18th Jan 2023
Hi, I’m Priya, founder of upcycled accessories and kidswear brand, Pri Pri. All designs use pre loved saris and are handmade by a charity in India that helps to upskill and empower underprivileged women with training in tailoring.
The concept was born out of my love for Indian clothing, those luxurious fabrics and rich colours have always appealed to me. One of my first sewing memories is from when I was 10 years old and Patti, my Indian grandma, taught me how to use a sewing machine. It led to my first little business venture, using zips from the big sacks of rice at home to make pencil cases and raise money for charity. It was my grandmother who also first introduced me to the zero waste concept. Every scrap of fabric would somehow be put to use.
Zero waste/sustainability is what I guess we call it now, but coming from a generation and a country where throwaway fashion wasn’t really considered an option, she made sure I learnt the importance of these values too.
This passion started a very long time ago but it’s something that has stayed with me through my life. I didn’t study textiles, I didn’t have a career in design, but I’ve just always loved making and repurposing stuff. When my niece was born, I found myself drawn back to the treasure chest of my mum's beautiful old saris and had the idea of making little party dresses for our new family member. The colourful fabrics were so vibrant, and the silk so soft, that they were ideal for remaking into kids’ partywear. After a few encouraging comments, I added some dresses to the online marketplace Etsy, and it became my side hustle.
In 2021, the business moved from being a side hustle to my primary job. I decided to outsource the making of my products and I found a wonderful charity to work with, back in my grandmother’s home of Mumbai, to help make up my designs. The organisation trains underprivileged women in tailoring, upskilling them and enabling them to gain employment at the end of their training. Research shows education and empowerment in women leads to living a healthier, happier life and can break the cycle of poverty, and it has been great to hear how many of the women who work on Pri Pri designs, feel more confident after their training and employment.
Find Priya online at:
Website: pripri.co.uk
Twitter: @PriPriCoUk
Facebook: facebook.com/PriPri.co.uk
Pintrest: pinterest.co.uk/PriPriStore
Instagram: instagram.com/pripri.co.uk
11th Jan 2023
17th - 23rd January sees Big Energy Saving Week here in the UK. Usually for a business like ours, this would be a great opportunity to talk about effective ways to save energy and as a result help save the planet.
This year the world feels like a very different place (again) and, honestly, at a time when so many people don't have any choice but to switch off their heating, ovens, kettles (the list goes on) it frankly feels insensitive for us to join in. I'm not saying we shouldn't be saving energy, we should. If we are in a position to choose and stay safe and healthy, let's cut out the energy waste in our lives, the climate crisis is co-existing alongside the financial crisis. Right now, there are plenty of articles, videos and resources online suggesting ways we can do this.
Instead I've been researching organisations that may be helpful for people in the UK who might be struggling to pay their bills or buy food right now or may need someone to talk to about their mental health, which could be exacerbated by such anxieties.
I hope these are useful. Please feel free to share this list on your socials and add your own. Let me know if there are any essential support organisations I've missed and I can add them here...
Citizens Advice - Guides on how to get additional help with energy bills
Groundwork's Green Doctors - Can provide support with ways to stay warm and safe and access other services and initiatives
National Energy Action - National fuel poverty charity, providing help for people who cannot afford to heat their homes
Ofgem - Offer a range of advice around high energy bills
National Debtline - Their Cost of Living Hub contains a lot of information and advice, including other organisations that may be able to help
Energy Savings Trust - Article about how high energy bills are affecting people's mental health, along with some useful links.
Trussell Trust - For information about foodbanks and other ways to get help if you're struggling to afford essentials.
Mind - The mental health charity's page on money and mental health, with useful links to get support.
For urgent mental health support - Contact the Samaritans for free on 116 123 or the NHS Urgent Mental Health Helplines or text "SHOUT" to 85258 to contact the Shout Crisis Text Line, or text "YM" if you're under 19
You may also be interested to visit the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute website. Founded by Martin Lewis, this organisation is working to breat the link between mental ill health and financial difficulties.
If you're reading this, I genuinely hope that you don't need any of the information above. But if you do, please know there is no shame in letting someone know you are struggling and that you need help. These situations can happen to just about any of us.
Take care.
14th Dec 2022
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9th Nov 2022
Hi, I’m Sam Attard, founder of Ethical Revolution. I also spent 3 years as manager of the UK’s first ever high street sharing shop (Library of Things). I’ll tell you about both of them below but first here are my own origins:
Born in the early ‘80s to an artist mother and entrepreneur father I have always been heavily in to music (playing, listening and dancing!) and sport (football, cricket and snooker being my top 3!)
I got to a decent level playing cricket at county level until serious injury as a 19 year old curtailed that career. I had just returned from a gap year playing cricket in Australia when it happened. I had already enrolled at Cardiff University specifically to enter their cricketing centre of excellence and it was only a few weeks before starting that cricket had to stop. I was left to go and study a course I had chosen merely as a side note to the cricket: Communication.
Whilst at university I worked on an events team, looking after various musicians from The Darkness to Sugababes and Anthrax to Ice-T. The highlight for me was a 2 month stint as PA to Super Furry Animals. They had been my favourite band as a young teenager so this was a dream come true. After the course finished I continued in this line of work until the injury had become so bad that I could no longer walk. Signed off whilst on waiting lists I finally got an operation which gave me the bionic hip I have today!
During the downtime I’d moved back home with my folks. I drew on some of the publishing skills I’d gained from my course and got some heads together in my hometown of Cheltenham to try to revive a previously rife music scene using an arts magazine as the vehicle. We had tried to revive the old arts centre in the process, an endeavour which ultimately failed, although the buzz around the magazine did create a fantastic little scene in the mid-noughties. It was for the magazine that I built my first website and when the magazine came to an end a couple of people asked me to make websites for them. From that point on I became a web developer. Fast forward to 2013 and Ethical Revolution was born.
Without the help of my PA, Ted, I'd never get through my daily emails!
Something people find strange about me is that I don’t own a mobile phone. It happened by accident. My phone broke in 2012 while I was living in Spain. By not immediately finding a replacement I realised what a difference it made to my life. Pure bliss! I decided to keep going without one and the more time goes on the more I’m adamant I won’t get one.
Ethical Revolution shares steps that anyone can take to help contribute towards a more sustainable future. Understanding that from a consumer point of view the more sustainable options can often be more expensive, Ethical Revolution teams up with ethical companies to offer exclusive discounts and coupon codes on various such products & services to help you consume consciously for less.
There is also an Ethical Directory on the website to help connect you with ethically-minded brands, plus a whole host of pages dedicated to alternative methods of interacting as a consumer to help contribute to a positive future. One such example is the Amazon Alternatives page which includes an Ethical Bookseller Search Tool - Use it to search a myriad of more-ethical booksellers than Amazon in one click. Spoiler Alert: The cheapest result is usually as cheap or cheaper than Amazon anyway!
Ethical Revolution first came about in 2013 when I made a concerted effort to shop more ethically. I soon found this didn’t come cheap, quite the opposite. I began searching for ways to save money, finding the odd discount code here or there, but it was a long drawn out process finding them in the first place. I realised I could share my findings and Ethical Revolution was born as the world’s first ethical discounts site. It’s evolved since then but the discounts section still remains, with plenty of coupon codes and offers available from sustainable goods and services.
A Library of Things works like a normal library: you sign up as a member and borrow items you need. It can be tents and camping gear, disco items, DIY and gardening tools and machinery, household and kitchen items … the list keeps going. By borrowing instead of buying people save money with those who wouldn’t ordinarily be able to afford certain items getting easy access (think of a projector for a film night, a gazebo for a garden party or a thermal imaging camera to help find less well insulated places in your home); the environmental impact is huge with literally tons and tons saved on greenhouse gas emissions, raw material usage and manufacturing use by sharing instead of owning; people save space in their homes; a community connection is forged, giving people a sense of belonging and pride in what they’re achieving together.
For three years, alongside Ethical Revolution, I became manager of SHARE:Frome - the UK’s first ever high street Library of Things. An inspirational lady named Anna Francis saw a similar project in Berlin and brought the idea back to ol’ Blighty, handing it over to Edventure who inspire young adults in to meaningful ventures by setting them loose on such projects. After launch it was handed over to members of the community to run. A few years down the line the project was on the verge of collapse. It had always relied heavily on Edventure to fund it, something they could no longer afford to do. That’s when I took over. I’m proud to say I helped steer it on a road to prosperity, converting it from a neglected arm of an umbrella company to a standalone charity that was financially self-sufficient. In doing so it became a beacon for other such sharing libraries around the country and, alongside my friends at Oxford Library of Things and Crystal Palace Library of Things, we created a UK network for sharing. Within that network there are now dozens of thriving sharing libraries up and down the country.
Ethical Revolution on Social Media:
Mastodon: @climatejustice@ethicalrevolution (It’s better than Twitter: @ethicaluton)
Pixelfed: @ethicalrev (It’s better than Instagram: @ethicalrevolution)
Diaspora: @ethicalrevolution (It’s better than Facebook!)
7th Oct 2022
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