Safia's Blog

Tokyo Two – Greenpeace activists bullied by state

There’s nothing that makes my blood boil more than when people who stand up for human rights, animal rights and environmental issues are bullied by the state. The Japanese police arrested two Greenpeace activists who exposed a whale meat scandal involving a Government sponsored whaling programme.

World Fair Trade Day – May 10th 2008

Reasons to be cheerful – one, two, three….

New A-Z of sustainable fashion – Oxfam launches new boutiques

It couldn’t have been a sunnier, more beautiful evening to open the first of Oxfam’s new ethical fashion boutiques in Notting Hill.

Fair Trade – Where Social Justice and Environmental Justice meet

The theme of World Fair Trade Day this May 10th is Fair Trade and the Environment, the two things People Tree feels most passionately about.

Magazine Musings

The eco power of the thirty-something purse was revealed by Marie Claire this week following their survey of 3000 women. Apparently 70% of them consider whether products are Fair Trade or ethically sourced as a factor when purchasing fashion.

Tokyo: People Tree Shop – 10 Years Old Today!

We opened a shop 10 years ago because I was fed up and embarrassed opening the front door to customers in my pjs and scrambling around for change – people wanted to buy stuff at my home and office – so we decided to open a shop.

Eco tourism and where do you throw the loo roll?

I’m not a fan of camping, but hate luxury hotels. So I hoped I’d find something between the two at Basata, Egypt’s only eco-resort. This is my first week’s holiday in 4 years – so images of lying in the sun with a fruit juice at my side and dressing for dinner have never been more at the forefront of my mind…

The first organic cotton harvest in Bangladesh

Bangladesh grows 2% of its cotton needs and People Tree is working to convert this into organic, Fair Trade cotton. Working closely with its organic cotton partner Agrocel last year we trained three agriculturalists from Bangladesh at Agrocel in India. These workers then returned to their areas and started the two pilot projects, one at Waste Concern in Bogra and the second at Swallows in Thanapara.

Yay, we won!!

What a great start to the day – 8.30 in the morning and I find myself in West London attending the Cosmopolitan Online Fashion Awards, and guess what, People Tree only went and WON the Best Ethical E-tailer Award.