the wastelands

I'm very annoyed at myself for missing Buy Nothing Day on the 25th but this doesn't mean that I can't nominate another random day in which to buy nothing! From the website, it is aiming to encourage us to:

"...make a commitment to consuming less, recycling more and challenging corporations to clean up and be fair. Modern consumerism might offer great choice, but this shouldn't be at the cost of the environment or developing countries."

BND is the brainchild of Adbusters who I know nothing about but I shall be perusing their website some more ove rthe coming days. I think next year I will try and be organised and publicise this and celebrate properly!

We have Adili- "the best in ethical fashion". They say:

Adili is the Swahili word for 'ethical and just'. As a company Adili believes that it is possible for fashion to be both stylish and made in an ethical and just way; in a way that gives rather than takes from people and the planet; in a way that upholds the dignity of those along the supply chain.

There are organisations, initiatives and companies showing that trade can be done differently, that working in fashion can have dignity, can respect the world around us and can be a way for individuals and communities to trade their way out of poverty, to save fast-disappearing skills, to gain new ones and to have the resources to educate their children... Some brands trade fairly and directly with producers while others have a focus on the environmental cost of growing and producing fibre and fabric. Some brands achieve both these objectives and many aspire to.

There is also People Tree who have a Fairtrade logo on their site.

Fairtrade Media whose stock includes cards and calendars, t-shirts, cotton wool and music.

Cred Jewellery.

" Cred is commited to providing a positive fair trade alternative that pays special attention to human rights, labour standards and care for the environment. Our pursuit of this has led to unique partnerships with small-scale mining communities (Oro Verde), cutting and polishing co-operative workshops, master jewellers and stone setters. All of whom are dedicated to the idea of fair trade jewellery.

Each piece of jewellery we create comes with its own social and environmental certification issued by IIAP and the Cred makers mark."

That's all for now. Will blog some more on this...