World Environment Day

Fair trade organisations and the Fairtrade Labelling Organisation which monitors farms which grow Fairtrade marked crops make a commitment to respecting the environment. Fair trade is all about creating a sustainable future for people and planet and using organic methods - whether the farms are large enough to gain official organic certification or not - is fundamental to this.

Organic methods are great for biodiversity using companion planting and insects as both pollinators and for controlling weeds. Monocultures are the worst thing for biodiversity - no other plants or animals can survive within huge plantations, so Fairtrade farmers are always trying to grow a variety of crops and other plants to keep their soil healthy and promote productivity. Fair Palm - the fair trade palm oil Traidcraft uses in its biscuits and other products - grows alongside cocoa, giving farmers an extra income stream as well as promoting biodiversity. 

All our coffees are both Fairtrade and organic. Additionally all our decaffeinated coffees are decaffeinated using the more time consuming water method rather than the quicker and cheaper method using chemicals. 

Seed and Bean chocolate is all organic. This is what they have to say:

Why organic you may ask?

Well you all know how much we care about every last detail that goes into our lusciously wild bars, so here’s why we’re organic obsessed…

• It’s all about origins! Organic farming recognises that health is linked to how the food we eat is produced. This means that artificial fertilisers and pesticides are banned, which of course means more chemical free produce.
• It doesn’t stop there, this also applies to animals and how they are treated and kept. This not only means that animals are reared using more natural products but they enjoy the highest welfare standards. And it’s not only farmed animal that benefit, but wildlife too!
• Organic farms make for great animal havens for birds, butterflies, bees and all those in-between.
• And of course, better origins, means better outcome! Research has found that organic products have higher nutritional value which means…more of those ever so crucial anti-oxidants!
• After all, we are the chocolate with a wild side… and we’re wildly passionate and committed to delivering you the very the best.

Liberation Nuts works with small cooperatives some of whom are not farmers but foragers for wild nuts in places like the Brazilian Amazon which makes organic certification tricky. There is no denying that wild foraging is one of the least environmentally damaging ways to harvest crops. This is what they have to say:

Liberation’s brand is not certified Organic, but a lot of the ingredients are in fact organic. The Organic certification takes a time and investment. Some of the cooperatives we source from are certified organic, but some are not and struggle to find funding to gain certification. However, all the cooperatives we work with use farming methods that echo those of organic farming. We never source from farmers that use chemicals that are harmful to the environment.

As we blend nuts from different cooperatives, our products are not organic. However, this is something that is likely to change in the future.

In addition to Liberation’s own branded products, we also supply own-label nuts to customers like Tesco and their nuts are certified Organic.

Thought clothing supplies our bamboo socks which are made using organic cotton, recycled polyester as well as bamboo viscose. All viscose is made from trees and bamboo viscose is the most sustainable tree to use since bamboo grows so quickly (almost 1 metre every 24 hours). The bamboo canes are grown organically using far less water than other tree plantations. Thought clothing goes even further than other bamboo clothing brands. Using a "closed loop" system they re-use all chemicals and never discharge anything into water courses.

In addition to all our recycled and upcycled products - like our aluminium ornaments and coconut bowls - we are doing our best to respect the environment and promote biodiversity in all the products we sell. Fair trade is about more than just paying a fair price and stopping child labour. It's our instinctive choice to support the planet we live on. After all, it's the only one we have.

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