Green Guys Global » Fair Trade http://greenguysglobal.com/blog Men from all over the world sharing their views, ideas and experiences on living a more sustainable life Mon, 17 Nov 2008 16:23:25 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.1 en Is consumerism incompatible with sustainability? http://greenguysglobal.com/blog/is-consumerism-incompatible-with-sustainability-final http://greenguysglobal.com/blog/is-consumerism-incompatible-with-sustainability-final#comments Sat, 06 Sep 2008 18:26:02 +0000 Gary http://greenguysglobal.com/blog/?p=432 Hmmm, a tricky question with no easy answer. Undoubtedly, uncontrolled and mass market-driven consumerism isn’t. However, it may be more appropriate to turn the question on its head and ask if sustainability is possible without consumerism. After all, green markets exist because different producers (including fair trade, organic and renewable producers) are able to sell to consumers at a profit. If people don’t buy then the economy stagnates. Clearly the key is to ensure that production is sustainable and fair. That’s where consumer power comes in - if more people can be convinced of the benefits of buying from fair trade and sustainable sources then the larger, more dominant companies have to change their policies otherwise face the consequences. Sustainable consumerism can make an important contribution but we need more people to heed the message.

Dr. Gary Robertshaw

The Green Providers Directory

]]> http://greenguysglobal.com/blog/is-consumerism-incompatible-with-sustainability-final/feed Miya Coffee, Carbon Offset, 100% Fairtrade and 100% Organic! http://greenguysglobal.com/blog/miya-coffee-carbon-offset-100-fairtrade-and-100-organic http://greenguysglobal.com/blog/miya-coffee-carbon-offset-100-fairtrade-and-100-organic#comments Fri, 30 May 2008 21:06:55 +0000 Gareth http://greenguysglobal.com/blog/miya-coffee-carbon-offset-100-fairtrade-and-100-organic Something new has appeared in the canteen at work. I thought it might be worth a mention here. Miya Coffee claims to be the first coffee in the world that is 100% Fairtrade, 100% organic and the estimated 7000 miles it has taken to get to the UK from Columbia is all offset.

There is a lot of contention over the success of carbon offsetting programs but I like to take the simple view that they have to be better than doing nothing. Miya Coffee contributes to reforestation projects in Kibale National Park, wind turbines in India and the supply of biomass ovens to people in India and smokeless stoves in Honduras.

Just to make sure though, Miya triple the total estimated delivery distance and offset 21,000 miles rather than 7,000.

It tastes pretty good too. Next time you buy a coffee why not mention it.

Useful links:

http://www.miya-coffee.co.uk/index.html

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