Many Fair Trader products are re-usable or are made from recycled materials including insulated coffee cups, jewellery, bird feeders, greetings cards and wrapping papers. Environmental impact is an important part of our product assessment.
Why?
Our throwaway society contributes to climate change because of all the energy used to make the things we then bin. Climate change is already causing human conflict and forced migrations. Disposing of the waste pollutes the air and oceans, affecting people and wildlife when we incinerate or dump it.
How?
We can all reduce the amount of things we buy and then throw out, find ways to ensure that things we don’t want can be re-used, and demand more recyclable packaging from suppliers.
What can we do in the Holme Valley?
Reduce and reuse
Before you buy, consider (a) do you really need it and (b) the environmental impact. We assess all the products we sell to ensure the raw materials, transport and processing do as little damage as possible.
Challenge your supermarket and online suppliers on the impacts of what they are selling you. Avoid using single-use plastic bags, cutlery, drinking bottles etc.
Recycle
All our cardboard packaging is recycled and we are putting pressure on our suppliers to reduce their packaging, use recycled materials and identify any plastics used so we can segregate them for recycling. We would like to hear from businesses or individuals who are able to work with us to scale up the recycling in our area – Kirklees incinerates far more than Calderdale. We have our own recycling centre for a range of items (see below) and you can buy some great recycled products at Fair Trader including jewellery, bird feeders, notebooks, greetings cards and re-usable cups.
Thank you. Whilst our politicians talk and multinationals prevaricate, working together we can make a difference.
Drop the following items at Fair Trader for recycling:
- Foil
- Pill blister packs
- Working sewing machines
For everything else, please see this handy guide for recycling in the Holme Valley