There are many ways to be more ethical in your life…here are just a few…
Get rid of clothes you haven’t worn in years by giving them to charity. In the UK, if you donate your items to Oxfam and they include an item from Marks & Spencer, you’ll be given a £5 M&S voucher. Visit £5 M&S voucher.
Fresh New Flowers
According to the Flowers & Plants Association, 85 per cent of the flowers we buy in the UK, are imported, with 20 per cent of these from outside Europe. Order from closer to home or look for the Fair-trade Logo on shop-bought bunches. Start with an ethical bunch of flowers for your Mother’s Day present, this month.
Clean up your regime
What you put on your body matters as much as what you put in it. Every time you need to replace something, make a greener choice. This could mean buying Fair-trade or organic products. For more ideas check these articles:
Exercise
Make this the year you finally start exercising and leave the car behind by cycling or walking.
Walk the kids to school rather than take the car and/or cycle to work.
Replace those short car journeys with two-feet trips.
Spring is on its way and instead of watching TV all weekend, find some local walks and start walking.
And as an added bonus, if you don’t have a dog, consider volunteering and taking your neighbours dog with you. Or visit a local dog kennels or dog rescue home. They will welcome you with open arms.
Different Type Of Holidays
According to Responsible Travel, interest in UK farm-stay holidays has more than doubled in the past year. Kids and adults alike will love staying on a working organic farm. You can even muck in with harvesting veg or collecting eggs. Visit www.responsibletravel.com/farmstays
Change Your Eating Habits
Try a new product, visit an organic restaurant or Bed and Breakfast or sign-up for a local fruit and vegetable box scheme. Check out these articles for more information:
Wrap Everything Up
Insulate your home and turn the heating down. In fact, cut down on all your energy needs. You can also switch to a green energy supplier. Your energy will still come from your nearest power station, but for every unit used, your green supplier provides the national grid with a unit from wind turbines, solar or hydroelectric facilities.
Make Your Own Crafts
Want to save money? Don’t we all! More and more people are turning their hands to making their own cards, paper and gifts.
Only recently, it was my wife’s birthday. The local card shop wanted £4.55 for a decent card.
I made one on the PC. It was even more personal as I had made it!
There’s a wealth of ideas online for creative, crafty types. Check out www.craftbits.com
What can you do to make your life more ethical?
What ideas do you have?
Let’s share…
- Easy Ways to Make your Home More Eco-Friendly
- New Style Trends In Ethical Clothing
- Starre Vartan: Style, Naturally: Summer Rayne Oakes’ Guide to Green Fashion and Beauty for Every Woman (Not Just Greenies!)
- Organic Clothing Made Available for Everyone
- What Is Solar Energy?







2 Comments
March 2nd, 2009 at 4:53 am
You can also buy FFP flowers, a different scheme to the Fairtrade scheme but which meets many of the same standards.
You can read more about FFP flowers on our site:
http://www.arenaflowers.com/flowers/fair_trade_ethically_sourced_flowers_chocolates_wines
and many of our flowers are FFP accredited.
[Reply]
December 15th, 2009 at 11:54 am
Switching to more ethical suppliers or resources may be rather demanding for smaller companies in terms of time and money.
We are aiming to join in as much as possible but the truth is the process involved is often costly and extremely time consuming.
[Reply]