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
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!)
6th Sep 2022
Our next client origin story comes from Caitlin Job, translator and copywriter. I love how Caitlin aligned skills and interest and took further qualifications to nurture a particular aspect of the work to set up a specialist and rounded, ethical business. It's really interesting to learn more about professional translation and what that entails too.
Hi, I’m Caitlin Job. I translate French online and print content into English. I also write blog posts, newsletters, website copy and more in English for sustainable and ethical businesses.
When people learn what I do, they often ask about translation (much more so than copywriting), so to start off, here are a few signposts to help you navigate the industry:
Now onto me and my business. My freelance journey started when I moved back to the UK from France, where I had been working in-house as a translator.
I fell into freelancing because there aren’t many in-house translation positions in the UK.
I mainly specialised in marketing and tourism as that was what I’d been doing in-house, and I love learning about new places and introducing English speakers to French culture.
I’ve always been passionate about nature and the environment. I remember lovingly carrying round a dogeared copy of a DK butterfly book, eager to spot a new species.
Moving to Bristol only made me more interested in the environment and sustainability – and it has given me a slightly warped view of what a normal number of vegetarian and vegan options is on a menu!
After freelancing for a while, I started feeling uncomfortable with some of my translation work as it targeted jet-setters, which didn’t align with my own lifestyle and beliefs.
When lockdown hit, travel and tourism translations dried up overnight. I decided to use the extra time to take a step back and evaluate my business.
Aligning my specialisms with my personal interests seemed like a no-brainer if I wanted to do my bit to make a difference.
I had also done some copywriting projects while working as a translator and enjoyed being able to create my own content rather than using other people’s words, so I took the College of Media & Publishing’s copywriting course and graduated with a distinction.
That makes it sound like I was incredibly productive during lockdown, but I binged my fair share of TV and baked countless cakes too. I just didn’t have much work or any kids.
Since then, my business has focused on helping purpose-led companies.
As a translator, I enable ethical French brands to market themselves in the UK. I also translate tourism texts for organisations championing a sustainable tourism ethos and content related to sustainable building, from smart cities to off-site construction.
As a copywriter, I write copy that clearly explains what makes a company and its products/services great, rather than the usual marketing focused on urgently buy, buy, buying.
I believe transparency is the key to earning customer trust. And it can help combat greenwashing (when companies make out that they’re more sustainable than they are).
I particularly love making complex ideas accessible. Often solutions to the climate crisis are complicated, and people need to be able to understand them if they’re going to become widespread.
I currently do more translation than copywriting, but I’d like to have a more even split in the future. I’m planning to donate a proportion of my profits to an environmental charity or tree planting campaign, but I still have some research to do to find the right one.
Like all businesses, mine is a work in progress. But as a firm believer in transparency, I share the steps I’m taking to reduce my impact as a business owner in a social responsibility charter on my website, including using Green Hosting!
Website: caitlinjob.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/caitlinjob
Twitter: twitter.com/CaitlinJob
17th Aug 2022
Whether you're starting up a new business or making changes to how you already work, there are certain services you will always need or find incredibly useful.
We've been around for a while, so we've found some great services along the way. Here's a round up, some are our clients, some are services we personally use and some just look really good. Let us know if there are any you would recommend.
Green Stationery Co
We have been using the Green Stationery Company since day one (that's nearly 18 years ago). With their impeccable customer service, they supply everything we could have possibly needed for our office. On top of that, they really care about having as little impact on the environment as possible. Check out their 'About' page to find out what they say.
greenstat.co.uk
Ethical Revolution
Sam, founder of Ethical Revolution, is one of our Green Hosting clients and this service is incredibly clever. As well as providing a wealth of knowledge about ethical products and services, Ethical Revolution has a directory of ethical companies and a bank of discount codes for those companies (Green Hosting is included of course). You can also search for books from ethical shops as an alternative to Amazon.
ethicalrevolution.co.uk
Libraries of Things - Share & Elmbridge Community Eco Hub
As we have our beloved public libraries in the towns and cities of the UK, I feel we should have as many libraries of things too. What an amazing way to tackle waste, by simply borrowing the things we only need to use occasionally rather than buying them. Often, items in the library have been donated by the public too and the prices are lower than traditional hire shops (and/or there's a membership fee to contribute to costs like maintenance, insurance etc). Green Hosting clients Share Frome and Elmbridge Eco Hub stock a range of items such as tools, cleaners and events equipment. Do you have a library of things in your town?
sharefrome.org elmbridgeecohub.org.uk
Ethical Consumer
We have referred to Ethical Consumer time and time again when looking to buy goods or services for both home and business. This massive resource provides a wealth of detailed information about companies and how they score when it comes to various ethical issues (such as environment, people and politics). There are often surprises in there too so always worth checking! Their membership is very reasonably priced in our opinion too.
ethicalconsumer.org
We founded our business with a bank account with The Co-operative Bank all those years ago. Their customer-led ethical policy really is inspirational (see our article about our own ethical policy) and we believe they genuinely care about the planet, people and community as they say. Some of our clients use other, newer ethical banking services such as Starling, Triodos and Unity Trust which look great too.
We shopped around a little for our business insurance in the past few years. We found a company we really liked and have stayed with them, not just because of their ethical credentials but because of their helpful, friendly and professional customer service. They are Evergreen Insurance Services, a broker that donates a percentage of their commission to one of their many conservation and animal support charity partners. Other options that we looked at were Naturesave and The Co-op business insurance.
Good accountants are worth their weight in gold, dealing with the complexities of tax returns, PAYE and everything else that allows you to get on with earning the money. Green & Moore is a vegan and environmentally friendly business. David, the founder explains on their website how they work in a green and ethical manner. Kathleen Moss specialises in accounting services for charities. Both are Green Hosting clients.
Finding and expressing your unique business voice, whether through good marketing support or copywriting services, can make all the difference. Here are some Green Hosting clients who provide those services:
The Ethical Copywriter - Rachel is a freelance copywriter for ethical and sustainable brands. She cares about helping the right businesses make money. Read The Ethical Copywriter origin story.
Cocoon Communications - Katie provides conscious marketing communications for eco friendly and sustainable brands. Read the Cocoon Communications origin story.
Melissa Hobson - Copywriting and PR for people protecting the ocean. As a certified scuba instructor Melissa has a specific interest in caring for marine life.
Caitlin Job - Copywriter & French to English translator specialising in ecotourism, ethical marketing and international development.
Mission Mango - Marketing, consulting and coaching for socially conscious and ethically engaged entrepreneurs
Communicating your brand through visual media enhances anything we can say in words, whether that's in the form of illustrations, iconography or video. These Green Hosting clients have you covered:
Thoughts Make Things - Our colleague of many years (and our dear friend), Lydia provides illustration, art direction and design in the most thoughtful way. Take a look at her portfolio to see packaging and merchandise design, print and digital work, icon creation and her own personal projects.
Kiakari - A photographer, artist, designer, writer and editor with twenty years' experience to a range of clients.
Rob Bartlett - On a mission to do good with design, via icons and pictograms and with equality, diversity and inclusion front of mind.
Fuzzfox - Ethical video productions helping businesses, charities and non-profits raise awareness of their brand and engage their audience.
Puffin digital - Graphic design, logos, brand creation, web design and digital marketing. Transforming ideas into beautiful, eye-catching designs!
360events - Providing specialist services relating to the technical and creative requirements of branding agencies, marketing companies and event organisers.
Then there are those specialists who support you as an entrepreneur to learn the personal and professional skills to develop your ethical business further. Here are a range of those experts, all Green Hosting clients:
#Ethical Hour - We have been members of the #EthicalHour community since it was first founded by the brilliant Sian. It is a network and a wealth of resources 'to unite the most vibrant, supportive and sustainable community of changemakers on the internet'.
Kenekt - Connecting climate action with people and business through a range of services including pro bono support for charities and community projects.
Thinking Outside - Nature based-coaching and development including retreats and networking walks (or 'netwalks') to facilitate thinking.
Ethical Sales - B2B sales partners for purpose-driven business. Look out for their free sales resources and best practice examples for ethical businesses.
Laura Bartlett - For those at the beginning of a new journey, an Executive Coach helping people find their purpose and achieve their ambitions.
Rebecca Nestor - Supporting those facing the climate crisis through workshops and climate cafes, coaching and organisational consultancy.
Welsh Mill Hub - A shared work space and community venue for Frome including office space, remakery space, venue hire and events.
Edventure - Edventure in Frome run courses, events and programmes in community entrepreneurship. A place to build skills, community and confidence to grow a kinder, fairer, greener world.
3rd Aug 2022
This time our client origin story comes from Michael, founder of Elmbridge Community Eco Hub. This story really does show the power of community in difficult times. We also love that Michael was inspired by a fellow Green Hosting client when he was brewing up the idea of the hub. Here's the full story in Michael's own words...
In 2019 whist recovering from a cycling accident, I started to formulate an idea of creating a community/environmental project in the town I have lived in for almost 20 years (Walton-on-Thames, in Surrey, UK). The trigger was “fired” whilst watching an episode of BBC’s CountryFile, where they highlighted the work being done by ShareFrome, in creating a Library of Things in the Somerset town. Basically it was a retail unit that offered everyday household items, gardening tools, musical instruments, toys and games and power tools for the community to borrow in return for a small fee/donation, saving these items from going to waste sitting in a garden shed, a cupboard under the stairs or in an attic gathering dust. The benefits include saving people money as they can borrow items for a short term and not have to part with a potential huge initial outlay. It also helps the environment as it reduces reliance on manufacturing lots of new items, shipping them across the world, not to mention the mining and drilling for the raw materials used to make them in the first place. I loved the idea and started to wonder if this was something we could benefit from in our area.
During my research into the Library of Things concept, I started to discover other projects that I thought could also benefit our community. For example, Community Fridge, plastic free refill, community run small item recycle collection points and book swap. The challenge then was determining if I had the willpower, determination, time and energy to try to bring these to Walton, whether the community wanted them, how I could perhaps make this happen all the while trying to balance family life with my wife and fellow Eco Hub Director Deb, and our 3 teenage children – Dillon, Harry and Megan. After a few months mulling things over and discussing it with family and friends, I decided to give it a go. I was approached by a couple of people who had time to help and we started formulating an organisation, creating a brand, and looking for potential venues that could host all of the initiatives under 1 roof – A physical Hub, for as little money as possible - as we had NONE!
By the time January 2020 came around, we had a business plan, a constitution, a bank account, were registered as a not for profit Community Interest Company and had viewed a potentially very suitable and affordable venue. Very exciting times. Of course then the global Covid pandemic hit the world and everyone’s lives were put on hold for many months.
Roll on to October 2021. Some people - who are now lifelong friends left the project due to work and family commitments and were succeeded by others. Indeed the team grew from 4 to 8 people, all coming from various backgrounds – medicine, market research, social work, occupational health, gardening, accounting, media and home making.
Due to unforeseen circumstances, advanced and prolonged discussions with the local council for taking on a lease on a local empty property sadly fell through at the very last minute. Thankfully the council really liked the idea of the Eco Hub and following a brainstorm session offered us a 3 year peppercorn lease on a former bowling green and associated club house (an approximately 200 year old former stable block to a local Manor House). The site had been abandoned approximately 8 years and was in terrible shape. The green – approximately ¼ acre in size, was wild, often accessed by local kids at the weekends and covered with broken glass, rubble and rubbish. Access to the building itself was inhibited as it was totally overgrown with Buddleia, so much so it took almost a month of clearing before we could actually get in! With no insulation, hot water or heating, it was surprising to see that it was at least watertight and free from damp.
The fantastic people of Walton-on-Thames rallied round and helped completely clear the site, clean and decorate the building, raise funds and awareness all with the aim of bringing the Elmbridge Community Eco Hub to life. However, 6 weeks after receiving the keys, the building was sadly broken into leaving windows broken, security lighting smashed, the heating, Wi-Fi and TV stolen, and the place generally trashed. Clearly this was devastating to everyone involved, but within hours, the community had yet again rallied round, helped to clean up and make repairs, raised funds to replace heating, and install a comprehensive security system.
6 months on and the Elmbridge Community Eco Hub is thriving, some would say it’s become an essential part of our community. We host the Library of Things, Community Fridge, a Community Garden, Small item recycling, plastic free refill, book, boardgame and jigsaw swap, a seed bank, run community litter picking events and we are about to initiate a skill share initiative.
We finally opened to the public on Valentine’s Day (February 14th) 2022 and have since had approx 3500 visitors, have redistributed almost 3 tonnes of surplus food, 500 books, are nearing our 100th loan in the Library of Things. We have created a really beautiful community garden comprising an allotment area, sensory garden and wildflower meadow with 2 ponds to encourage wildlife and biodiversity. To support all this we have 35 regular volunteers, 200+ “drop in volunteers” and 16 Duke of Edinburgh bronze, silver, gold young people volunteering. We also host regular visits from schools, colleges, beavers, cubs, scouts, brownie groups, special needs groups and other volunteer groups, host corporate days and generally encourage inclusivity and community cohesion. All this and were still only 5 months old! Based on this start the future is very promising, if perhaps hopefully a little less hectic and emotional!!
Find Elbridge Eco Hub online:
elmbridgeecohub.org.uk
Instagram: @elmbridge_eco_hub
Twitter: @Elmbridgeecohub
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