Kucha - Organic Cotton. Organic Living. Hemp and Ethical Fashion. Natural Luxury

PECHA KUCHA - the free ezine brought to you by The Natural Store - keeping you up-to-date with the world of naturals and organics.

In THE FAIR TRADE IS OUR FUTURE ISSUE

The founders of Raw Gaia - the world's first skin care range using only 100% living, organic and vegan ingredients tell us why this skin care is for you!

Wear Fair Trade

Accessorise with Fair Trade

Tiny Tot's Fair Trade

Roses and Tea - the Fair Trade Way

And even more...Fair Trade Gift Cards,
T-Shirts, Drawing Books and Italian Altromercato Coffee.

We hope you really enjoy Pecha Kucha and have a wonderful Mothers' Day on Sunday, 18th March.
With love from Rachel, The Natural Store x

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Tiny Tots' Fair Trade
La Queue du Chat, Lazy Baby and Babaloo

Become a Fair Trade Cat with La Queue du Chat (The Cat's Tail). They believe that Fair Trade means that each person involved in the trade benefits fully in the exchange. 1. To ensure that good working conditions and a fair wage are promoted throughout the production chain. 2. To engage in concrete projects that benefit the community in which the products are made. They are currently assisting an orphanage in India where their clothes are manufactured.

'The Cat's Tail' products are made from 100% organic cotton (certified by AGRECO and SKAL) and are tested for banned chemicals such as formaldehyde, nickel, pesticides and heavy metals. Their Spring/Summer 2007 Collection will be available from the end of March.

Click here to view La Queue du Chat Collection

Babaloo brings us Fair Trade cashmere and bamboo baby blankets and shea butter balms. The blankets are woven by hand in Nepal (under a fair trade agreement). The bamboo and the cashmere are woven together using traditional cashmere weaving techniques making the blankets the softest, most yummy, cuddly blankets you'll find.

Think of shea butter as a skin food because it feeds goodness back into your skin, making it healthy, lustrous, moisturised and great looking! Babaloo’s shea butter comes from a women’s cooperative in Togo. Sadly most shea butter on sale in Europe and the US is not fairly traded which means the women who work so hard to gather the nuts and process them into this remarkable final product receive only a tiny fraction of the final price. Like about $1 for 30 hours work. That’s the harsh reality. Babaloo's shea butter comes from a fair trade source which means that in addition to the women receiving fair and steady incomes, a large percentage of the money they pay for the bulk shea butter goes straight back to their community in the form of useful things like community enhancement projects, AIDS and malaria outreach, and educational scholarships.

Click here to view Babaloo's Cashmere Blanket and Shea Butter

Lazy Baby is the fresh and funky label every baby is dreaming about. Since its birth in 2001 it’s been steadily following in the foot steps of its older brother Plain Lazy. Now with two colourful collections to choose from, Lazy Baby is bursting with even more original ideas and imaginative designs. All products are made to a high standard using fair trade, organic cotton ensuring optimum softness, warmth and comfort for your baby. At last babies can look cool, play safe and sleep easy knowing that all those involved in the production of each garment have received a fair wage, allowing them in turn to provide for their own babies.

Click here to view cool Lazy Baby T-Shirts


Capalongas 'Lucille' Shirt

Wear Fair Trade
Capalongas, babygod and Tammam

Capalongas wants to show that it is possible to create a brand of stylish outwear that is also economically viable in supporting the development of a marginalised community in developing countries like Philippines.

Click here to read

At babygod, they have a simple philosophy. "Create quality men`s clothing using organic fabrics that come from fairly traded sources". If you like their clothes, that`s great, If you agree with their ethics, even better. They also use 100% recyclable packaging for their product. All babygod t-shirts are sourced in accordance with fair trade principals from a project in Northern India. The farmers are paid a premium for their cotton and a number of social projects are taking place within the community to ensure that all members of the community feel the benefits of the additional income.

Click here to view the babygod Collection

Tammam believe people shouldn't have to make a choice between style and ethics. They want to make ethical, fashionable clothing accessible to everyone. All garments in Tammam's Autumn/Winter 06 collection were hand made at a fair trade charity production factory in Bangalore, India, where young disadvantaged women are trained and offered jobs. The ladies who worked on this collection are; Mala, Radha A, Radha R, Lakshmi and Veronica.

Click here to view the Tammam Collection

Accessorise with Fairtrade
Made Jewellery, Martha Evatt Bags, Doy Bags and Cred Wedding Jewellery

Made Jewellery made is a new and exclusive brand of jewellery and fashion accessories. Their brand is unique. They produce fashionable, funky and inspirational pieces whilst being committed to the principles of fair and ethical trading. The majority of their products incorporate a fair trade element; raw elements, craftsmanship, or the complete piece. Made products are designed in England by influential designers, then sourced and created within the developing countries of Africa and Asia.

Using precious metals, stones and indigenous materials we create distinctive, original and desirable jewellery. When you buy a made accessory you are empowering developing communities to improve their lives and to work with dignity. Made accessories are for fashion conscious people who want their money to make a difference.

Click here to view Made Jewellery

Martha Evatt specialises in ladies bags. From exquisite silk clutches and delicate purses through to lively totes in bright colours and prints, the range reflects Martha’s extensive travels around Asia and the inspiration of friends she has made there.

Each range is limited edition and hand made, bringing an exclusivity and individuality to every item. The bags are made in India, in small runs, and the company operates a total fair trade policy in terms of suppliers, who are either IFAT registered or partnered with established UK charities. Martha Evatt is a strong supporter of fair trade and seeks to develop business and relationships with small manufacturers as a contribution to their livelihood and development.

Click here to view Martha Evatt Bags


	Cred Jewellery

Doy Bags are a range of bags, purses and accessories made from recycled juice packs - non-biodegradable foil and plastic packaging that would otherwise go into landfill sites and incinerators. Doy Bags are produced and traded according to Fair Trade principles.

Doy Bags are made in the Philippines by a women's cooperative, the Women's Multi-Purpose Cooperative based near Manila, which has won a number of awards in the Philippines for its concern for the environment and its outstanding contribution to waste recycling and employment generation. This means that every single person involved in the production of the bags has a say in how things are run. In addition to receiving a fair and living wage, the cooperative provides safe and hygienic working conditions, reasonable working hours (with no forced overtime) and a weekly ration of five kilos of rice per worker. All workers are encouraged to attend free skills training and personal development seminars. In addition, the cooperative promotes the importance of education for members' children and provides a scholarship fund (10% of profits) to make this possible. No children or minors are permitted to work for the cooperative under any circumstances.

You may never visit the Philippines yourself, but by buying a fairly traded Doy Bag you can be sure that you are helping to improve the lives of these disadvantaged women and their families.

Click here to view Doy Bags

Cred Jewellery believe that jewellery should not only be judged by the beauty of the finished item, but also the impact that its creation has had on the people that mined the metal or gemstone and the environment. Their unique partnerships enable us them to provide exceptional jewellery that you can wear with the knowledge that there has been no exploitation of any kind in its creation.

Designed in and created in England, with the metal coming from abroad, Cred is commited to providing a positive fair trade alternative that pays special attention to human rights, labour standards and care for the environment. Their pursuit of this has led to unique partnerships with small-scale mining communities (Oro Verde), cutting and polishing co-operative workshops, master jewellers and stone setters. All of whom are dedicated to the idea of fair trade jewellery. Each piece of jewellery Cred creates comes with its own social and environmental certification issued by IIAP and the Cred makers mark.

Click here to view Cred Wedding Rings

Fair Trade Gift Cards brought to us by Kolkata made by the Jeevika Development Society, generating an income for rural women and to improve their social status.

Organic cotton (SKAL certified) and fairly traded T-Shirt by Cat's Eye from their collection 'Endangered means there's still time'.

Fun, fair trade, hand made Children's Drawing Book. With blank pages inside for your little ones to explore their imagination.

Real Italian Espresso Coffee by Altromercato. Organic and fair trade made from arabica grains grown in the heights of Mexico and Guatemala.