| Ethical and organic lifestyle |
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You can improve your health, the health and welfare of workers and the environment by choosing to buy fairly traded, organic, natural, locally produced and environmentally friendly products. Buying fairly traded products is a form of giving to the poor, or at least not exploiting the poor, you help farmers, their families and communities. See www.fairtrade.org.uk. Buy organic products and you reduce harmful pesticide use, which is safer for you, the farmers and the environment, organic food has more flavour and nutrients, and improves animal welfare. See www.soilassociation.org. Organic food is obviously available in all the major supermarkets, and specialist health food shops and orgnanic supermarkets, of which our favourites are http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/stores/all/index.php, http://www.asnatureintended.uk.com/ and http://www.planetorganic.com/. The textiles industry is one of the world's largest polluters Around a quarter of the world's insecticides are used to grow conventional cotton, and ten per cent of its pesticides, and at least 8,000 chemicals are used to turn raw material into clothes, towels, bedding and other items that we put next to our skin every day. Use of the pesticide endosulfan in farming cotton in developing countries is causing the poisoning of thousands of workers, often resulting in their death. See www.pan-uk.org. Organically produced textiles avoid all this. Fairtrade textiles are also available, which promote fair treatment of workers. More and more high street and online shops in UK are selling products made with organic and fairly traded textiles, including M&S (range varies through year ), Debenhams (large range of fairtrade menswear - Maine FiveG and some organic clothing - John Rocha and Thomas Nash), Next (limited range, may vary throughout the year), Top Shop / Top Man (limited range of fairtrade), John Lewis (limited range of fairtrade), Natural Collection, Greenfibres, Spirit of Nature and Bishopston Trading. A directory of organic product suppliers in UK is available online here: http://www.whyorganic.org/involved_organicDirectory.asp. Some good general organic and ethical product suppliers in the UK: http://www.ethicalsuperstore.com/?affid=premier&awc=buyat&_$ja=tsid:8751|prd:premier - support Premier Christian Radio by using this link Ethical shopping guides are available here: http://www.ethical-company-organisation.org/ http://www.ethicalconsumer.org/ Most conventional paints contain toxic VOCs and carcinogens that off-gas and contain solvents, heavy metals, formaldehyde and other harmful preservatives, harmful to health and the environment. More and more brands of natural paints without these harmful ingredients are now available. Here are some of the best. Send us your feedback if you use any of them. We have used Beckers paint, with great success. www.auro.co.uk - stockists throughout UK http://www.ecospaints.com/ - mail order only http://www.earthbornpaints.co.uk/ - available on the High Street at Brewers Even Farrow and Ball are better than most: http://www.farrow-ball.com/productadvice/Environment.aspx?language=en-GB http://www.beckerspaints.co.uk/ - available in Fulham, London, colour matching service available http://www.safepaint.net/index.php - USA Another area is green electricity - for a comparison of suppliers see http://www.greenelectricity.org/index.php |