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best ever World Fair Trade Day was spent at People Tree's event in Tokyo. 800 people joined Fair Trade seminars presented by People Tree partners from India and the Philippines, media people and opinion leaders.

I presented on Fair Trade and the environment and how organic agriculture and hand production through Fair Trade can reduce CO2, global warming and climate change.

Shailesh of Agrocel presents his organisation's work

Safia talks about the relationship between Fair Trade and the environment

Safia and Yoshiko at Saf's book launch

Sanae shows her little girl how to make a Fair Trade bracelet in the hemp workshop

Maekita, author of “Eco-Shift” and speaker at the World Fair Trade Day wears People Tree.

Safia talks about the Vogue collection with designers

Marie Claire leads the way in introducing eco-lifestyle

Fair Trade bananas!!!!!

With Shailesh Patel from Agrocel and Frony Lapitan from Saffy Handicrafts we were able to verify this and share the big impact Fair Trade makes. For example at Agrocel each acre under organic agriculture saves 2 tonnes of CO2 as it is sequestered (held) in the soil – and hand weaving products saves one ton of C02 per year. What is clear is that Fair Trade can bring about environmental justice as well as social justice. Yay!

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the best People Tree Fair Trade fashion show ever...

Thanks to all the hard work of our producers, People Tree design and tech teams and some internationally renowned designers: Bora Aksu, Thakoon, Richard Nicholl. Pieces for the Summer and Autumn Collections were shown. I'm only going to show you the Summer Collection here though.... you'll have to wait for the Autumn collection!!

A video of the People Tree Fair Trade fashion show will be up next weekend

People tree's Fair Trade Fashion Show

Bora Aksu designed 3 pieces for People Tree in handwoven silk and cotton, using natural dyes and hand embroidery. WOW!

Accessorised with Bombolulu handmade necklace and earrings.

Bora Aksu for People Tree Summer 2008 collection

Thakoon for People Tree Summer 2008 collection, a fluid piece in Fair Trade organic cotton

Thakoon for People Tree Summer 2008 collection

Fair Trade handwoven People Tree collection from Nepal

'People Before Profit' by People Tree

Crochet cardi and organic fabrics from People Tree UK.

People Tree International collection

Handwoven screen print dress from People Tree International collection

Matthew Langille for People Tree

Organic and handwoven People Tree International collection

People Tree Zimbabwe screen print, People Tree Japan

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Launched my autobiography...

And nearly 100 people queued to have me sign it. That is the biggest compliment ever!

Cherie Blair has a lot more smut in her autobiography like why she doesn't carry around condoms at Balmoral when going to stay with the Royal familly, (apparently housekeeping unpack your stuff and carefully find a place for everything - particularly humiliating when they come across your condoms!!) so she travelled without and found herself pregnant a month later...., nothing quite that gynecological in mine. Sorry! (My book is not available in English yet so please learn Japanese!) If you want to help me publish it in English, give me a ring!

World Fair Trade day was celebrated all over the world.

At KTS they knited hats!

And at the KTS school they drew World fair Trade Day pictures

At Pushpanjali they planted trees, highlighting this years theme Fair Trade and Ecology and raising awareness about environmental issues.

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

Simply but elegantly fitted with the best in recycled, remade, Fair Trade and ethical fashion – you’ll really want to check it out. People Tree is the biggest Fair Trade brand there and the store offers the widest range of People Tree on the high street (for other People Tree stockists please look here)

Well done Oxfam team!!

Jane Shepherdson and the Oxfam team pulled in the support of designers Christopher Kane, Giles Deacon, Stephen Jones, Henry Holland, Richard Sorger amd Jens Laugesen to produce one off pieces to launch the restyled section, apparently fashion students will be donating recycled pieces to the new store that will sit alongside carefully selected recycled and vintage pieces, Fair Trade and ethical pieces. Profits will go to supporting Oxfam’s work

Jane admiring Christopher Kane dress

Inside there are five strands of clothing that are carefully tagged

1) Fair Trade
2) ‘Reinvented’ – reworked donated product by LCF students
3) ‘Loved for longer’; - selected donated product
4) ‘Made with Lonve’ – volunteers reworking donated product
5) ‘Good Fashion Sense’ – working towards Fair Trade and organic

Models wearing the designer’s pieces

Where to go and when the stores open:

Oxfam – 245 Westbourne Grove, W11 2SB – opens 10th May
Oxfam – 123 Shawfield Street Kings Road, Kensington and Chelsea, London, SW3 4PL opens 17th May
Oxfam – Chiswick, opens end of May …

Bring your own bag and don't forget to bring your own clothes to donate too!!

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. On Tuesday we held a press briefing to talk to the media about how Fair Trade is building new models of sustainable trade and how these models need to be scaled up to reduce global warming and promote Social and Environmental Justice.

On Monday the devastation of the cyclone in Burma became clear with estimated loss of lives rising from 30,000 to 40,000 and even higher (this figure hides the hugeness of each precious life lost).

Global warming and climate change has meant that weather related disasters have been increasing in number and ferocity from 1,110 in the 1970’s to 2,953 between 1993-2002 and the number of people affected in the same period has risen from 740 million to 2.5 billion people (source).

The FAO estimates that our food stock piles are at a global low, forcing up food price beyond the reach of the poor and already hungry and drought is a major factor

Together with climate change an economic model that is based on short termism and excludes the needs of all runs out of control. Cereal is used to make biofuels for energy rather than educating consumers to use less energy. Like all of us the Chinese have doubled their meat consumption resulting in precious cereals being used for animal food. Clearly we need solutions and new systems that are based on meeting people’s basic needs without further wreaking havoc on the environment and human life.

World Fair Trade Day and IFAT call on all consumers to think about their lifestyles and use social and environmental models to promote Sustainable and Environmental Justice

• Through the sustainable use of natural resources and biodegradable materials.
• Through the supporting of hand-production and production that is not capital and oil intensive.
• Enabling producer partners to invest in environmentally friendly production initiatives to minimize environment-impact.

That's why Fair Trade supports organic agriculture and production. It is estimated that organic agriculture takes nearly 2 tonnes of C02 per acre per year out of the atmosphere. A further 1 tonne of CO2 is saved through hand production and hand embellishment. It makes sense to promote the only plentiful resource natural resource we have, peoples hands.

Picture taken by one of my photographer friends Miki Alcalde in Bangladesh

People Tree does not have any partners in Burma and so will not be fundraising and working directly with the Burmese people. We do encourage you to support agencies that you know well.

As the number of people that have to leave their homes due to environmental crisis rises, (The Red Cross shows that more people are currently displaced by environmental disasters than war , and by 2019 the UN estimates that there could be as many as 50 million people escaping the effects of environmental deterioration. (source), the true cost of economic short termism will become more difficult to ignore.

People Tree’s press briefing on Monday included John Hilary from War on Want , Bora Aksu, international fashion designer and Amanada Le Roux from Aveda who all share one thing in common: a love for humanity and a desire to change things for the better - very many thanks to all of them.

Over at Conde Nast Traveller there is a certain irony, as they run a prize for 'Sustainability' amongst The Innovation & Design Awards 2008. However, People Tree was nominated, then short-listed, but pipped to the post by 'Solar Tree' -- an Austrian solar sheet light installation. (Great design and nice idea) -- should People Tree do a collaboration with Solar Tree? I found myself wondering -- make a solar panelled raincoat to charge up some energy as we walk to the tube or walk 'round and about during lunch? mmm...

Lovely that Conde Nast Traveller readers should nominate People Tree -- Thanks! But really wouldn't Conde Nast Traveller be better off dedicating their prize for 'Sustainability' to promoting sustainability in their sector -- tourism? It could celebrate the best in eco-tourism or even conventional hotel chains that go green. Not green-wash messages alone about not keeping the tap running whilst you brush your teeth, but a genuine programme of charge -- they could link up with Green Globe. Some of the most progressive, larger hotels I've partnered with have launched Fair Trade shops in their foyer (aren't hotel gift shops dire?! -- a Fair Trade shop thoughtfully produced can add a human touch to even the coldest marble 'luxury' hotels -- where else would you long to be touched by the warmth of handicrafts and natural materials?) Hotels have put Fair Trade matches at tables -- matches are often made by children in India, and hung hand-woven Fair Trade curtains at the windows and plumped hand-embroidered cushions on the sofas. Some have hosted a World Fair Trade Day Seminar and Fashion Show and Fair Trade lunch banquet for hundreds of family people. So, come on -- let's get real -- we need a revolution in the tourism industry, as we do in every industry, could our friends at Conde Nast Traveller not help promote that with their 'Sustainability' prize?

Anyway, I wore a hand-woven Fair Trade green dress to the Awards, rather too short revealing my 'porky' thighs (as my ex calls them -- that is not why he is my ex) -- and drank a little too much with Sarah Tolley who assists me in planning and Antony Waller, Head of Communications and James Minney.

Conde Nast Traveller -- if you want me as a judge for the 'Sustainability' Award, specifically for Eco Tourism, I am yours! :)

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.

Problem was, my illustrator and activist friend, Yoh Shomei showed me a *huge* shop next to his gallery in Jiyugaoka (literally translated that means "Freedom Hill"), a nice nieghbourhood in Tokyo. It would take 10 times more product than we had to fill it.

Nine years later it got rather too full and last year we ummed and ahhed about spending money on refitting it - friends like Chieko Terashima, who has done shop interiors for a lifetime, looked at our tiny budget, went a little pale, and rose to the challenge.

Then, Chris Haughton came to put on the final touches - working all night, like truly creative people do - according to Chris, they don't eat much either when working, and then eat as though it were Christmas between projects... I am certainly not that creative!

The People Tree Shop is the biggest Fair Trade store in Japan and has a fabulous range of Fair Trade foods, handicrafts, and clothing. Sales have grown over 10% last year which just shows that people care about people and the environment - and put their money where their mouth is. And they bring their friends along too. If you would like to help People Tree launch its first store in London, please contact me.

Great products! Great people!

Fair Trade never looked so good @ the People Tree shop.

Factory made – an antidote to fast fashion?

I’d hate to work in a factory, live in a slum, away from my family, because my wage can’t afford me more. Factory work is the non-stop pressure of a production line, 14-hour days (no time to think about washing your socks), and allows no creative freedom and no life work balance, unlike the Fair Trade projects People Tree work with. So why buy fast fashion if you wouldn't be prepared to make it?

I loved the concept of Thread – 6 gorgeous, young things who care little about how the cheap fashion they buy is made, visit India, live with garment workers and supervisors and work in a factory. They start at the best factory – and find it all too much – tears and frustration at not being allowed to be a 'free range person'– have a look

The programme will move on to the lower end subcontractors and the ‘sweat shops’ we imagine. Do watch on BBC or if you are outside the UK, check out some of the highlights on You Tube . Send these links to your friends too!

Basata was recommended to me by a friend Helmy Abouleish who runs Sekem an amazing sustainable community in the Egyptian desert founded by his father. One thing leads to another and before I know it I have booked my family into an eco-lodge on the Red Sea. Arabic decor and middle eastern food trigger a sensual delight in adults but to my teenage son, his only experience formed in an Arabic restaurant, it suggested hard uncomfortable cushions so low that you fall off – it took me weeks to convince him to come - he even used the C02 argument but I think it was mostly the thought of those low cushions.

Chalets at Basata, Red Sea.

Or the cheaper options are OK too

After a couple of days work in Cairo at the Sekem organic farm we drive six hours through the Sinai desert, one of the homes of the Bedouin people, to Basata.

As I say after 4 years of not having the time to take a holiday, the expectations on arrival are going to be hard to meet. I bounce in and introduce myself to a young guy who looks like a gap year student standing in the bamboo structure. He runs me through some eco resort protocol – here is where you help yourself to food (breakfast and lunch you get yourself), dinner we prepare for you if you want it. There are lots of curly cucumbers and oddly shaped veggies and pots of little bags of rice, lentil and pasta. A big fridge full of organic juices is one end and chocolate bars from multi nationals at the other end.

Each type of waste has its own bin and here’s the bakery - we move through to a small area with big date palm lidded baskets with delicious pitas, pizzas and bread sticks inside. This young lad either hates me or he is so laid back I see I’m going to have to prise detailed information out of him – my chalet isn’t the right one (I have one room for four people)?! Do I put toilet paper down the loo? It says not to in the communal toilet, what about my chalet loo? I hadn't been there yet. What if I want to have a glass of red wine at the end of a day? How about a camel ride – will I die of dehydration? I’m looking for positive description to sell a camel ride to my lethargic teenagers. He is a man of few words – lovely but not forth coming with information, there is no ‘how to be an Eco-tourist at Basata’ information sheet but other wise it is perfect.

The next day the young man offers me his own personal German ground coffee (hurray he doesn’t hate me after all) – after a fight breaks out between a German and Italian tourist. The German tourist has used a Turkish coffee maker for Egyptian coffee, the Italian thinks they have ruined the Turkish pot forever - but this is the highest stress point at Basata – and everything gradually unfolds as I start to push the management for information. Food is simple and good there are some Fair Trade and organic foods and the evening meals are fish and vegetarian alternately and if you are a veggie like me, Basata can cater for that too.

Natty, James and me as the sunsets over Basata.

Natalie and Jerome hang out on low cushions Bedouin style at the main hut, and like it!

Bakery at Basata yummy pizzas

Bakery – Data palm baskets with fresh bakes inside

Jerome helping himself to food and drink.

Fair Trade shop at Basata

The Bedouin women come to sell accessories at Basata

You can have your dinner made for you at Basata, and everyone sits together. Lots of interesting conversations and chances to meet interesting people.

From Basata you can see Saudi Arabia over the Red Sea and Jordan to your left. It is a perfect rest stop for travellers or longer term tourists. The turquoise sea has some of the most beautiful corals and fish. I went snorkelling with my family, it is the first I’ve seen this magical world which was profoundly moving, even for an ecologist who shouldn’t be surprised at how incredible our natural world is. I feel totally overcome – and a little light headed. Perhaps from not getting the breathing rhythm quite right. It might be useful to study the fish that are poisonous and that you should be wary of treading on ahead of your trip!!

The story of Basata – I interview Sherif, founder of Basata

Safia and Sherif

I interview Sherif who set up Basata over 20 years ago. Basata means ‘simplicity’ and is a jewel with guests that come back year after year – partly because new people might not be impressed by its undeveloped website (the information it supplies is a bit sparse) but mainly because it is such a good place run by good people doing genuinely good things that you want to tell your friends .

I catch Sherif after his evening visits to each dinning table to meet and chat with guests, he has the same colour eyes as the sea – a crystal blue. He is dressed in full Bedouin robes and is a key campaigner for them and for Eco-tourism.

Sherif with his daughter and his other students

Safia - What in a nutshell is eco tourism?

Sherif – We believe tourism is a cultural exchange. People are curious, they want to explore and naturally have a sense of adventure. Eco-tourism offers the chance for visitors to learn about new culture and environments without negatively impacting them. The local people should benefit from tourism, without the misuse of natural resources. The Pharaohs and Romans used to travel to see other cultures and other natural environments – so tourism has a long history. Today tourism shows little respect for other cultures and little consideration for the ‘carrying capacity’ and burden it places on the environment they visit. I started Basata in 1986, before Eco-tourism was defined. I spoke at one of the first international Eco-tourism society conferences in 1991 and Basata has been chosen as one of the best examples of eco resorts involved in shoreline protection by the United Nations.

Safia - How do you link the local communities and tourists?

Sherif – We employ people from the local communities not only to look after our guests but we use local builders and craftsmen to build the huts and chalets out of natural materials. All the interiors are supplied by local crafts people and from indigenous people who need a market and to earn a decent income from their work. We also sell their handicrafts in a shop here and welcome the local Bedouin women to come and sell their crafts. We link up with Bedouin guides to do tours by camel and on foot through some of the most spectacular geology of the Sinai desert, brining income to their communities. Basata also runs a small school for the local children of the neighbouring community and runs an NGO to promote development and the rights of the Bedouin people.

Sherif also doubles up as a teacher at his small school

Mona an Egyptian teacher too who left a high flying career in media to work at Basata

Safia - How about organic and Fair Trade foods?

Sherif – Our fish and vegetables are brought from small scale fishermen and farmers, so the benefits are shared amongst the community. We also link up with Sekem, an Egyptian organic movement for food supplies.

Safia - How do you start this process – the Bedouin must be quite sceptical at first – how do you help them bridge the cultural gap between them and tourists?

Sherif – When I started a new project with a Bedouin community I listened to them about what their needs were and designed a management system to fit those needs. I visited them when they thought they were ready to receive their first guests to ‘experience’ it as a guest would. They showed me straight into my bedroom. It didn’t feel at all right. So I asked what would you do if I visited your home? They invited me back a week later. This time they showed me into a small but nicely decorated reception room, gave me a delicious cup of tea, we chatted for a while and then they showed me into my room. It’s replicating cultural ways with authenticity that makes for a fuller experience. The project is doing very well these days and has benefited the community greatly.

Safia - What kind of people do you want to come to Basata? Is there a difference between a ‘Responsible tourist’ and an ‘Eco-tourist’?

Sherif – We divide tourists into three categories – the Mass tourists, the Responsible tourist and Eco tourists. The Mass tourist doesn’t care about anything. All they want is to be on the beach, under the sun. They want a resort with disco and drink; he pays his money and doesn’t care about the destruction of the infrastructure, people and the environment. He pays the least.

The Responsible tourist thinks about the issues - he conserves water, he thinks about the environment, but he wants a little comfort too.

The Eco tourist doesn’t just want to reduce his destruction of people and the environment. He demands hygiene, clean food but doesn’t need electricity. He could sleep on the beach.

I would like to influence Mass tourists to become Responsible tourists – these tourists also have a cultural sensitivity – they won’t wear a bikini to the supermarket. After all we expect foreigners to integrate into their society and yet tourists on holiday think its fine to wear a bikini in a supermarket!

(I feel a bit guilty here – with a vague memory of being 13 and buying an ice-cream in a supermarket in a bikini in Cornwall - does Cornwall count? How culturally insensitive have I been to the Cornish?)

Safia - What is your background and what motivated you to start Basata?

Sherif: Basata means simplicity. I grew up in Cairo, I studied in Alexandria and Cairo and for the summer holidays I went to Europe. Cairo is very polluted and even though I lived in a lovely house with a garden in a greener area, the surrounding environment was dire.

Humans are part of nature, part of an eco system, but today we spend most of our time in cars, on asphalt, nothing is natural, and you have no connection to nature if you live in the city. I became a civil engineer at the age of 24 and I started looking for a place to promote this connection with nature. At that time there where no resorts at all along the coasts of Egypt. Today every metre of the coast line is taken up with mass tourism. I love the sea, my family told me I was crazy to go to the middle of nowhere – near Israel – my father told me to wait until I made some money – but I didn’t want to wait. I visited the Sinai desert and fell in love with it. The ecology is so diverse – you can see oasis with vegetation, mountains, rocks and plants, wildlife, an ecology that is untouched by man – Basata is a place where you can be in touch with the sea and the desert. There are many words for desert in Arabic.

Trek and camel tour in the White Canyon near Basata. Atwah "My camel, my love, me!"

My two - natty and Jerome get on

The White Canyon, lots of interesting desert ecology

Off we go! There was quite a cool breeze being so far up away from the hot earth.

Safia - What are you doing to mainstream some of your eco-initiatives? How are you trying to persuade the tourist industry to go eco?

Sherif: I think tourism is a kind of fashion. The last two decades have been a resort with a disco, pool, etc... The fashion is changing – many people have so much stress in their lives - with their computers setting the pace of life. Eco-tourism is becoming attractive to tourists as a way to relax in a stress free environment.

Governments, investors should think about their responsibilities to people and the environment. The waste generated from Mass tourism is phenomenal. A conventional tourist is using 750 litres of water per day, a Basata tourist is using only 70 litres thanks to ‘push stop’ taps, the toilet is flushed with salt water, at dinner time you only have one fork and plate, not a whole array of cutlery and plates that require washing. We let tourists bring their own towels so that they take care of on their own – we do give bed sheets though.

An average swimming pool (80 x 30 metres) is filled with 4800 litres of water - in a desert where the indigenous people have no access to water at all!

(There is no internet connection at Basata except for emergencies like checking your flights and posters around Basata warn you to switch your mobile to vibration mode.)

Safia - What needs to happen to promote Eco-tourism here?

Sherif: We need a united front. The Gulf of Aquaba – should be closed except to Eco-tourism. The impact of large hotels (with up to 1600 people) has simply not been considered. In the case of Eco-tourism one member of hotel staff looks after 10 people where as in mass tourism one visitor has one staff member and these staff tend not to be from the local area.

The coral reef will disappear with these large numbers of people and the climate change, as it has Shem El Sheik due to their development of golf courses etc .(think of the constant watering they demand in a desert!). Also to be a five star hotel you have to have a bath tub – this too is environmentally unsustainable in a desert!

Safia - What are your dreams for Basata?

Sherif: I want to make a museum and showroom for water life and geology and continue the project of documenting the Bedouin culture. No tourism is completely environmentally friendly but we can lessen our impact on the earth. I want to switch to 100% solar energy and offer more opportunities to learn about environmental issues. There is so much I would like to do – 2 week long kids summer camps with art, literacy, diving, ...

Safia - What is the future for eco-tourism? Shouldn't we just stay in our home countries and give up travelling to warmer climes? After all even Britain is becoming warmer thanks to global warming.

Sherif: No we won't learn from each other – there will be wars and one race will want to dominate another. I think travel will change – you will have longer holidays. The vacation starts with the travelling – maybe a train journey to Basata not a flight - slower travel and enjoying the journey, not just the destination will become important.

Safia - Fair Trade? – the Bedouin bring Chinese cloth and make handicraft out of plastic beads.

Sherif: “They will become proud there will need to be an intermediary to show what people from different cultures want. You give advice about how a traditional thing could be adapted to be of interest to tourists. We need to educate the guests on handmade products made with natural materials.”

Maria, Sherif's wife helps run Basata and the Fair Trade shop.

“We don't trust each other these days so the help yourself and write it down system helps build trust. A tourist at an eco resort generates 42 times the revenue of a conventional tourist by paying directly to the community. Eco-tourists accept and enjoy the local foods, rather than being choosy about a fish and how thick or thin it is, they enjoy that it is caught locally and cooked the way the locals cook it. There is real communication between tourists and the staff of the resort.

The beach huts use local materials, bamboo from the river Nile and the chalets are built of mud with clay and animal manure – all the textiles and furnishings are made locally.”

Saf recommendations for a visit to Basata -

Arrive with thin towels and natural soap because they just don't have any. Ask for mosquito net to be put up, after all who wants to loose a valuable night sleep chasing mosies around your otherwise perfect Moorish room!!

Basata costs – 70 euros for four people in a chalet (per night). Food is about £4 per person for dinner and lunch was £2-3 each.

Maqsood Sinha from Waste Concern, Safia, Mr. Sharifur Rahma from Mohipur Agriculture Training
Institute (MATI) and Iftekhar Enayetullah from Waste Concern, one of People Tree’s pilot cotton projects in Bogra, 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.

These pilot projects have been successful, resulting in a staple length of 28 mm (the same as our Indian organic cotton) which is great news and we are very much looking forward to scaling them up, bringing these techniques to farmers, protecting their health and the environment.

Masud Rana, Raihan Ali, Huda Mandol and Deb Kumar Nath from Swallows where the second organic cotton project was planted

The next challenge is to take the seeds out of the organic cotton and we decided to use a small hand powered ginning machine still used in the tribal areas of Bangladesh today.

One of the ginning machines that will be used to remove the seeds from the organic cotton.

Once the seeds have been taken out you only have 1/3 of the cotton weight left. The seeds are then saved for sewing in late June. When surplus seeds are available they provide a nutritious addition to the livestock’s feed.

The next challenge is spinning the fibre into yarn, dying it, weaving and finally tailoring the garments, all of which we are planning to do at Swallows in Thanapara, Bangladesh

Roksana shows Safia how the yarn is spun

Rumana peeps through freshly dyed yarn at Swallows

The thread will then be hand woven; the women will produce between 4-7m metres of fabric per day.

Finally the cloth will be tailored into finished garments. (Photo courtesy of Miki Alcalde)

Swallows also does beautiful traditional Nokshi Kantha embroidery

This is one of my favourites, sometimes we have to be a little more restrained when it comes to our fashion items.

These tunics made at Swallows will be available in our High Summer 2008 catalogue and have more subtle nokshi kantha embroidery on the straps and across the top band.

Safia at Swallows school which is funded from profits from the sale of Fair Trade products.

Profits from the sale of Fair Trade products from Swallows are reinvested into the handicraft centre to create jobs and training as well as into a school for 300 children from the local villages and a day care centre for the 60 preschool children of the women who work at the handicraft centre.

Safia and Liz Jones (above) and Mayumi Ishi (left) and Miki Alcalde (right), media friends who came to Bangladesh to document the first organic cotton harvest and learn more about Fair Trade.

Miki cheats during studies with nine year olds – still, he speaks better Bangla than me!

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.

There’s an interesting irony – no women’s magazine has ever awarded me anything, except for Cosmopolitan. When I was a whippersnapper in publishing they acknowledged me as a ‘women of tomorrow’ – and here I am turning up again like a bad penny, this time in our green guise as People Tree. Thanks Cosmo for being ahead of the curve in acknowledging women and ethics in fashion.

What makes this even more special is that it was voted for by Cosmo readers and I think that’s really important; for it is them and all the people out there that can make a difference. The more people that purchases Fair Trade fashion the more of a difference we can make and the quicker we can drive it into the mainstream.

"I was very struck by the difference that Fair Trade production can make to the way that people live, in that it enables them to stay with their families and communities, as well as earning a decent living. People Tree strives to make this the norm and not the exception."

Jane Shepherdson

According to the Fairtrade Foundation 20% of people said they’d support Fair Trade but they just hadn’t made it their habit yet. For goodness sake the easy thing is buying it from a supermarket shelf - it can take years for a Fair Trade product and industry to benefit from being mainstreamed like this. The least you could do is buy Fair Trade.

As we continue to celebrate Fairtrade Fortnight you’ll see supermarkets decorate hoardings with photos of smiling food producers and the FLO mark and you will feel like the world could be a better place if all that social marketing became a reality.

The Fairtrade mark provides a valuable tool, set up by the pioneer Fair Trade organisations to help consumers find FLO food products alongside conventional exploitative ones on the supermarket shelves.

Still, building new certification for Fair Trade products, so you can entice big retailers and big business takes time. This is because certification needs to reflect the realities faced by the people Fair Trade aims to help. If standards are rushed in, small scale producers could find that only large scale production and business can do Fair Trade. It would be crazy to punish a small scale hand-knitter in Nepal because they couldn’t source Fair Trade cotton, especially when a hand produced item makes 10 times more work at a fair price than a machine-made one.

All People Tree fashion is 100% Fair Trade and cover IFAT’s 10 Fair Trade standards. People Tree also has Fairtrade certified cotton in 50% of it’s clothing but the fibre is also certified organic and manufactured in Fair Trade projects in the developing world. At People Tree we gave hundreds of hours of our time, as did other pioneers, to develop the Fairtrade cotton standards.

Today you’ll be able to buy Fairtrade labeled cotton clothing here and there. But, you will not be able to buy Fair Trade manufactured products except from People Tree and other Fair Trade clothing pioneers.

So please make Fair Trade your habit, the least we can all do is buy the Fair Trade labeled products in front of us on the supermarket shelf. If you want to go a step further, then buy from the pioneer brands, Cafedirect, Divine, People Tree, etc.

Parts of our new collection are available at our concession in Topshop Oxford Street and 50 stockists in the UK and the full range is available from People Tree online.

Supporting the catalysts for change has never been more critical

I’m in Nepal where I was working with People Tree producer groups who make hand-knit wear and handicrafts along with three People Tree designers. It seems like the only thing that Nepal has going for it economically is Fair Trade – the economy has slid backwards. Political instability means that the infrastructure is crumbling as Maoist campaigns have forced people into Kathmandu Valley, doubling the population in only 5 years. Coupled with high prices and limited availability of kerosene fuel, water and electricity which comes and goes in turns around the city, life is the hardest I’ve ever seen it here.

Taking a tea break en-route

I’m staying in KTS Director Kiran Khadgi’s family home so have the privilege of water to shower and delicious home cooking. Houses are being built everywhere. Unemployment and inflation have never been higher – this country needs a good government and a plan – Fair Trade is not enough.

I’m facilitating a workshop for handicraft producers – doing research and interviews to find out the challenges Fair Trade organisations face in Nepal in going green. (It also reigns me in from designing too much stuff for People Tree – seen as a mixed blessing by our designers – I love handicrafts with a passion!

People Tree’s key partner in Nepal Kiran Khadagi, shows new fibres that he is developing out of banana tree trunk.

Nepal has amazing traditional Dhaka hand weavers, incredible natural fibres and fabrics. We’ve developed some amazing yarns made from nettle, hemp, banana trunk fibre and banana root fibre – don’t worry banana trees are completely sustainable – all these incredible fibres are possible because of the long term commitment of a Fair Trade partnership!

Traditional Dhaka weaving at New Sadle, Nepal

Fair Trade and the growing market for green products…

There are 10 people at the workshop from the largest Fair Trade groups, all members of Fair Trade Group Nepal. Each group has stepped up their activities to prove just how environmentally friendly their handicrafts are. In some cases this puts a huge strain on them. Nepal’s infrastructure is so poor sourcing certified this and that is impossible – you have to develop the supply yourself. Many produce products totally by hand and the only advantage they have is that they aren’t affected by regular power cuts! It’s shocking to hear some have lost orders from commercial companies because they can’t show they use certified organic cotton – which is ridiculous! Social and environmental justices have to work together and here’s a summary I filed to the World Fair Trade Day website I just published

Meera Bhattarai, Director of Associated Craft Producers, Nepal – brandishes the World Fair Trade day logo (link) with felt producers.

It’s that time of year again I fly in from Nepal (coming in next blog) straight into London Fashion Week. Where People Tree presents its AW08 collection at Estethica.

My favourite show was Bora Aksu’s AW08 collection so feminine and sexy – we want it all. Love it! (he’s designing for People Tree too) – so watch out world. These are some of our favourite pieces from the Bora Aksu show.

London Fashion Week

New trends from the capital of the world

Vivienne Westwood is back in London and the capital feels rejuvenated at the thrill of it. London is not only the hot bed of creativity but also new trends like Fair Trade and ethical fashion.

We discuss the value of ‘Estethica' the ethical and Fair Trade fashion section of London Fashion week – being in Paris, New York and Milan as well. As the mainstream designers dabble in eco, it would be useful to profile the pioneers in eco to keep up the momentum globally. Making it easy for press and buyers to find eco brands internationally could speed up the movement towards sustainability in fashion

Revellers at Sam Ubhi party

Being more into the issues than ‘fashion’ per se. I am a little out of my comfort zone surrounded by immaculately groomed beauties age 20 wearing not much and heels and dancers like these. I’ve just got in from Nepal, a country where there is little access to clean water, electricity and kerosene fuel rationing is a way of life - you need your bodily hair and warm clothes.

I dance and drink too much at jewellery designer Sam Ubhi’s party and stagger home – the transition from Nepal to London Fashion Week is just too much. But we get some great orders at London Fashion Week – yeah!

Is feminising economics the key?

I attend a number of riveting sessions that look at the female/male mind with anthropologist Helen Fisher of Harvard (Read her book The First Sex for more information).

Just hold up your right hand and study your palm to check if your ring finger is longer than your index finger, if it is this proves you have had more testosterone washed over you when you were an embroyo (in my case I am more male than female!).

There is a lot to be learnt including that what international business leaders judge as management ability, including flexibility of thinking, multitasking and team work are considered female attributes.

Could it be that male dominated management has got us into the current mess of an unsustainable economic system? After all male features we are told are focused which typically results a short termism, un-joined up thinking and a less holistic approach

Certainly all the male ecologists in my life seem to have their feminine side intact. According to Helen what women lack is this ‘focus’ – minds wondering whilst in the throws of passionate sex being a common feature (no comment!).

Water is local

My next session is helping working on a session on ‘water.’

The world seems finally to have woken up to water being a critical issue. Did you know it takes 100 litres of water to make one litre of cola? Industry is embracing the issues because the lack of water will put them out of business if they don’t.

We spend a lot of time talking about how to solve these problems and approach these issues. Isn’t it about watershed management and involving the multi-stakeholder decision? Of course some environmental groups and social enterprises have been active in this field for 20 years or more!

The eco-system has broken down, we have to write down what the tipping point was – all rather depressing but it demands all to focus.

Road to Davos - Impatient for change.

A definite highlight was meeting Social Entrepreneur teenagers from 6 countries – check out these stars that are representative of a larger group of impatient youngsters who are changing the world. They were all fabulous!

Road to Davos seminar