Ethical businesses lead the way
Posted by Shop Pompom on
There is a growing demand for companies to put ethical values at the heart of everything they do. Whether this means protecting the environment, empowering women, or tackling poverty, social responsibility is becoming a must for businesses worldwide.
Consumers are increasingly choosing to support businesses that contribute to the welfare of society and the environment. Companies are having to demonstrate commitment to a code of best practice that should include fairness, transparency and integrity.
If we know that a business channels some of its profits towards good causes, we will often pay more for a product and are likely to buy from that business again.
We’ve all heard of Fairtrade - a global organisation committed to securing a better deal for farmers and workers. Fairtrade Fortnight runs from 24th February to 8th March 2020 and the focus this year is on providing cocoa farmers with a living income. This means earning enough to afford essentials such as food, clothing, medicines and schooling. Currently a typical cocoa farmer in Cote d’Ivoire lives on just 74p a day, yet really they need a daily living income of £1.86.
PomPom works with businesses whose ethos is to create imaginative children’s items within clear social responsibility guidelines.
Playin Choc – we were thrilled to discover a company whose values chime strikingly with our own. Playin Choc Founder Maya, keen to combine her love of chocolate and nature, came up with a concept guaranteed to appeal to chocolate hungry children and their ethically conscious parents. Lucky recipients of a 100% plastic free Playin Choc box are in for a double treat. Maya’s beautifully designed, 100% recycled cardboard boxes house exquisite little chocolate bars. These are made from the finest, fairly traded, Peruvian cacao beans, sourced from organic, family owned farms. Also in the box, snugly wrapped in compostable packaging, are self-assembly toy animals made entirely from recycled, biodegradable materials.
MiniKnots – these colourful, lively kilim kids rugs are handwoven by local women on traditional looms in Anatolia using 100% wool. This purpose driven business puts women at the heart of the business. They support a rural sustainable enterprise in Turkey, providing a consistent stream of work to locals who rely predominately on the land for income.
Fiona Walker – designs stunning, hand-crafted items using traditional methods and natural materials which are ethically manufactured under fair trade guidelines. The business works with likeminded suppliers, whose focus is not just on profit, but to give a fair wage and living standard to their employees and to also giving back to their community.
RICE – ‘funky, fun and functional’, this Danish homewares and accessories company has always made corporate social responsibility a top priority, focusing on human rights and working conditions. Toy Storage Baskets are hand woven in Madagascar, often by women’s collectives. Nearly all of Rice’s products are produced by workers in developing countries, and therefore they make sure that the production – from beginning to end – is handled with the utmost respect for human rights, under safe and healthy working conditions, and without the use of child labor. They choose suppliers, who live up to their ethical standards - and with the use of internationally renowned guidelines, they help them further to improve their working conditions.
PomPom is committed to being 100% plastic free. We are proud to partner with the Marine Conservation Society and are donating 20% of the proceeds from selected products to support the society as it protects the UK’s seas, shores and wildlife.
Fiona Philip - Guest Blogger for PomPom