ECO-CLOTHING NEWS GREEN PAGES Clot hing & Jewellery

A CLEAN SLATE FOR SCHOOL UNIFORMS

The UK’s fi rst Fair Trade and organic uniforms

Today’s £1-billion schoolwear market thrives on a cheap and expendable garment worker force and helps drive the conventional cotton market – one of the world’s most harmful and environmentally-damaging agricultural practices. At long last there is an ethical alternative. Clean Slate are offering a competitively-priced range of Fair Trade and certifi ed organic school uniforms. ‘We want to do for school uniforms what Jamie Oliver did for school dinners,’ said Mark Rogers, Clean Slate’s co-founder. Rogers is creating a coalition including NGOs and activist parents to help campaign to inform and

change schools’ buying practices. Clean Slate’s Junior Range of uniform basics for children ages 4 to 12 include sweatshirts, collared shirts, polo shirts, girls’ blouses, skirts, trousers and pinafores. Their PE kit includes shorts, t-shirt and gym bag. They sell directly to schools and individuals.

■ Go to www.

cleanslateclothing.

co.uk or email

enquiries@cleanslate

clothing.co.uk for more

info.

IT TAKES A VILLAGE

Community building makes good business at Bishopston Trading

Carolyn Whitwell at the inauguration of Bishopston’s new building in K.V. Kuppam, India

Hats off to Bishopston Trading Company who are celebrating 21 years of growing a successful independent and ethical clothing company. Long before fair trade became the buzzword it is today,

Carolyn Whitwell started selling fairly traded clothes made by four elderly tailors in a village in Southern India from a small shop in Bristol. She has guided Bishopston to become a worker’s cooperative employing over 470 tailors, weavers and craft workers selling 45,000 pieces of clothing a year. Always respecting the interests of the producers, Carolyn has never sought external investment or high-profi le retail partnerships, as the impact of very fast growth on the K.V. Kuppan village would be too risky. To learn more about her extraordinary story and see Bishopston’s range of adult and children’s clothing go to

www.bishopstontrading.

co.uk

068 THE ECOLOGIST

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