Ethical shopping

By Katy Holbird

We Holbirds have a garage full of rice. Well, that’s not quite true, but nestling amongst the random bits and pieces - broken paddling pool, bits of cot and one of Noah Wilson’s drums (it’s here when you want it!) - we have rice, pasta and various other bits that constitute the basis of food for the next few months.

Let me clear something up. We are not preparing, as has been suggested, for the end of the world. Jesus will not return on the strength of a chick pea curry. We are, however, trying to do what we can to look after the world in the interim. Of course, filling our garage with brown rice (did I mention it was brown?) isn’t going to save the planet. But I’ll tell you why we do it.

Let’s start by asking yourself how much of your weekly outgoings are spent on food? However much it is, that’s your money and you have a choice about how you spend it. Your choice gives you more power than you might think: markets will move for consumers.

What if the money that we spend on food goes towards food and practices that support the environment rather than deplete it?
I’m not advocating that you all turn vegetarian (though if you need advice on buying meat then I’m not the person to come to) but there are small things that we can all do.

Tom and I still shop at Tesco. Boo, hiss. Yes, but like it or not, Tesco is here to stay. So let’s change it. For us this means buying fairtrade goods; fruit and veg with as little packaging as possible; fish that is MSC (Marine Standards Council) certified, so that it’s taken from safe stocks and gathered in sustainable ways. If what you want isn’t there, ask for it. If enough people ask then markets start to change. One of our Vicar-type friends (they tend to spring up when you’re in this job) has made friends with the manager at his local Tesco and now works with him to make sure that he stocks goods that are grown and sourced ethically. That’s consumer power.

Aside from Tesco, we get most of our dried goods, cleaning products etc from an online cooperative called Suma. Apart from the amusement of an enormous van pulling up outside our house three times a year, it’s a way of sourcing fairtrade, organic goods from a place that we know supports it workers and really cares about the products it sells. It’s also cheaper because you have to buy in bulk. Get your Life Group together, find a calculator and work it out. Shopping whilst creating community!!

So that’s food. Clothing is another area we can look at. You may or may not be aware that most of my clothes come from charity shops (and how lucky we are in Gerrards Cross....). But whether you do this or not, there is so much information out there about the impact that the clothing industry has on the world (cotton production, dyeing processes etc) as well as on the workers. It’s not as easy to say that cheap = suffering workers, but let’s face it, we all know, if we’re honest, that Primark is not an ethical place to buy our clothes. I’ve written to them to ask more about their policies - it’s not good news, Primani lovers. Sorry. Other than that, there’s lots of info on the web, The Good Shopping Guide and Ethical Consumer are good places to start.

You may be reading this thinking, fine for you Holbird but what about the.... cost, time, thought I have to put into this? It’s true. There are all of those things. But the question is how much do you care?

Finally - Streetbank. Saint James Church, let’s all get on Streetbank. It’s a website that links you with the people up to 10 miles around you and allows you to share and receive items, skills, talents that you have stored away. Today I met a lady who lives up the road and came to get Noah’s old highchair. We had a good chat and she might come back next week for a cuppa. It’s not rocket science. And it doesn’t cost anything.

For more information have a look at these sites:
www.streetbank.co.uk
www.suma.coop
www.ethicalconsumer.org
www.thegoodshopingguide.com