Green & Ethical Christmas Fayre Adventures

It was a cold and crisp morning when I arrived at the Holy Trinity Church on Clapham Common and I was a little apprehensive. You see, I was sponsoring the Green & Ethical Christmas Fayre and as part of that I was invited to address the crowd of stallholders and members of the public who were there at the opening – I’m not much of a public speaker (as you can see below).

I was there promoting the Green Steve Shop and I received a lot of positive feedback from people who said it was a great idea but the thing I picked up on was how I need to explain the whole concept with a bit more clarity and show what exactly it means for you to be able to offset your carbon footprint by using it. I’ll make sure I do this but for now my speech does go over things to some degree:

I found the introduction by David Isherwood, the Rector at Holy Trinity, uplifting and while I am not religious I can echo his sentiments that the Earth is a gift and one, as he says, “to be used wisely, to be used sensibly and to be used for the good of everyone and therefore not to be exploited”.

I believe that religion can play a big part in the way we look after this planet, the way we consider ourselves as caretakers for future generations and, maybe most importantly, how we can rid ourselves of our seemingly never-ending need to consumer more than is necessary. It would be great to see environment groups such as the one at Holy Trinity in ever church and other place of worship.

As you can see, after that came my rather cringe-worthy (for me at least) speech and the fayre was then opened by Kate Hoey MP.

Cometh The Fayre, Cometh The Stallholders

One of the great things with events like this is that you get to meet a load of new people who are generally singing from the same hymn sheet and this one was no different. What follows is a short list of some of the great stallholders/causes that were present at the fayre.

Nourish Skincare – If you follow my blog then you’ll know that Nourish kindly gave me one of their gift sets that I gave away in a competition last week. They create skincare products that are all natural and almost entirely organic which has got to be better than putting a load of manmade chemicals on your skin.

Re-wrapped – we do go through a lot of wrapping paper at Christmas – apparently enough to circle the Earth 9 times (and that’s just the UK!) – but there is a way to lessen the impact this has on the environment. Recycled wrapping paper is not something that you see for sale in many places (if at all) but Tracy from Re-wrapped thought she’d tackle this lack of choice for us greens. The designs she sells are great and it’s not just Christmas paper but all sorts of gift wrap. You can even find her paper in certain stores in London and Cambridge.

Maya Lotan – we all wrap up warm when it’s cold but you can now make a real difference by buying one of the lovely handwoven scarves and shawls that are lovingly created by women in Mexico and Guatemala. This initiative gives these women a secure and consistent income while also funding workshops on things such as health, equality, human rights and more. I was stunned by the quality of the finished product, they really were beautiful and if I didn’t already have a scarf, I would have probably bought one from this stall.

Voodoo Blue – working with a women’s co-operative in Kenya, they sell amazing hand crafted goods such as super long lasting baskets/bags, luxurious carved soapstone pieces of crockery, terracotta pots and rosewood salad servers.

A Drop Of Honeydew – I’m no super stylish trendsetter but even I can see that the dresses from A Drop Of Honeydew are absolutely gorgeous. Every dress is unique and most are colourful with fun prints and if you just look at them on the models (no doubt friends of founder Emma) then you’ll be able to see just how great they are.

giftsRyou – like many parents, Hilra became increasingly concerned about environmental issues after becoming a mother and her experience at kids’ parties drove her to create unique and eco friendly hand-crafted party bags and gift bags to give in place of the plastic ones you usually see. You can see her products at her Etsy store.

Greenfinder – showing people ways to go green since early 2007, I’ve had the pleasure of meeting founder Kate on 2 occasions now and she is certainly one eco lady. Not only does she run one of the most comprehensive directories of green companies and services in the UK but she also attends events both big and small with her collection of eco products to help educate people in the ways that they can lead a more sustainable life.

There were loads of other stalls so if I spoke to you but didn’t get a business card and you’d like a shout out here then just get in touch and I’ll sort it out.

Wrapping Things Up

I have high hopes that this Green & Ethical Fayre will become a firm fixture on the London calendar; this was it’s second year and I’m sure it could grow even bigger as times goes by.

I believe that events like this and the London Green Fair that I attended back in June are essential if we are to encourage more people to go green and lead a life with as small a footprint as possible. They are great showcases for what can be done and what is being done and there is no doubt that there is a growing appetite for such things.

Steve (156 Posts)

I am chief writer and editor on Green Steve. Blogging since 2011, I like to delve into a wide number of topics to help people reduce their carbon footprint. You should follow me on Twitter here. And add me to your Google+ circles here.

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