Ethical shopping

  A series of deals earlier this year between the Fairtrade organisation and big-name businesses are propelling ethically sourced products from the margins to the mainstream.  These deals promise to boost the wealth of some farmers in developing countries but they have led some people in the west to wonder if supermarkets are exploiting - if not taking over - a valued charitable brand.

  “It’s an interesting debate but our first and major concern is to increase opportunities for creating wealth for more farmers in developing countries,” said Harriet Lamb, Fairtrade’s executive director.

  Among the initiatives launched this year was the news that Marks & Spencer (M&S) is switching all its tea and coffee to Fairtrade-certified produce.  And Stuart Rose, M&S’s chief executive, commented: “We have received such positive feedback from customers that we will be extending the range further this autumn.”

  Virgin Trains has switched to Fairtrade for its hot drinks served on mainline rail services.

  There are now over 200 companies selling everything from Fairtrade wine, flowers and T-shirts to footballs.

  Fairtrade was established in 1992 as a charity which promised to bring a decent deal to isolated coffee and other agricultural producers in the developing world who were faced with a crash in commodity prices.  Three quarters of its income - some £2.6m - comes from companies which pay for the organisation’s certification.  The rest comes from donations from government and private sources.

  Sales of Fairtrade products rose by 40 per cent in 2005 and are now worth £195m a year.  This is small in terms of overall consumer spending in the UK but is part of a growing trend.

  The willingness of big brands to stock ethically produced products is expected to lead to further growth in this market.

  According to Silver Kasaro-Atwoki, of the Mabale Growers Tea Factory in Uganda: “Through Fairtrade, we’ve been able to change our agricultural techniques to improve the quality and quantity of our teas.  But we’ve also opened new access roads, which have benefited the whole community.”

Abridged by Robert Little from an article by Terry McAllister, first published in ‘The Guardian’ and supplied by Julia Clarke.

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Eco-Christian Warriors, battling with trash...

  As a Christian community, we need to make sure that we do our best to look after God's world.  A recent Church Meeting agreed that we would carry out an audit of the premises, management and organisations of our church, to see how eco-friendly we really are - and then to work out in what ways we can improve our ‘eco-friendliness’.  Hopefully, we will have more news of that later!  

  Of course, we should also be careful about wastage, energy saving and using environmentally-friendly products in our homes in order to reduce pollution and the mountains of rubbish we produce.

  Every year, British households throw away 27m tons of waste, most of which goes into landfill.  We need to act now to reduce this.

  So, to start the ball rolling, every now and then there will be a 'green' page in Church Chat.  Here are this month's tips for cleaning without chemicals:

• Mix malt vinegar with water (50/50) and decant it into a spray-pump bottle to clean glass or polish kitchen surfaces. This is, however, not suitable for wood.

• To remove limescale, soak a piece of cotton wool in white vinegar, wrap it around the taps in your kitchen or bathroom; leave for about half an hour and then wash off with soap and water.

• Lemon juice, mixed with salt, can be used as an alternative to bleach for bringing copper and brass back to life.  It also makes a very abrasive scourer for dirty pans.

• Make a paste of baking soda and lemon juice to clean and scour pans.

• Tea tree oil is an excellent disinfectant.  Use two drops of this oil in water to clean toilets, sinks and washbasins.

  Eco-friendly commercial cleaners include:

• Ecover cream cleaner, washing up liquid, dishwasher rinse and so on -  available from supermarkets.

• Naturally Inspired bathroom cleanser (from Marks &  Spencer).

• Method Tub & Tile (from John Lewis).

  It may take a bit of effort to mix your own ingredients at first but it is a worthwhile contribution to the campaign.

By Valerie Stubbs.