Lifestyle stores showcase green and ethical practices in their products

It’s easy to go green with our purchasing decisions these days, but expanding that practice to ethically-sourced materials is another matter. Would you be content helping to save a tree if that’s connected to an exploitative production process?

“Green and ethical are two different concepts and refer to two different aspects of a product or manufacturing process,” she says. “For TREE, green refers to a product being made from sustainably sourced materials and manufactured in a way that does not harm the environment.

“On the other hand, ethical production is a broader, more holistic term that relates to protecting the people who are involved in making the products – ensuring that they are paid a fair wage and monitoring their working conditions to ensure that they are fairly treated.”

Ethical awareness has been a long time coming, given the relentless pursuit of products made on the cheap. As a buyer and product developer for various consumer products in Asia over the past 10 years, Julia Washbourne says she has witnessed the exploitation of natural resources, and people in sweatshop factories.