The Ethical Blog from Ethicalsuperstore.com

Our friends over at Rapanui clothing have some fantastic news.  In partnership with the University of Isle of Wight, they have developed something monumental.  A product that will change the face of textiles for ever.  Check out their press release…

Read the rest of Rapanui’s Groundbreaking Textiles Innovation »

Spring is here and the warmth of the sun is creeping into the nests of hedgehogs across the country and waking them up from a long hibernation!

They will be in desperate need of food and water as soon as they emerge, as they urgently need to replenish lost fat reserves in time for the breeding season. Offering meat based pet food and fresh water will help at the same time as encouraging them into your garden. This is especially important this year following promises of early heat waves! Please take care when tidying up the garden after winter, many hedgehogs suffer terrible injuries every year from strimmers, garden forks, mowers, etc.

Fay Vass, Chief Executive of the British Hedgehog Preservation Society offers this advice. “If you see a hedgehog staggering as if he is drunk, or ‘sunbathing’ please be aware that he is actually very ill as both of these signs point to him being hypothermic. He should be picked up using gardening gloves and taken indoors in a high sided cardboard box. Pop a wrapped hot water bottle in with him as well as an old towel for him to hide under. Offer meat based pet food and fresh water and make sure the hot water bottle stays warm. Then call the Society on 01584 890 801 for further advice and the number of a local rehabilitator.”

The British Hedgehog Preservation Society has produced a leaflet called ‘Gardening “with” Hedgehogs’ for those wishing to help prickly garden visitors. Membership of BHPS costs just £7.50 per year for one person. For your free leaflet, or membership information, see www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk or send an A5 sae to BHPS Gardening, Hedgehog House, Dhustone, Ludlow, SY8 3PL.

To view all products on Ethical Superstore relating to hedgehogs, click here.

So Easter is coming and one of the great traditions of Easter is the Hot Cross Bun. I have never made them before so I decided I would have ago this year. The Hot Cross bun is a celebration food that celebrates the end of Lent and piles in all the things you may have given up for the last seven weeks. Made from a heavily spiced dough, the bun is laden with rich fruit. A delicious treat – and one we shouldn’t eat too often!

Hot Cross buns cooling in Andy's Kitchen

So with apologies to Nigella and Felicity Cloake of the Guardian who’s recipes I have butchered here is the official Ethical Superstore guide to making your own Ethical Hot Cross Bun.

Ingredients

200ml milk
¼ tsp powdered nutmeg
½ tsp powdered Suma Organic and Fairtrade cinnamon
¼ tsp powdered mixed spice
Pinch of saffron
7g of powdered “easy bake” yeast (or Doves Farm quick yeast)
50g golden Traidcraft Fairtrade caster sugar
450g Doves Farm organic strong white flour
100g butter
½ tsp salt
½ tsp ground ginger
3 eggs
150g Suma Organic currants
50g mixed peel
3 tbsp Doves Farm organic plain flour 

Cooking time: In total this is going to take four hours and for the best flavour prepare the spicy milk the day before.

1. Heat 200ml milk gently in a pan along with the cinnamon,  nutmeg and mixed spice until just boiling. Set aside, preferably overnight.

2. Next day warm the milk to body temperature and then add yeast and 1 tsp sugar.

3. Mix the flour and  butter in a large bowl and rub together until well mixed.

4. Add the rest of the sugar, the salt and ginger.

5. Beat together two of the eggs and add with the yeast mixture to the flour\butter mixture. Stir in, adding enough milk to make a soft dough.

6. Place on a floured surface and knead for 10 minutes until smooth and elastic.

7. Cover and leave in a warm place for  a couple of hours until it has doubled in size.

8. Place back on a floured surface and knead for a minute or so. Flatten it out and scatter over the fruit and peel. Knead again to spread the fruit around evenly.

9. Divide into 16 equal pieces and roll these into round, bun shapes. Put on If you care grease proof paper lined baking trays and mark a cross on the top of each one. Cover and put in a warm place until doubled in size (again!).

10. Set the oven to 200 degrees Celsius and beat together an egg with a little milk. Mix the plain flour,  a pinch of salt and enough cold water to make a stiff paste. Paint the top of each bun with egg wash, and then draw a thick cross where you scored the cross on each bun.

11. Put into the oven and bake for about 25 minutes until golden.

12. Meanwhile, mix 1 tbsp caster sugar with 1 tbsp boiling water. When the buns come out of the oven, brush them with this before transferring to a rack to cool.

13. Eat with lots of butter, lots of friends and lots of chat of how to make the world a better place.

Have fun and have  a great Easter. Once consumed on Easter Sunday you will a strenuous Easter Egg hunt to burn off the calories. Make sure you have lots of Divine Easter eggs well hidden around your garden!

The Fairtrade Foundation’s annual Fairtrade Fortnight campaign commences 27th February and runs until 11th March when UK consumers are being encouraged to “Take a Step” to expand their support of Fairtrade products.

Ashish Deo, commercial director at the Fairtrade Foundation, said: “Throughout 2012 the Fairtrade Foundation wants to bring the nation a step closer to understanding that by taking a small step, like buying a Fairtrade product, they can help make a big change to the lives of farmers in the developing world.’”

Read the rest of Fairtrade Fortnight – Take a Giant Step »

You would be forgiven for thinking that a light bulb is, well, just a light bulb but our warehouse is testament to the difference a new bulb can make.

Following months of research, planning and negotiation, a new energy efficient lighting system is now in place in our warehouse, meaning our hard working team are literally being seen in a new light.

Read the rest of Let There Be Light »

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 »