The Ethical Blog from Ethicalsuperstore.com

With Cupid busier than ever, it can only mean one thing; the season of love is upon us. Yes, the 14th of February is almost here and amorè is on everyone’s minds.

To help long-term couples, those enjoying the first blossom of romance or those simply admiring from afar find their perfect gift, Ethical Superstore, the UK’s leading online retailer of inspired eco-friendly, Fair Trade, organic and UK-made products has compiled a list of Valentine’s Day gifts, which range from the traditional to the more creative.

Read the rest of Spread the Love this Valentine’s Day »

Behind the Scenes

Now, I happen to know one of the warehouse supervisors very well [editor's note, they live together!] and I very often get a full and frank account of what goes on in the fulfilment warehouse on a daily basis.  So I know how hard those guys work, making sure orders are correct, secure in their parcel and dispatched on time.  Especially at this time of year, when we hunched up PC dwellers are asked to help out by picking some orders or wrapping some gifts, I think it helps everyone involved in the circle of ethical shopping understand just how hard we all work to make your shopping experience special.

Whatever you’re celebrating at this time of year, Christmas, Hanukkah, the Solstice, I think it’s important to recognise everyone involved in the circle, from the buyers and marketeers, designers and IT geeks (no offence guys!), web content and stock controllers to the pickers, packers and drivers, who were all working hard to help make your celebrations ethical.

We’ve all worked extremely hard this year to concentrate efforts towards optimising this whole process and we’re proud to say, our service is the best it’s ever been.  In April this year, we asked an independent review company to work with us who send an email to our customers on our behalf asking our customers to rate their experience out of 5 stars and share your thoughts with the world.

Since we started, we’ve already had over 2,600 reviews.  We have an average star rating of 4.7/5 and an impressive 99% approval rating!This process is not all to do with blowing our own trumpet though.  If a customer has had problems with their order, it gives us the opportunity to hear about those problems and do what is needed to make things right.

So if any of you receive one of these emails asking for a review, please take a couple of minutes of your time to complete it.It helps to keep us on our toes and it gives shoppers the confidence to choose Ethical Superstore based on real experiences.  If you had great service, tell everyone.If something went wrong, let us know and we’ll pull out the stops to put things right.

So thanks for reading, if you got this far!I hope you feel a little more clued up on how this all works and thankful, as I am, to all who make it work.

I wish you all a very, very Merry Christmas from everyone at EthicalSuperstore.com.

5pm, Wednesday, 21^st December 2011.  3 days and seven hours to go until Christmas.

One of Ethical Superstore’s priorities when we discussed the busy season six weeks ago was our commitment to getting our customers what they needed in time for Christmas.  Up to 12pm yesterday, orders could still be placed using standard UK delivery and for those who like to leave things to the very last minute, express delivery is available until 12pm tomorrow.  We’ve even temporarily reduced the price of delivery do standard is £2.95 (normally £3.95) and express is £3.95 (normally £5.95)!

Read the rest of The Circle of Ethical Shopping (Part 1) »

Our friends at Rapanui have been busying themselves with preparations for Christmas.

Having been hit hard by the recession, Santa and his helpers have had to make some cut backs.  But will Rudolf cope in his new role?  And will Santa manage to boost morale within the team after incidents of name calling!?

Read the rest of RAPANUI – The Grotto »

A beautiful handmade basket featuring a traditional African zigzag design motif:  the perfect centrepiece for your dining room table found in the Ethical Superstore Christmas catalogue.  But delve deeper and you’ll discover the story of basket producers Gone Rural, members of the World Fair Trade Organisation, who have been working to change lives in Swaziland for over 20 years.

Read the rest of Gone Rural Swaziland – The Story Behind the Products »

I love the summer holidays. It offers a little time to relax and unwind. It allows a little more time to spend with the kids. How we love those long blissful days of chilling out and engaging in fun activities. At least that’s the theory.

National Trust Pond Dipping Kit

Sometimes the actual experience is a little different. Not enough time to squeeze everything in and yet the kids seem bored before the day has even started. Everyone wants to do something different. And no one wants to do anything that doesn’t cost a fortune. It hardly feels like the “joys of family life” that I signed up for.

So once Harry Potter has been watched and the actual two weeks away has been taken – then what? Some days we will reach for the trusty National Trust membership card and take a trip to North East England jewels like Gibside or the Souter Lighthouse but I am hoping that this year the words “National Trust” will come to mean more than a quick dash round a stately home followed by spending a small fortune in the cafe and gift shop!

The new National Trust range we have just listed may well prove an entertaining distraction on some of the days those which look like a blank canvas -rather than those that look similar to the train timetable at Clapham Junction!

Each National Trust kit comes in a sturdy box with all you need to begin engaging with the particular aspect of outdoors that it focuses on. My personal favourite is the National Trust Bug Hunting Kit which offers everything from the specimen pots through to your very own pooter for collecting the bugs. I think it was reading Gerald Durrell’s “My family and other animals” that inspired me to get down on my hands and knees to study the little creatures that live all around us. The wonder of a centipede as the wave of movement ripples down its body. The amazing colour of the butterfly or dragonfly as it gets carried on the wind from leaf to leaf. The amazing world of ants all working together. So for the price of afternoon tea for the family we can set out on a bug hunting, pond dipping, bark rubbing, flower pressing or rock pool splashing adventure.

We’d love to know what ethical adventures your planning this summer – let us know by commenting to this post below.

Some might think I am a bit sad, but I read ALL the customer feedback we get via our enquiry and Ekomi review system. There are several key themes of feedback, but there is one niggling subject that seems to divide people equally – “my order was over packed – why do you use so much packaging?” and “my order arrived damaged – why don’t you use more packaging?” We therefore spend a lot of time testing new packaging materials with the aim of reducing the amount we use while seeking to get every order delivered complete and undamaged.

So we’ve been on the hunt for greener packaging alternatives that are resilient enough to make sure your order arrives in one piece. And we have found some great products that fit the bill.

Firstly, over the last year, we have moved to stronger but lighter boxes that provide better protection for your products whilst reducing the weight of cardboard being used. (In fact if whole the whole UK packaging industry followed suit, carbon emissions related to packaging transportation would be reduced by over 30% overnight!)

Secondly, we have switched over to even greener packing materials:

• green bubble mailer – the outer paper is recycled and all the elements are either recyclable or degradable
• green bubble wrap – this is made from a significant proportion of recycled materials and is also recyclable in many areas
• green void fill – this is an inflated cellophane sack that is made from recycled bottles and is recyclable and protects your products in transit.

The last one is particular favourite as it’s called Cell-O Green and is just character different from Cee Lo Green – the US rapper who won best international male artist at the Brits this year. Although he doesn’t know, Cee Lo Green is the star of choice when it comes to packing your parcels efficiently and ecologically. Cee Lo Green may sing about “forgetting you”, but we reckon that Cell-O Green will help make sure you know we’ve not forgotten you or our duty of care for the environment when it comes to getting your order in the best possible shape.

We’d love to know what you think of the innovative steps we’re taking to reduce our environmental footprint while better protecting your precious parcels, and we’d be delighted if you let us know how we could do better – just drop us a comment below!

It’s April 2009, and I’m saying goodbye to a cushy job as a creative marketing manager for a games firm; the recession having swung its deathly scythe at this industry, particularly anywhere more than a mile and a half outside London. So, having been given my marching orders, I hastily put together my portfolio and CV (or if you’re a recruiter reading this – painstakingly hand-crafted my portfolio and CV) and set sail on the seas of recruitment.

Read the rest of Fair Trade – is it a load of old rubbish? »

I’m about to leave the office to travel to watch my first gig of 2011. Packing my stuff reminded me of how many cool eco-products are now important whether you’re off to a festival, a weekend camping or just visiting friends. Windup torches, solar chargers and bio-degradeable tent pegs are now among the first things I pack when setting off on a trip away. Here are my top ten must-haves for the eco-conscious traveller.

Read the rest of The Essential Festival Guide: Our Top Eco Products That Every Traveller Needs »