Interview With Kate James From Only Fair

Only Fair is an online shop specialising is Fair Trade and environmentally sound products. We caught up founder Kate James to find out a bit more.

Can you tell us a bit about your background and how you came to set up an ethical/environmental business?
Before setting up Only Fair, I had been working as a legal secretary and was on my way to qualifying as a paralegal. In April 2007, months before I was due to qualify, I had just left my job. I’d only been there for three months but I knew it wasn’t right for me. I was sat at home trawling through page after page of job searches and feeling very deflated. My partner and his family have their own business and they suggested that was the way forward. I chose the fair trade route because it was something I felt strongly about and without wanting to sound too corny, it offered me the opportunity to make a difference, however small. So, I went on to set up Only Fair and gained my qualification along the way.

Do the environment and ethics go hand in hand?
Absolutely and particularly with fair trade. Regardless of whether a product is ethically produced or whether it holds Fair trade certification, standards include environmental requirements. It would be very hypocritical for me to be selling ethically produced goods and not give a hoot about the environment.

What standards do you set for the products you sell?
Quite simply, all of my products are fairly traded or hold the FAIRTRADE Mark. Products that are fairly traded are sourced through suppliers registered with BAFTS and/or IFAT. This means that I know standards are being kept to and regular checks are being carried out. The range of products I have is quite diverse but I try to offer as wide a choice as possible. I love seeing how waste materials can be turned into something useful and beautiful, so some of them are made using recycled or waste materials.

Who are your competitors? Other eco-businesses or ‘regular’ retailers?
I would say eco-businesses as opposed to regular retailers. My customers are usually people who are either searching for something in particular or want something that is fair trade that they know they won’t find through a regular retailer.

What changes have you seen in the market and environmental/ethical world as a whole since you started?
While I’ve only been running up a short time, in those few months there has been a huge increase in the number of eco-businesses springing up online. For me, the most interesting change I’ve seen is the campaign against plastic bags. It appears to have really taken off and it can only be a good thing. I’m behind this campaign 100% and have been blogging about it since starting up.

Is it easier to source ethical and environmentally-friendly products these days?
Absolutely. More people are becoming conscious of their impact on the environment and want to have alternative options available to them. The most obvious source for this is the internet but supermarkets are slowly but surely increasing their ranges to reflect this.

Where do you see the market going?
Onwards and upwards!

Who are you customers?
Most of my customers are women who are either looking for a unique gift for a family or friend member or are looking to buy something for themselves.

One bugbear at Life Goggles is environmentally-friendly products in unenvironmentally-friendly packaging - is that a problem you face?
Unenvironmentally friendly packaging is a something of a concern for me, as well as excessive packaging. Unfortunately with some of our products, such as the ceramics, there is no choice but to use a lot of packaging. To ease the strain we re-use all packaging sent to us wherever possible. This includes our boxes. For some people, receiving an order in a nice, smartly packaged box is still part of the shopping experience so we will package goods in a new box if a customer contacts us.

How ethical and environmentally-friendly are you at home and in the office?
There’s always more that both individuals and companies can be doing and that includes me. I won’t claim to be perfect or that I’m doing everything I could be but I try to do my best and I’m a firm believer that small changes can help to make a big difference!

Most of it is common sense – not leaving things on standby, turning radiators off when the window’s open, using low energy light bulbs, not leaving the taps running. We’re extremely lucky with recycling in our area and take full advantage of this. We’re also in the process of setting up a polytunnel so we can grow all our own veg and be less reliant on supermarkets, which we try to avoid and support local farm shops instead.

In the office, again I use low energy light bulbs, recycle everything I can and make sure nothing is left on standby. I prefer to use email as I don’t believe in sending out lots of printed correspondence but where it’s necessary I use recycled paper and for any promotional material I use an FSC certified printer.

Arena Flowers Bouquet Eco Product Review

Arena Flowers are the first florists in the UK to offer ethically sourced Fair Flowers Fair Plants (FFP) products. A bit about FFP was written by Arena Flowers’ marketing analyst, Adarsh Rangaswamy, on Green Girls Global. He says:

“Fair Flowers Fair Plants (FFP) is a European initiative which addresses historic shortcomings by creating a level playing field for all producers by setting uniform, global standards. One of the unique features of FFP is its emphasis on auditing the entire supply chain to regulate the use of pesticides, land, energy and the working environment. Furthermore, it also offers flexibility to florists to source their produce either from flower auctions or directly, through FFP compliant growers. This latter approach, favoured by ArenaFlowers.com where possible, guarantees fresher floral produce, reduced wastage and a happier customer (key!). In the longer term, FFP’s aim is to unify all existing standards to make it simple for growers, traders and consumers. We’re proud to say that we are the first UK florist to sell FFP-accredited products and have now launched an ethical category featuring all our whiter than white products.”

While you can get Fair Trade Flowers too, FFP flowers are also ethical and as I normally only buy British blooms, I thought I’d give Arena Flowers a go and Adarsh was happy to oblige. Thankfully he included chocolates and wine as opposed to a balloon and cuddly toy but I was delighted with the results. I was sent the Bright and Cheery bouquet which was a visual delight.

Not only did it look great, but the smell of the roses is lovely and the lilies will open in a couple of days - I can’t wait. In the UK flowers are seen as more of a luxury item than in other countries, but receiving a bunch like this for the home reminded me why I get them. They brighten up the room, delight the girlfriend and coming with flower food, they’ll last a while. If you’re going to buy flowers anyway, why not make sure they’re ethical? It’s estimated that more than 18 million Fair Trade stems were sold in the UK in 2005 so there’s certainly a market for FFP-accredited flowers.

Arena Flowers has its own blog, a sister site in the Netherlands and you can send internationally too.

The Bright and Cheery selection costs £34.99 with the vase, wine and chocolates extra, but no delivery charge.