Fair's fair for everyone

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, if we are feeling the pinch, you can bet someone who grows crops on a smallholding several thousand miles away is being hit far harder.


The next two weeks are set aside as Fairtrade Fortnight, but buying coffee, bananas or tea with the Fairtrade mark isn't just about 'doing your bit' and feeling good about buying 'the right thing'.

There's a bigger picture, too.


The Fairtrade Foundation points out that the smallholders like Conrad James, pictured above, from St Lucia, could actually teach the rest of the world a thing or two about solving the food crisis and tackling poverty.


In villages like Conrad's, smallholders are often at the centre of community action and feeling. It's a very different scenario to bigger farms, where low-quality crops are sold straight from the field to impersonal middlemen and on to the West for a criminally low price.


In smaller-scale Fairtrade cooperatives, from Caribbean banana producers to Rwandan coffee growers, local people have more secure jobs and, if the crop (eg coffee) starts being processed on-site, the chance to learn different skills.


Small-scale cooperatives are also known for being innovative farmers. They want to know how to do things better, make things taste better. They have a vested interest in constantly researching new ways to improve productivity, such as making organic compost, or to add value, such as roasting coffee beans using traditional techniques.


Small organic farms have the power to turn around the economic fortunes of a village or an area, which then slowly spreads to more children going to school and more small businesses and shops springing up.


It's a model of economic revival that, with the right support, could have a worldwide knock-on effect. And these smallholders aren't small fry: some 450 million farming households cultivate two hectares or less, and with their families they make up a third of the world's population.

They count, and what they stand for counts, too.


Buying thoughfully benefits everyone, including ourselves. And it doesn't stop at bananas.

That's why I love the stuff at www.ecohip.org.

Steve and Gabrielle, the couple behind the site, have thought carefully about what they select: everything there, from shampoos to tea, is from small companies that care, too.

They are organic, eco-friendly and as close to nature as you can get.

Shame they don't sell bananas, too...

Photograph: Simon Rawles/Fairtrade
Visit www.fairtrade.org.uk for more on Fairtrade Fortnight

It's crunch time

You can't turn on the radio or open a newspaper these days without more news of redundancies. For anyone directly feeling the effects of the recession - and we're having to accept it is a recession rather than the rather more sound-bitey, touchy-feely phrase 'credit crunch' - it's a terrifying and potentially devastating prospect.

But without wishing to sound heartless, could the forced mass exodus of people from city centre jobs have a silver lining for the environment?
Of course, no-one forced out of their job or home is going to be rejoicing or, probably, giving a damn about global warming or carbon emissions. That's not their main priority right now. But if we take a more detached, big-picture view, the global recession could be an opportunity for a major rethink about the world of work and its impact on our lives - now and in the future.
Until recently, the message we've all been sold and have willingly bought into is that making money is what it's all about. As Gordon Gekko says in that Eighties classic Wall Street: "Greed is good."
Don't think about your carbon footprint as you drive your air-con pumping, fuel injected, gas guzzling 4x4 into the city centre every day. Don't think about those short-hop flights (after all, time is money) for work or weekends away. Don't even trouble yourself about the fast-disappearing green fields as you shut yourself behind the gates of your executive estate in commuterland.
We were all encouraged to just concentrate on the rewards: the status car, the exotic holidays and the 'dream' home. And if we got a bit stressed out in the process, or never saw our partner or kids, it was a small price to pay.
Except now, we're all living through the proof that greed isn't quite so good.
Either by circumstance or by choice, many of us actually have the opportunity to rethink our life priorities. Whether we like it or not, more of us will be spending more time at home, from those whose hours are cut to freelance home workers. But couldn't this be a chance to think about reintegrating into our communities, rather than dashing between home and office without exchanging words with our neighbours?
Plenty of people will have to cut their two-car-family habit - but might that not mean we'll all benefit from a reduction in carbon emissions and less traffic clogging up our streets?
Slashed incomes will probably rule out overseas holidays for many this year. But couldn't this be a chance to rediscover the wild countryside and culture on our doorsteps? OK, plenty of Britsh B&Bs have a way to go before they will rival hotels abroad, but there's a whole world of low-emission destinations out there, from wild Cornish beaches and Scottish islands to city gems like Canterbury and Edinburgh.
And counting the pennies could even mean that instead of buying air-freighted food from giant supermarkets (and then throwing away a third of it), more of us might support local shops. Heck, some are even planning to grow their own veg this year and councils report that applications for allotments are on the rise.
Suddenly, shopping and 'value' start to take on a different meaning. Buying eco-friendly products that genuinely work from small-scale companies (like the ones you see at www.ecohip.org) makes more sense (and gives a clearer conscience) than scooping up 3 for 2 factory-fodder piled high at the supermarket.
Those with kids who find themselves too stretched to fork out for a Wii or the next must-have gadget could even end up showing their offspring how to get back to basics, too - climbing trees in the woods, making bows and arrows or playing tennis in the real world instead of being wired up to a virtual world while slumped on the sofa.
Maybe this is utopian dreaming. Or maybe it's an opportunity to genuinely rethink our priorities and rewrite the rules. Out with a world that puts its faith in a morally bankrupt economy and in with one that actually gives a damn about people and the world we live in.

Picture: www.freeimages.co.uk

Can fashion have a conscience?

What's the mood on your local high street? Ours is looking a bit the worse for wear after the Christmas binge. For a start, Woolies, that stalwart of the British high street, now stands dark, empty and rather sad. Meanwhile, all the clothes shops scream ‘SALE’ and ‘UP TO 75% OFF!’ from their windows. It’s all a bit desperate.
So far, I’ve steered clear of the clothes sales. It’s not just credit crunch – I’m having a bit of a rethink on the fashion front.

A fashionable friend of mine once made a new year’s resolution not to buy new clothes for a year. She became an expert at spotting charity shop bargains, swapping dresses with her sister and digging deep into the back of her wardrobe for forgotten cast-offs. And I didn’t even notice: for the full 12 months she was as well turned out as ever.
I’m not planning on going completely cold turkey, like her. I will probably succumb to a new pair of boots this January (well, it is snowing as I type this) and treat myself to feel-good beach dress when summer finally comes around. But I’m going to try to stick to ethical and organically produced items - and steer clear of sweat-shop fodder.
I confess, I’ve done the Primark thing: come home with armfuls of fluffy sweaters without really questioning how they sell them so cheaply. Because, even though high street shops and supermarkets have now been forced to look more carefully at their suppliers’ working conditions, there’s no getting around the fact that these days, clothes are valued for being cheap and disposable.
Whether it’s a T-shirt or a pair of bootleg jeans, the high street gives you a fast fix – something to wear once or twice and then consign to the landfill. So much so that the Environment Select Committee tells us that in the last five years, the proportion of textile waste at council tips has risen from 7 per cent to 30 per cent.
But for a good few years now, ethical and organic clothes companies have slowly but surely been telling a different story. Finally, they are making an impact. And if you suspect I’m talking about shapeless hemp shirts rather than on-trend clothes, take a look at the likes of People Tree (www.peopletree.co.uk) or Howies (right, www.howies.co.uk).
These clothes don’t just look good – they are good news for everyone. The suppliers get paid a fair wage for their product and don’t have to work with hazardous dyes, bleaches or production processes. And, even if the clothes cost a bit more than a supermarket bargain, there are good reasons why. Clothes made from quality, fairtrade-certified fabrics will keep their shape and last far longer than one season.
For more and more of us, fashion in 2009 is going to be about buying thoughtfully. About choosing two key investment pieces that will last several years, rather than eight slightly dodgy items that don’t make it into 2010.
That’s my resolution anyway. Even if Primark doesn’t notice I’ve gone (after all, they take up to £600,000 a day at their Marble Arch store alone), change has to start somewhere. And while I might feel the pinch in 2009, you can bet that someone working in a clothes factory in Bangladesh for 7p an hour will be feeling it far more.

For more information, the Guardian has an ethical fashion directory at www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/page/ethicalfashiondirectory.

Pictures: People Tree and Howies (T-shirt)

Don't throw out the baby with the bathwater...

Eco-awareness can strike at the most unexpected times. This weekend, I emailed my friends Chris and Denise, who are expecting their first baby in four weeks. I wished them luck – and added, as an afterthought: "PS: Whatever you do, don’t bother buying a baby bath. "Everyone does, but you don’t need one. They are big, ugly and plastic and just get in your way and you’ll never need it."

Chris emailed me back within five minutes: "Thanks for the great advice. Sadly, a large yellow baby bath is one of the first things we bought. I’m already banging my knee on it every time I get out of bed…"

I confess I was just the same when I had my first baby – and probably committed more eco sins that I care to remember. You make your way from shop to shop, clutching a list of ‘must-haves’ that ranges from cumbersome pieces of changing equipment to itty-bitty clothes and mysterious lotions and potions.
The driving force is partly hormones – that famous ‘nesting’ instinct, which hits men as well as women. It turns even the most laid-back shopper into a frenzied consumer, as if your life depends on finding a changing mat with a hopping bunnies motif or a musical mobile that promises to lull babies to sleep. Think panic buying on Christmas Eve to the power of 20.
But it’s not just hormones to blame for this mass spending spree. From the moment that magical line appears on a pregnancy test, you are bombarded with messages that you must spend, spend, spend. This is before your baby has even uttered its first cry, let alone learned to say "I want" (which leads you on whole new adventures in consumer land…).
Yes, there are accessories that make life easier (My Baby Bjorn sling became like a second skin) and products you couldn’t do without (Green Baby’s Petroleum Free Jelly zaps nappy rash – and feels a whole lot better than smearing a byproduct of the oil industry on your baby’s bottom). But there are a truckload of unnecessary things on offer that just clutter up your life.
For me, buying a baby bath was a classic case of us putting consumerism before what really matters when you have a baby. In the end, both my babies were fine - and felt far more safe and reassured - sitting between a parent’s knees in our big bath. What’s more, shelling out for these throwaway items (often made from non-recyclable plastic) not only empties your pockets, it also has an impact on the environment - and your baby certainly isn’t going to thank you for that.
But the good news is there are plenty of ways to be an ecohip parent, without sacrificing style – or the planet. All it takes is rethinking a few ideas, and you’ll all be richer in every sense.
Oh, and don’t let yourself feel guilt about not giving your baby ‘the best’. If you’re parenting with care, love and consideration, that’s the real deal, not buying up half the stock of ToysRUs.

Ecohip’s top 5 ways to be a green parent:
1 New isn’t always best
Suddenly your home will be full of ‘stuff’, from cots to car seats, buggies to baby carriers. Before you shell out, try NCT sales (see www.nct.org for branches), eBay (www.ebay.co.uk) Freecycle (www.freecycle.org) or My Skip (www.myskip.com) to give a nearly-new item a new lease of life. If you want to buy new, go for furniture (eg high chairs) made out of sustainably forested wood rather than plastic. The only things you are recommended to always buy new are car seats (there’s no way of knowing if it’s been in an accident) and cot mattresses (there’s a possible link between second-hand cot mattresses and sudden infant death syndrome).
2 Buy feel-good clothes
A lot of high street clothes for babies and children are made out of synthetic fabrics that can trigger allergies, use potentially toxic dyes and are sourced from sweatshops overseas, where workers (often children) are paid a pittance. Go for organic cotton clothes or fairtrade items. Quality items will often last longer (or can be passed on to someone else) than ‘cheap as chips’ brands. Charity shops and nearly-new sales often yield great items that have barely been worn.
3 Play safe
Old-fashioned wooden toys or soft toys made out of organic material get our vote. After all, the first thing a baby does with a toy is put it in their mouth to test its texture. And what would you prefer your baby to chew on: organic wool or a plastic Fimble? When they get to the toddler stage, swap toys between friends or join a toy library to cut down on crowding out your house with huge items that only get played with once.
4 Cook in bulk
Keep shop-bought organic jars and pots of baby food for when you’re on the go. At home, bulk cook favourite veggie and fruit purees, and freeze in ice trays.
5 Pass it on
If you’ve finished with something that was really useful, pass it on to a friend or put it in a nearly new sale (NCT ones are well organised, and you just donate a percentage of the money you make). But I’m not making any promises you’ll be able to get rid of that hulking yellow baby bath…

What was the most unnecessary thing you bought for your baby – or the one thing you couldn’t do without? Let us know…

Image: http://www.freeimages.co.uk/

What We Gonna Do When Sh*t Hits The Fan

The last time I visited a supermarket I was thinking of our lost skills. How much we indeed lost in the course of civilization. We have lost touch with nature. Most of us are very good at tracking the lowest prices on the Internet, and perhaps frozen food in a supermarket. But would we be able to understand animal tracks in the wild.

No doubt we lost surviving skills, but what’s more frightening is most of us don’t think we still need them which is hopefully true but what if we do ………

We run out of food

The climate is getting warmer. Polar ice caps are melting, oceans are rising, coasts are eroding, and weather patterns may be shifting. Scientists are predicting increased droughts, floods (not a contradiction), wildfires, a massive disruption of agriculture and the food chain, and more severe storms—especially hurricanes. The sea level might rise by several feet in this century alone. The best-case scenarios look pretty awful.

The problem is that each tiny increase brings on a cascade of effects in weather, crops, migration, species interdependence, and so on. More rain here, less rain there. Hotter, drier earth means fewer microscopic worms fertilizing the soil, lower crop yields, and on and on and on. One quick glimpse at the minimum of devastation: The British government's chief scientist recently estimated that an increase of 3 degrees Celsius (5.4 degrees Fahrenheit) was the minimum we could hope for, even if we managed to stabilize carbon dioxide emissions in the near future, and that this temperature increase would result in a decrease of 200 million to 400 million tons of grain production throughout the world—and subsequently threaten starvation of 400 million people.

In this scenario some of those 400 millions people could have an advantage if they knew how to survive, and used their survival skills that their ancestors knew about. And it’s not far from reality, is it?

We run of the water

Another thing is, how we treat the water. In the past many tribes treated water as a god. Since water means life, it was of utmost importance to them. And now what’s our relation to water?

We constantly waste it, either by over consumption or by polluting it. What about collecting rain water? How many of us do collect it? Perhaps you might if you knew what the future holds in available freshwater!

Further, global warming has already negatively impacted bio systems and conditions for several species. What's more, if the temperature rises further still we are looking art 400 million and 1.7 billion people won't be able to get enough water, allergic pollens will increase, and some amphibians will go extinct.

It doesn’t sound good, does it?

Get in touch with Nature

With all of the environmental changes we're experiencing, mass extinction - according to scientists - is a real possibility. It's important that as a society we begin to realize how everything in our world is connected, just like if I was to pull a hair on you leg your eyes will water.

So consider this as you make your daily decisions. It might be necessary for your survival. Learn how to collect water, save energy, grow vegetables and food, swim, and build a shelter. Learn from our friends the animals, as they don't go to supermarkets.

Learn how native tribes dealt with the world around them. You may consider them as primitive, but they had more wisdom how to treat the Nature. It also is a good fun and will get you prepared for any disaster.

Stay tuned to our next post for these survival tips.

The Coolest Way To Get From A To B Without The C

Who said that green vehicles couldn’t be cool? We gathered the coolest ones that many of us want to have. Our favourite: Venturi Fetish, PoweriZer, Zero Bike and Worn Again. Check them out and tell us what’s yours.

Coolest Green Cars

Venturi Fetish

980kg carbon-fibre and aluminium constructed sports car with top speed 100mph. It accelerates 0-62mph in less than 5 seconds. Venturi Fetish is powered by an 180kW motor with its energy supplied by lithium-ion battery. Venturi claims its Fetish will take you 155 miles and those batteries should last around 2,000 charges – or 10 years. To recharge it’ll take 1 hour with the external charger, or if you’re out and about and need to use one of the internal chargers it’ll take 2-4 hours.

Honda Dream II
This electrical oddity might look like it’s from the future, but it’s actually more than 10 years old. The Honda Dream II was built to compete in the World Solar Challenge in 1996, a race, unsurprisingly, for solar powered cars taking place between Darwin and Adelaide. Honda entered the race in both the ’93 and ’96 - this Dream II taking part in the second event. Its inclusion gave the event a huge boost in coverage, the Honda effort shattering previous records by covering the 1866 miles in just over 4 days with an average speed of 55.8mph.

GM EV1
Perhaps the most notorious electric vehicle of them all General Motors EV1 has sparked a huge conspiracy debate that car manufacturers don’t really want to produce electric vehicles. And General Motors has certainly given the conspiracy theorists reason to believe there’s something not right. That’s because the EV1 was universally praised by the 465 people who leased it from the American automotive giant. Not a pretty car admittedly, but its wind cheating shape allowed it to cruise at speed in near silence and maximise the energy from its batteries.

Tesla Roadster
Tesla Roadster is the latest electric sports car to wow drivers with an environmental bent. Its performance matches its looks, the Roadster able to reach 60mph in around 4 seconds – all from a motor that Tesla describes as being ‘the size of a watermelon’. The batteries take up a bit more space, though the lithium-ion ESS (Energy Storage System) is able to run the Roadster for 250 miles without a recharge. Oh, and Tesla claim a top speed of more than 130mph.

Tesla is using Lotus’ strong and lightweight extruded aluminium chassis to underpin its electric sports car. Lotus are involved too in the Tesla’s development.

Smart EV
The Smart’s drivetrain has been developed by the Zytek Group in the UK, its electric motor and batteries giving it a 30kW output and a potential top speed of 70mph. Smart quotes a 0-30mph time of 6.5 seconds, which is reasonable, but suggests the performance after that isn’t up to much… Still, it’s a city car, and it should be quick enough to dice with town traffic. Smart claims a range of ‘up to’ 72 miles. It’s not much but well…

Coolest Bikes

Zero Bike
The bike is a hubless and very lightweight bicycle powered by cranking magnetic pedals which rotate the tires suspended between other magnets. Designed by Makota Makita and Hiroshi Tsuzaki from Tokyo.

Biomega AMS Bicycle
This multi-purpose town bike uses shaft instead of a chain, requiring less maintenance, and leaving fewer oily trousers and tangled evening dresses. A hub dynamo, 8-speed hub gear, shaft drive, and clean, deco design are well integrated on this bike.

Coolest Eco Shoes

Worn Again
Their shoes are made of everything - from bicycle tires, car seat belts, e-leather and reclaimed jeans – yet their shoes are stylish, eco and cool.

Ecolution
They are made of hemp and are vegan, substantial, durable and long-lasting shoes. The upper is constructed with the finest organic hemp fibers with the natural rubber outsole. Great and giving you the peace-of-mind that such an environmentally-positive footwear statement can afford.

Simple Shoes
Simple Shoes are made of recycled car tires, hemp and bamboo - the best combination for eco-aware people.

…And Now For Something Completely Different

PoweriZers
PoweriZers are super-muscles that enhance your natural strength. Curved springs attach to the bottom of the PoweriZers and harness the gravitational energy that is created when you put your weight down. The super-charged springs push back, giving you the ability to run and jump incredible distances!