Behind the Ethics at Babipur
Our Values and Ethics
A question of ethics and consumerism. You may be asking why do we even need to have “ethical shopping” - what’s wrong with “normal” shopping? In the last few decades capitalism has become completely out of control, and over consumption is a blight. We make mountains of junk that costs pennies, that lasts seconds, and nobody needs - it exploits people and ravages the earth’s resources in the process.
In the UK and EU we have strict employment laws and industry standards that we willingly ignore when buying goods from overseas, turning a blind eye because that T-shirt is so nice and cheap. But there are companies who do behave responsibly, companies that make considered decisions that aren’t purely profit driven, companies that drive positive change leading the way in ethical business - these are the companies and people WE work with. Ethics in business for us is about the whole picture, knowing where your things came from, who made them, what they are made of, and we work with our suppliers to find the answers to all these questions. We support manufacturing that's free from exploitation and with a considered and responsible use of resources.
If trade isn't FAIR then it's exploitation
Fair trade is one of the founding reasons we set up Babipur, to find fun and exciting products free from exploitative labour and build a shop around that principle. When we talk about fair trade we're referring to the dignity of the people who grow our food, stitch our clothes and make our toys. Fair trade is NOT charity, it's simply the opportunity to work and receive fair payment, enough to live on and support a family.
The need to investigate how our products are made has arrisen from exploitative labour practices outside the duristriction of our own employment and safety laws that we take for granted. The human cost of this exploitation is devestating, this cannot be overstated. At worst the result is child labour, slavery, dangerous working conditions, even death, and at best the result is poverty and inequality.
Fair trade in all its forms is at the core of our business. We will always ensure that the products we sell have high levels of social responsibility and traceability throughout the supply chain.
Certifications
Certifications can sometimes be confusing - there are so many! What do they all mean? Why doesn't everything have them? Certifications are really important for certain products, they ensure certain standards are met such as sustainable wood sources, fair trade working practices or organic soil standards. Here's a quick rundown of the certifications that are important to us:
GOTS Global Organic Textile Standard: This label ensures stringent organic cotton farming standards, water usage, environmental impact, use of chemicals and also fair trade working practices. For these reasons all the cotton clothing we sell at Babipur carries this logo. You can read in depth information about GOTS and the labelling requirements here
Fairtrade Foundation: Fairtrade Foundation: Most recognisable from coffee and bananas found in your local supermarket. The Fairtrade label ensures
FSC and PEFC: These labels relate to the sourcing of wood and the management of the forests it comes from. Most of the wooden toys we sell use wood that carries one of these labels to ensure that any trees cut down to make products are done so from carefully managed forests. Some wooden toys we sell come from wood that doesn't carry these logos, most notably toys that use rubberwood. This is because rubberwood is a by product of the rubber industry and these trees would otherwise simply be burnt as waste. We ensure that all the wooden items we sell use wood that comes from an environmentally responsible source.
Buy Better
Every purchase we make as consumers has an impact on our finite resources. Over the last few decades we’ve fallen into a culture of buying disposable, readily available, and poor quality items. At Babipur we believe in buying better, making things last, taking ownership and caring for the things we buy. How long will it last? If it breaks can it be fixed? If we no longer have use for it can it be passed on to someone else? Extending the life of the things we own we think is extremely important. We run a Facebook selling platform where you can trade pre-loved Babipur items further extending the life of your Babipur purchases and this is also testament to the quality of the things we sell. We also carefully consider the three stages of every products lifecycle - manufacturing, use and dispo
Our Commitment to You
Here at Babipur we will research everything we sell to ensure ethics and environmental impact are considered throughout the production chain. We will empower you with knowledge so you can make informed purchasing decisions. We will provide you with the very best service we can possibly achieve. We will continually research and improve every aspect of our business.
Greenwashing
Noun: Disinformation by an organisation so as to present an environmentally friendly image
Greenwashing is something we will never do or be part of. We don’t run a business and then have a “green” or “organic” range. We don’t choose fancy packaging covered in green messages to make us look cool. Every product we choose and every decision we make is carefully considered and will be the most responsible it can be. This is how we have always done things, it’s how we are now and it’s the way we’ll do things in the future.
