It’s the time of year when marketing campaigns are really ramping up. Christmas, one of the best selling times, is in sight. Black Friday, an import from the USA which pushes bargains at us and incites a frenzy of shopping, will happen on 29th November. Every year more retailers jump on the bandwagon as customers spend hundreds of pounds each on this date – believing they are in some way gaining an advantage. (spoiler: shops won’t sell stuff to you if they don’t make money from you). The total Black Friday spend in the UK runs into the billions but figures from last year imply this trend could be slowing down or even reversing.
Why Shop Ethical Instead?
We all want to have a merry and bright Christmas – but why do it at the expense of the people working in terrible conditions for unfair wages? Why do it when the products we are buying are causing damage to our environment?
The answer is price – when we’re focused on getting a bargain we forget about the impacts of making goods cheaply. If something is a bargain then there is a reason for it – and it’s not because the retailer is making a loss. The people making the goods and the planet we live on are the ones who are paying for your pleasure.
How to find Ethical Brands….
At Where Does It Come From? we are once again involved in #ShopEthicalInstead – a campaign in collaboration with many other ethical brands driven by positive values and not just turning a profit. Run by our friends at Ethicalhour, the campaign is asking people to avoid the over-consumption madness and shop ethical instead.
Where Does It Come From? doesn’t compromise on ethics or sustainability, plus you can explore the whole story of how your product was made using a code on the label. We share with you the whole story of our clothing creation – from the fields where the sustainable cotton crop grew, the social enterprises we’ve worked with to create the fabrics and the artisan units who do the tailoring, dyeing and printing. We make sure that what we do is as eco-friendly and fair trade as we can make it and, by sharing the story with you, we hope that you and the people you are buying for can build a deeper connection with their clothes and love them even more! You can view our kind clothes that tell tales in our website shop!
We’ll be taking part in a virtual high street over on Ethicalhour’s Facebook page every day of the week in which Black Friday falls. Ethical brands, including us, will be showcased so you can get to know what positive mission drives them, see the products they create and meet the people behind the brand.
You can see the session on Fashion and Accessories in this video – Where Does It Come From? is featured first….data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==Shop Ethical Instead 25th November – We are on first!
We are all small brands, run with passion and energy to do good. Every purchase helps us on our journey and we can’t do it without you!
This year let’s all choose to do our Christmas shopping mindfully and buy from brands that make positive change to people and planet. It’s a different way of thinking – buying gifts that give not just to the person that you are buying for but also for the makers and the planet.
Will we see you there?
Published November 11, 2019 & Filed in ethical events and happenings,Jo’s Soapbox,Where Does It Come From? Blog