Tuesday, November 26 2019
There are many reasons to choose fair-trade products, they give back to the people who make them, they are unique handmade items and the are out of the ordinary.
These delightful Fair-Trade Christmas decorations are handmade and have that irreplaceable touch of having been individually made by a skilled artisan rather than made by machines. Each beautiful hand crafted piece is unique and because of this individual touch they make perfect gifts.
Fairtrade products come from many different countries around the globe so the range is amazing and the items fascinating. There are stories behind the products and different cultural influences which influence the designs
Fairtrade Christas decorations are gifts that give back. Each one of these hand sewn angels provides a small income for the woman who made it.
So if youre looking for that special Fairtrade Christmas product , Im sure youll be delighted at what you discover.
Thursday, April 04 2019
Fair-Trade African BasketsThese striking African baskets are handmade in Swaziland. Weaving skills have been handed down for generations in Swaziland from mother to daughter. Baskets woven traditionally were functional for food bowls and had no colour, colour is a recent introduction. Basket weaving has recently become an artistic medium, increasingly motivated by aesthetics and reflects a new level of sophistication and expertise This gorgeous woven African basket is made from sisal fibres The sisal plant is used because of its strength. The fibre is harvested, dried, hand dyed and then made into a thin coil by being rolled against the weaver's leg becaue of this long process these are one of the most labour intensive of all African baskets for their size. Tuesday, January 01 2019
These re-usable lunchbags are the perfect way to identify your lunch in the office fridge, that's if you can keep these gorgeous oil cloth lunch bags for yourself and they don't end up taking lunch to school with the kids!
Made from Mexican oilcloth these brightly coloured oilcloth lunch bags are the ideal way to brighten up your day The lunch bags are easily wiped clean, they fit over a standard sized lunch box and fold over and close with a Velcro seal
The Mexican oilcloth used for these lunch-bags is a traditional fabric you probably remember as a brightly coloured cloth on your Grans kitchen table. It’s a highly durable, fade resistant, stain resistant and it simply wipes clean. The lunch bags are also available with insulation. Just perfect for those hot summer days.
Thursday, November 01 2018
Ecofriendly Christmas GiftsMore and more people are looking to find a way of celebrating Christmas in a way that is simpler and environmentally frendly. There are so many amazing products made from recycled materials such as the bowls made from recycled paper that its easy to find products that are sustainable There are a growing number of thoughtful consumers who are looking for unique, ecofriendly gifts, gifts that last and gifts that do no harm to planet and people, green gifts such as these flowers made from recycled material are not only delightful they are fair-trade so the people who make them benfit from the sale of the products. Green Christmas gifts will delight the recipient with their originality and thoughtfulness. These animal mobiles have been made from recycled books. For a more practical gift you cant go past the traditional string bags. They are strong, stylish, sustainably made and a great way to replace plastic bags. Tuesday, September 18 2018
Many people are now choosing to buy sustainable, ethical and upcycled products. Luckily there is now a fantastic range of eco products available for all tastes and ages. An ecofriendly gift idea for men is these upcycled wallets. Made from recycled tyres the wallets are not only stylish they are strong and waterproof. Amazing sculptures made from upcycled flip-flops are another brilliant eco gift idea. These brilliantly coloured hand carved animals are drawing attention to the problem of marine pollution. A lovely practical gift eco gift is these bags made from upcycled sails. The inside of the bags are lined with recycled rice bags making them easy to clean and perfect for both shopping and the family picnic. For someone who is concerned about the environment these journals are not only ecofriendly but they are helping to save elephants. Made from a mixture of upcycled paper and elephant dung paper these lovely journals are a great eco gift idea that not only do good they will bring a smile to the recipients face. These are just a few of the eco friendly and ethically made items ithat can be found in Ethical Gifts online store Wednesday, August 29 2018
With such striking designs and colours combined with the intricacy, accuracy and skill this craft takes these Zulu baskets never fail to impress . Each telephone wire basket is a unique, exquisite art piece. Telephone wire basket weaving is an indigenous South African craft which has evolved from the extraordinary basket weaving skills of the Zulus. Using telephone wire to weave with was first started by night-watchmen who to allay the boredom of the long nights . "Beginning in the late 1960's, Zulu night watchmen started weaving scraps of this wire around their traditional sticks. This new material was also applied to making izimbenge - beer pot covers - that had been traditionally made from grass and palm. Today, there is wide variety in the creative use of this wire, and, in post-Apartheid South Africa, Zulu craft artists are imbuing old forms with the colourful contemporary material of telecommunications. The result is a vibrant, distinctive new folk form gaining international attention." Wired- Contemporary Zulu Telephone Wire Baskets. David Arment These telephone wire baskets were woven in the subsistence farming area of KwaZulu-Natal province in South Africa . No two Zulu baskets will be identical as each artisan draws on their own creativity to produce unique designs and patterns. Wednesday, August 15 2018
Thousands of flip-flops wash up onto the East African coast each year creating an environmental disaster. The plastic flip-flop pieces do not just spoil the natural beauty of the beaches and oceans but marine creatures swallow and suffocate on them and they stop turtle hatchlings from reaching the sea. They are another man-made menace to the earths fragile ecosystems. Flip-flops are made from a combination of Ethylene-Vinyl Acetate and other plastics and they do not biodegrade. They do however photo-degrade, breaking up into smaller and smaller pieces to form part of the plastic soup plaguing our oceans. Cheap flip-flop footwear is a common item found along Kenya’s shores as over 3 billion people world wide can only afford that type of shoe. With a lifespan of just two years the volume of discarded footwear rapidly adds up. Because of ocean currents an estimated 90 tons of flip-flops find their way to East Africa's beaches every year. Ocean Sole is turning the waste into brightly coloured sculptures, recycling as many as 400,000 flip-flops each year. Ocean Sole arranges for the collection of the flip-flops they are then cleaned then compressed into large solid blocks then, the artists, many of whom are former woodcarvers, carve the blocks into a variety of African and marine animals. Ocean Sole’s creative team of artisans are not only transforming discarded flip flops into colourful masterpieces, they are drawing attention to the importance of marine conservation and the damage plastic waste is doing to our oceans. Tuesday, June 26 2018
Elephant Dung Paper Journals How is The Paper Made Where Is It Made Saturday, June 09 2018
The resources on this planet will not last forever and so many materials otherwise seen as rubbish can be used to create new functional and tasteful products. Our upcycled wallets and toiletry bags are made in Australia using recycled tyre inner tubes- each item is unique and handmade.
The need to find alternative ways to deal with our waste has never been greater and more people are now looking to minimise waste. Upcycled wallets are the perfect gift for the environmentally aware Thursday, May 31 2018
The collection of mama and baby animals is from the talented makers of GoGo Olive in Zimbabwe. Just as mothers traditionally carry their babies tied on their back so do these sweet handmade African animal mamas. These gorgeous mother and baby soft toys are knitted by the artisans of Gogo Olive in Zimbabwe. Shumba means lion in Shona and each mother and baby Shumba have been given a name which is attached with a swing tag along with the story behind these beautiful hand knitted toys. Each Daddy twza, twaza means giraffe in Shona, has a different coloured jumper making each and every one of these superbly made toy giraffes unique. Nzou means elephant in Shona and these mother elephants and babies will soon become a childs best Shamwari (friend). Gogo Olive is an organization that was set up as a response to the huge unemployment problem in Zimbabwe. The women who make the toys are able to earn money from the sale of them to help support their families. |
|