The Observer ran a very powerful leader this week. It pointed out the cost to the rainforests of Indonesian Borneo of our obsession with hardwood garden furniture. We have probably all admired the beautiful strength and appearance of just such items and doubtless not cast a thought towards the human and environmental cost of their production. However, a new study has shown that fragile ecosystems are being decimated by logging, locals are being exploited and a combination of “corruption and intimidation” is leaving the authorities impotent to act.
There is hope however. Just as our choices as consumers have changed attitudes towards trade in the production of food and, increasingly, clothing, so we have the power to prevent this dire situation worsening. Your decision to buy Forestry Stewardship Council wood products would help stop demand for these valuable logs. Without demand, there is no profit and without profit, there is no industry.
Never underestimate the ability of consumer choice to change industries, no matter how powerful or how remote they may seem. Your decisions to buy ethically-produced, fair trade products will filter through to the market. If you demand fairness in the way people are paid and treated when making the things you buy, manufacturers will be forced to respond.
We are doing what we can here at This Fair Earth to offer you beautiful, handmade and ethical products which demonstrate that style, beauty and quality need not cost the earth. Together, but only together, we can make a real difference.