Just in time for Fairtrade Fortnight, we have this great new range of socks, ethically made from Ecocert combed cotton. We loved the designs when we met the team behind Ballonet recently, and the reaction in the shop has been outstanding. They come in two sizes and having had a pair for a few weeks, I can say that they are very comfy! Choose your favourite design today...
We have been absorbing a lot of cool new trends lately, firstly in our trip to the US and more recently at the (just as glamorous) Spring Fair trade expo at the NEC in Birmingham. In LA we based ourselves in Echo Park, a cool neighbourhood with loads of interesting boutiques. It was interesting to see that "fair trade" as a concept didn't seem that familiar to our American cousins, outside of specialist chains like 10,000 Villages. Nevertheless, many of the shops we visited had projects which we would see as complementary to what we do at Eighteen Rabbit.
The groovily-named Dustmuffin was very cool, with lots of interesting lines, including Giving Keys, a project helping people out of homelessness in LA (we have never seen such large homeless communities as we did on our trip to LA).
The closest UK comparison to Lassens would probably be Whole Foods Market, and like WFM they had a great range of sustainable and ethical goods, mostly food but also skincare and beauty products, many of which were fair trade. They also did incredible sandwiches!
Back here in the UK we were delighted to speak to Dan and Paul from rCups, a great new range of reusable coffee cups, made from old disposable cups. Fantastic circular design. Look out for the cups at the end of the month.
Coming in the next two weeks we have an incredible new sock range from Ballonet - fabulous designs all with the Ecocert label.
These are the first step we've taken following our customer survey to expand our range to include more ethical products which are produced responsibly without necessarily having an obvious "fair trade" label. This does not mean we are moving away from fair trade at all - rather, we hope an expanded range will encourage more customers to visit, which in turn will make our support of the fair trade projects we work with sustainable into the future. Let us know what you think!
Hay is home to many things - books, canoes, bikes, antiques, craft beers, you name it. One thing it has always been is a magnet for yoga enthusiasts - everyone you turn there seems to be another class or another gaggle of loose-limbed folk clutching their mats under their arms.
Well, we are here to make their yoga commute that bit easier! These beautiful cotton yoga bags are just the thing for the weekly stretching sessions.
Handmade in India from 100% cotton they are a great fair trade project with a practical purpose. The long bag is perfect for your mat, and they have a zip pocket for keys/mobile/wallets - please switch phones to silent during classes though :) Four different designs, and all £20.
We're thrilled to be stocking a beautiful new range of jewellery from Daughters of the Ganges. This fantastic fair trade project from India is empowering artisans and producers, and the end product is truly stunning.
We only have a small capsule collection available in store at present, but we'll be adding lines to the website soon. At the moment we have intricate gold and silver earrings, and some really contemporary necklaces.
We've just had a delivery of some of our lovely small wooden jigsaws. These simple, animal-themed puzzles are handmade in Sri Lanka, but subject to strict UK safety tests before they reach the shelves. They are great as a stop-gap before kids move on to our more complicated 1-10 and A-Z puzzles.
At £6 each these little jigsaws are great as smaller gifts and their sturdy design means they'll be around long after cheaper plastic toys have been broken!