yakanaka and thirty other suppliers working in the developing world we are delighted to be working with LA Jewellery, producers of elegant, organically inspired silver jewellery created with respect for the environment and holding strong ethical working practices, nestled in the heart of Wales.

An interesting Guardian article, March 4th 2008, like to know your thoughts.. 

Cut your carbon footprint, not those of poor farmers

Many of those who campaign against buying air-freighted produce also claim to be in favour of using trade to help Africa. Spot the contradiction? Fred Pearce reports
March 4, 2008 10:50 AM

The carbon footprint of the average Kenyan is less than a 10th that of the average Brit.

Flying shrink-wrapped green beans from Kenya to Britain is regarded a green crime. The carbon emissions involved are too great, the message has been - think of the air miles. But it’s not quite as simplistic as that.

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‘Air support, for Africa’s organic farms’, The Times, March 22, 2008…

Air support for Africa’s organic farms, Ben Webster, Transport Correspondent
Two of Britain’s biggest airlines are joining forces with African farmers to fight environmental restrictions on food transported by air.

British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, which make millions of pounds from flying food in passenger jets, have given free tickets to representatives of farmers in Ghana and Kenya to visit London to argue their case.

The airlines are planning to make a joint submission with the farmers to a review of air freight by the Soil Association, which certifies around 70 per cent of organic food sold in Britain.

The association has proposed new conditions for farmers and wholesalers who want to continue to be certified as organic. They will have to publish a plan for reducing their use of air freight and also achieve “fair-trade” status by investing in education and welfare schemes for their workers.

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EcoChic is passionate about assuring that are Fairtrade products are genuine Fairtrade ones and sources all our range from accredited suppliers who hold the Fairtrade Mark, SA8000 certification, IFAT or BAFTS accreditation. Although a lengthy article, we thought it useful to outline the Fairtrade Foundation’s position on the Fairtrade mark and certifying organic cotton.

This paper has been taken courtesy of the Fairtrade Foundations Website: www.fairtrade.org.uk

The FAIRTRADE Mark & Guide for Certification of Cotton Products

CONTENTS Read the rest of this entry »

25th February to 9th March 2008 is Fairtrade Fortnight- our chance to promote Fairtrade where we live and work. Go on…..encourage people to peel it, munch it, wear it and make Fairtrade part of our daily lives.

Fairtrade has improved the lives of millions of people- farmers, workers and their families in developing countries.

Over the next two weeks we can celebrate the success of Fairtrade and we need to keep promoting Fairtrade to ensure peope know that buying Fairtrade can make a positive difference.

“If we make Fairtrade our habit, we can play a real part in enabling farm-workers to end poverty in their own communities” Harriet Lamb, Fairtrade Foundation.

Can you make this year’s the biggest Fairtrade Fortnight ever?

Buy…Try it..Get it…Promote it…Pass it on…

Vogue Japan (31 May 2007)- -Focus on People Tree

Did you know that your shopping can save the world!? Here is how Fair Trade works.

Even though we hear the word often these days, Fair Trade is not as popular in Japan as it is in other countries. Learn more about it and find out how to shop in a ‘people- and eco-friendly way’.

Text: Rutsu Tobii
Editor: Maki Hashida

The European Fair Trade market expands annually by 20%

No woman can spend a day without shopping. Women shop on weekends, buy coffee at cafes on the way to work, and even enjoy shopping at home online and via mail order. Just imagine how long a week’s shopping list can be. By paying attention to where we shop and what we buy our daily shopping activity can become a tool for changing the world. While the number of Fair Trade supporters Read the rest of this entry »

By SHOSHANA GOLDBERG, Daily Mail - 5th June 2006

Not so long ago, a good day’s shopping was represented by unbridled credit card abuse and armfuls of carrier bags - preferably glossy paper ones with smart rope handles.

Today, shopping for the sheer pleasure of it is no longer enough. We want more than something new and pretty to take home - we want to know we made the world a better place by buying it and that the bag we’re carrying didn’t damage the environment.

Consumers have become the new eco-warriors and the latest must-have accessory is a social conscience. 

World Environment Day 2006 and the organisation has shoppers firmly in its sights with the launch of Wayne Hemingway’s Bag For Life - a carbon-neutral, 100 per cent biodegradable tote that can be re-used.

“Last year, with a plain and not fashionable bag for life, our campaign saved 3.4million plastic bags,” says a World Environemnt Day spokesman. “Our bag for 2006 will be a genuine fashion accessory as well as carrying a message.”

They’re not wrong. Carrying a bag branded Fresh & Wild (as Meg Mathews frequently does) or The Organic Pharmacy now has as much kudos as one bearing an expensive designer logo.

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ECO CHIC Fair Trade has consciously chosen to source our Fair Trade products range with the Fairtrade Mark, through Organisations accredited by BAFTS and IFAT and those suppliers with the SA8000 Certification and members of the Ethical Trading Initiative ONLY. Our UK suppliers satisfy our own ethical and environmental criteria. All of our organic range carries the soil association or SKAL certification.

We have made this conscious decision so our customers can be assured that they are buying Fair Trade and UK ethical goods that are true Fair Trade and ethical products.

In realtion to Fair Trade, IFAT is the International network of Fair Trade Organisations. IFAT has a global network of 300 Fair Trade Organisations working in 65 countries. Approximately 65% of the members are based in the South (Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and South America), others being either European, North American or from the Pacific (Japan, Australia, New Zealand).

Members can be producers associations and cooperatives, import-export companies, retailers, national and regional Fair Trade networks, all dedicated to Fair Trade principles. In these various forms and sizes, IFAT members represent the fair Trade chain from production to distribution.

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How Fair Trade helps Women:

Of the World’s 1.2 billion people living on less than a dollar a day, 70% are women and girls.

One of Fair Trade’s main goals is to promote women’s development opportunities and rewarding their work fairly and empowering them in an organisation. According to internationally agreed fair trade standards, women should have the same opportunities as men to train and to develop skills, apply for job vacancies and seek leadership roles and their gender specific health, safety and cultural needs must be taken into consideration. This all means better opportunities for uneducated, widowed and divorced women and for single mothers.

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