Joey and I are always looking for ways to be greener, but our pets can be really naughty when it comes to the environment.Sasha and Shep, the rescue dogs, were forever destroying their toys – to be fair to them, it’s not willful destruction… but the cats, well, ripping their little toy mice to bits is their absolute favorite thing! Before we set up Ethical Pets, we didn’t really know how to address these problems, we seemed to be endlessly throwing broken toys away and buying more, and the local pet shops sadly weren’t much help with our sustainability quest.
However, now we run Ethical Pets things are much simpler! In this article, we will take you on a whistle-stop tour of some of our recycled, up-cycled and recyclable pet favorites.
Toys
Pretty much all of the Ethical Pets toys are up-cycled, recycled or recyclable – and our pets just love them! The dogs, for example, love their super tough Zogoflex Toys, and we love them too, because we know that if they ever manage to wreck them, we can recycle it with ease (and get a free replacement!).
Also, the cats adore their little woolly mice, and we love them too, because they are up-cycled from reclaimed yarn (and with a charity donation to boot). Much greener than the average cat toy!
A eco-upcycled biodegradable food scoop with minimal, recycled and recyclable packaging - phew thats green!!!
Bowls, litter trays and food scoops.
Even things as basic as pet bowls can be totally eco-friendly – when we needed to get some new ones (because our old ones were too small) we bought some of the Ethical Pets Beco-Bowls, which are made from waste rice husks and sustainably grown bamboo. Up-cycling waste plant-matter like rice husks means the bowl is not only green to start off with (because its not made of plastic) but it will biodegrade in the garden when it’s old and ganky. Perfect 🙂 BecoThings make cat bowls, small-to-large bowls and large slow feed bowls, litter trays and scoops and food scoops too. Each time one of our long-serving (but not very green) plastic items needs replacing, we replace it with a BecoThing!
100% Recycled plastic bottle beds... cool... and comfy!
Beds
Our personal favorite recycled product range are the lovely soft beds: made from 100% recycled plastic (used plastic bottles) these beds are super soft as well as super eco 🙂 There are beds just the right size for cats, rabbits and smaller dogs, right up to the large and squishy giant mattress. Also, our eco Vet Bed is great for the car or for older dogs who need something warm and accessible.
Packaging
There are other things to consider too, for example, pet product packaging. The products we sell all come from companies with an eco mindset, so packaging is usually minimal and eco-friendly. As for our own packaging, you can see a full summary here, however, in short, its mostly re-used and/or recycled cardboard with a little degradable plastic and a little bubble wrap. As eco as we can for now (and always getting better!)
Summary
All in all, there are lots of recycled, up-cycled and recyclable products for your pets. Job well done eh?!
Joey and I are keen to start cycling, and we think this Project in Birmingham is really great! They have so much to offer so its well worth a look if you live locally (Anna’s Grandma lives in Erdington by the way, another reason we love this project so much). In putting together our cycle themed newsletter we have learned loads about how green cycling is, how useful bikes are and the cool stuff can be done with your bike when its old. All in all, we are pretty impressed with bikes! This is What Bike North Birmingham had to say:
NB: THIS PROJECT HAS NOW ENDED
Bike Everyone is part of the Bike North Birmingham project and we are making it easy for residents of Erdington and Sutton Coldfield Constituencies to get on their bikes! With cycle routes in and around the area and with more to come – our aim is to make cycling more accessible for the ‘may be’ cyclist’, whether it’s cycling to work, to the shops or purely for pleasure and fitness.
Bike North Birmingham was launched in April 2012 and in its first year up to December 2012, and despite the poor weather, we managed to attract over 350 adults and families on to our leisure rides. Over 112 adults took part in the Learn to Ride Programme over 100 bikes have been loaned out for up to 6 months giving people the opportunity to really think about buying a bike for good. The short term hire bikes have been loaned out over 250 times and many people have reported that thanks to the project their travel habits are changing and they feel they are becoming fitter as a result.
To help people discover the joys of cycling, we offer:
FREE bike hire:
For individuals, friends and families, borrow a bike for the day and get out and explore some of the parks and cycle routes in the North of Birmingham. Bikes are available from our two new cycling hubs at Erdington and Wyndley Leisure Centres.
FREE long term loan of bikes:
Need a bike to get to work or help cut the cost of getting around? Thinking about buying a bike but not sure? Borrow one of ours for a few months to help you decide!
FREE cycle training:
If you’ve never ridden a bike before or haven’t cycled for a while, or maybe you just need a confidence boost, book some sessions with us!
FREE Commuter training:
Do you want to be more confident on the road and perhaps cycle to and from work, we can help with 1 -1 training!
FREE Leisure Rides:
and other cycle activities
Fun group rides with qualified Ride Leaders for cyclists of
all abilities
FREE Cycle maintenance classes:
Learn some basic maintenance to keep your bike in a good condition
Some up and coming activities for you to join in with in the next couple of months are:
Easy Riders Cycling Group – a Wheelie Friendly way to cycle!
Weekly on Wednesdays at 10am
Normal Starting Point: Brookvale Park
Level: Gentle – Moderate
Cycling around and about from the tranquil Brookvale Park and other locations. Why not come along to enjoy a sociable and satisfying morning bike ride?
Health and Fitness Rides
Weekly on Thursdays at 10am
Starting Point: Brookvale Park
Level: Gentle – Leisurely
Do you want to Lose Weight? Stop Smoking? Get Fit? Cycling can help! So why not get on a bike and ride towards a healthier lifestyle? Feel great about yourself!
Aston Hall for Tea
Sunday 16th June 2013 at 11:30am – 1:30pm
Starting Point: Brookvale Park by the Sailing Club, B23 7SL
Level: Leisurely/ Moderate
Cycle back in time to 17th Century surroundings; feel refreshed from time in the tea rooms and a wander around the idyllic gardens and grounds. 10% discount in tea rooms!
Find The Fort by Bike
Starting Point: Erdington Leisure Centre [Pool], B24 9EJ
Fri 14th June at 12pm – 1pm and Sunday 7th July at 10am – 11am
Level: Leisurely/Moderate
Find out how quick and easy it is to get to The Fort Shopping Park from Erdington by bike!
Lots more rides on www.bikenorthbirmingham.org.uk (website has now changed hands) – don’t forget to book by calling us on 464 1020
FREE Basic Cycle Maintenance courses and workshops
Our five session courses will introduce you to basic cycle maintenance in a relaxed and supportive environment. You don’t need any experience, just the desire to get hands on and skilled up!
Courses cover: Puncture repairs, replacing inner tubes, headsets, handlebars and stems, set up and adjustment of brakes and gears and how to index them too.
Tuesdays 7pm – 8.30pm
4th ,11th,18th,25th June, 2nd July at Kingsbury School and Sports College, B24 8RE
Wednesdays 7pm – 8.30pm
5th , 12th. 19th, 26thJune, 3rd July
Clifton Road Youth and Community Centre, B73 6EB
To book any of our activities call 0121 464 1020
Activities open to Leisure Card holders residing in Erdington and Sutton Coldfield Constituencies.
One of our favourite books, How Bad are Bananas? By Mike Berners-Lee, has some sensational cycling facts. This month, subscribers to our newsletter get the chance to win a copy! You need to sign up for your chance to enter. When you get your newsletter, there will be a question in it, simply reply with the answer, and winners will be picked out of the hat! 🙂 Good luck!
Eco Facts
Our favourite fact is that it would be greener to drive a hummer than to cycle after eating air freighted asparagus! Checkout our cool graph below comparing a few bike fuels (food) to some other forms of transport.
Cycling to work
Another interesting fact is that a congested commute in an average car comes in at 2200g CO2e per mile. This is much much worse than normal driving – almost as bad as your air freighted asparagus mile. So, the lesson is that cycling to work is a serious planet saver… so long as you don’t eat asparagus out of season for breakfast!
Food and Carbon Footprints
The carbon footprint of food is always interesting to us at Ethical Pets, with folk claiming we should eat our pets to save the planet, we think its important to show pets can be green too.
In the graph you can see that veg isn’t always greener, but that in general, meat is much more carbon heavy that veg. The same trend is clear in the rest of the book, for example, we learned that a 4 ounce steak makes more carbon than a 6.5 kg bag of carrots! Or, for the same carbon as a 2 kg leg of lamb, you could eat milky porridge every day for 4 whole months. Oats, wheat and even naughty old rice are much lower in carbon than any meat.
Pet Food: good and green!
We know that veggie pet food can be healthy, but apparently is very green too! So, if your dog or cat were going to cycle, a little Yarrah or Benevo would be the ideal fuel to choose!
We met Cranks Coffee Coop at the Northern Vegan Fair – and with just one sip of their delicious coffee, Anna was a fan for life! Coffee Cranks are a social enterprise and workers cooperative, selling ethically sourced tea, coffee and snacks from a hand made cargo bike.
“Cargo bike” sounds a little industrial, but actually, the bike is beautiful and curvy, with lots of varnished wood.
Yummy!!
The Coffee Cranks idea is beautiful too: to use local cooperation and quality ethical produce to challenge corporatism, youth unemployment and the desire to “give up.”
But for all their brilliant ideas, there is a lot to do before they are a fully functioning coffee cart – first of all, crowd sourcing a start-up fund. They have already received just over 15% of their £7000 start-up goal, and no wonder, because people who become a patron get much more than a fuzzy feeling of good spirit… with cute cog-shaped biscuits, stylish tee-shirts, bags, jewelery and even free event catering up for grabs, this investment is a gift that gives back!
Meet Claire. She’s a real force of nature and yes… we have found in her yet another Ethical Business Superstar! Claire’s thing is Bikes: she likes riding them, fixing them… she even Married a bicycle repair man! Oh, and the other thing she does with bikes is up-cycle them into gorgeous jewelery and accessories. Yes. She is very very cool! Read more about Claire in our interview with her below, and checkout her web-shop too!
Way back, where did all of this eco stuff this begin for you?
From an early age, I always had a pencil in my hand. Apart from when I was running around or swinging off something. I started a fine art degree which seemed the natural thing to do, but found it wasn’t what I expected. I moved away from art and design for a few years and spent my time in community work with children and young people, which I love. But my creative streak and love of design always stayed with me. Since I was a child I was very aware of our impact on the world. I spent time raising money for environmental charities like GreenPeace. I was horrified that we were responsible for a hole in the ozone layer, or chopping down rainforests.
Buying a mountain bike in my late 20’s changed my life. It led me to my local bike shop, where I was to meet mechanic Rob (now the shop owner – and my husband!) Spending years riding together developed my love of all things ‘bicycle’.
So, when did you start Bits of Bike, why and how did it go?
I don’t like waste. I do like the unusual. Surrounded by junk at the bike shop, I felt inspired to recycle the scrap into something unique. My first endeavor was making coat hooks out of some old racing bike handle bars. The result was a striking, distinctive and functional object, saved from the junk heap! I began to get compliments on my designs. Then came the jewelery, and other ideas began to flow. From this, ’Bits of Bike’ began to evolve.
What kit did you need to begin with?
Up-cycled Belts made from bike tyres and cogs
I started with nothing but a collection of waste bicycle items. I needed to buy some basic workshop tools and ‘jewelery findings’ (clasps, necklace end caps etc). At present, I make all the packaging myself from recycled card, and mountain bike magazines.
How did you start selling things?
At first I thought I would venture out to local craft fairs. Sales wise, this was hit and miss, but I got positive feedback. I decided to develop my website. I used the open-source web design tool, ‘Wordpress’. It really suited my needs, and I am grateful of such an amazing, free resource. I barely advertised and it was a couple of months before I got my first on-line sale. I bounced around the house for about half an hour. I still get butterflies every time I make an online sale!!
A bracelet made from bike chain links
So far, it has been hard to juggle a full time job with developing Bits of Bike on the side. On the other hand, I have had the financial stability to develop the initial stages of Bits of Bike. However, I was recently redundant from the public sector and so I am giving BitsofBike a go full time. I am expecting to need to have another income too at some point. It is exciting and scary. But it feels so good to be in control and doing something positive and productive.
Where do you think Bits of Bike is going?
My goal is to develop an ethical urban cycle clothing and accessories company. At this early stage, whatever I make mostly goes straight back into growing BitsofBike. In five years, I would like to make my company and my life carbon neutral. But for now, I am just aiming towards making enough to paying my bills!
Describe an average day in the life of you.
My workshop is at the bottom of my garden. I am up and at it by 8:30am after an essential cup of tea. I prefer to have the doors wide open to listen to the birds which makes me happy and keeps me motivated. I will spend a lot of my day making things for orders that have come in, or to add to my website. An integral trip to the post office to send out any orders takes place mid afternoon. Variety is the spice of life, so there is always time for experimentation and design. Music and dancing keeps the spirit up (and the toes warm mid winter). I don’t stop work till my head is whizzing and my stomach rumbles around 7pm.
What else do you do?
I committed to volunteering for Sustrans sustainable transport, and Breeze Cycle Network, to encourage more women to get out on their bikes.
Do you have any pets?
We have a rescue boa constrictor. She has a large enclosure in our bedroom. Mum wont come to stay because of her.
Do you have a conventional or unusual life style
I see myself as pretty conventional. I try to be conscious of my impact on the world. This influences my lifestyle. I love growing my own food on our allotment. There is nothing better that making a meal that I have nurtured myself from seed. My clothes all come from charity shops! A product of our throw-away society is that I get to have nice but cheap clothes, and support charities. I need time for myself playing out in the woods with my husband on my mountain bike. I like to feel close to nature. I like to be outside. Whatever the weather. Also, everyday I ride my bike. To commute or to have fun. I rarely drive.
What are your ethical principles and how do they guide and motivate you?
There are so many causes that inspire me. In general, personal and social responsibility is really important to me. It’s human nature to want to advance and move forward. But having the world and each other at the core of what we do is key. There are so many sustainable resources around us. Its just doesn’t make sense to me to do it any other way.
Any words of wisdom?
It may be cheesy, but I fell in love with ‘Desiderata’ as a teenager. My favorite quote is from this poem:
” You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.”
Meet Claire. She's a real force of nature and yes... we have found in her yet another Ethical Business Superstar! Claire's thing is Bikes: she likes riding them, fixing them... she even Married a bicycle repair man! Oh, and the other thing she does with bikes is up-cycle them into gorgeous jewellery and accessories. Yes. She is very very cool! Read more about Claire in our interview with her, and checkout her web-shop too!
This month we have started stocking three new products. Our great eco-bed range (100% recycled plastic and super soft) has been expanded to include a large mattress, for big dogs. It costs 49.99 and measures 100cm x 70cm and a plump 18cm thick. We have also changed the supplier of our poop bags: they are the same size as the old ones (nice and large) but a slightly lighter weight plastic (waste not want not eh?). They also come in packs of 50 (rather than 20) which saves on packaging too! We have carried over the multi-buy offer, 250 bags for 9.99. They are degradable plastic which means that they won’t produce nasty gases when they rot down in landfill. Lastly, we now stock Yarrah Organic Chicken and Turkey Chunks, a great wet cat food. The unusual thing about this food is that it contains only chicken and turkey (and no other types of meat), so if your cat has special dietary needs, you are in more control.
Welcome to Ethical Business: Ethical Life – we aim to showcase the people behind the amazing Ethical Businesses we meet through running Ethical Pets.This third edition is about Tanya Vaughan, an interior designer from Lincolnshire. We met Tanya only a few weeks ago, when she bought one of our Eco Donut beds for her dog Wrighty – we got to chatting and well… as you can see, she is pretty inspiring!
When did you start your ethical business, what are your ethical principles and how do they guide and motivate you?
I hadn’t set out specifically to start an ethical business, or indeed a business at all! I had been decorating and designing houses for years without stopping to think about it, from digging my own drainage trenches (never again…) to shipping a huge pair of doors back from Morocco, to mount on a wall. It took a long time to twig that I should transform this passion into a business.
Tracing paper plans – recyclable!
The idea was easy enough, having run my own market research business for a number of years, and the only challenge was my confidence – essentially putting myself on the line. What if no-one likes my ideas? The answer to that, in my business, is very easy – they just won’t hire you. The ones who do like it, will. A nerve-wracking realization.
For me, running my business ethically has just been a natural integration of what I do at home, and taking that into the workplace. From printing as little as possible, to choosing FSC certified paper for my letterhead or paying a little bit extra for green energy, the way I do everyday tasks translate very well from home to business. My studio is a couple of minutes walk from home, and I live in Stamford, which is a bustling and cosmopolitan market town with a wealth of independent shops, and small businesses to serve me, all within walking distance.
In re-designing a house, a room, considering knocking an existing building down and starting again, you begin to take notice of how much can get discarded, whether it’s an old chair, a cheap sofa that was bought as a stop-gap, or the bricks & mortar of a 1950s bungalow making way for a sleek and contemporary family home. You certainly notice new things. Some of them are utterly gorgeous. Clients want them. So in an arena where the acquisition of things seemingly plays such key role, I ask myself all the time, how can I make this sustainable?
So, how do you make designs sustainable?
Fundamentally, I support good design. Good design means a lot of things. What it doesn’t mean to me is spending money for it’s own sake, to brag, show-off, or provide fleeting excitement and interest only to be discarded when the next thing comes along. There are products designed specifically to attract these people. I am not interested, and I won’t recommend them to clients. I am also unlikely to be dealing with that kind of client! I am constantly on the lookout for vintage and antique pieces, re-using what already exists in the world, sometimes with an update, sometimes used in a different way to which it was intended. When looking at anything new, I am interested in products that are designed with a lot of thought, that are made by people who are paid a fair wage for what they do. I look for products that are designed with longevity in mind, so that they will be kept for a very long time – even if that means being sold or given to someone else. Because if they are not, they only end up in one place – landfill.
The most important thing about the fabric of any building is how it stores and uses energy. So regardless of whether it’s made of timber, concrete, steel, or glass, how that structure retains heat, or keeps out heat, is key. This is one of the most sustainable aspects of building, and taken in it’s wider sense, can mean things like putting in large glass panels with specifications that far exceed the regulations, which not only keep the heat in, but positioned correctly, can let more sunlight in in the winter to help heat the room inside. Making it nice and toasty inside is one thing, given the right design and materials, a sustainable building is one that is going to serve it’s purpose for a very long time to come, contributing positively to the lives of the people who use it.
Describe an average day in the life of you.
I generally get up any time from 6, as I have so much to do. It’s a luxury to sit with a cup of tea in PJs answering emails or checking information on-line and watching the sun come up, particularly if I am staying in Norfolk to oversee the project that is taking up most of my time at the moment, where a blue jay and a woodpecker shout loudly on the trees outside the kitchen window.
Wrighty. Now 14, he is a bit deaf and grey round the chops…
I can be working on plans, whether its working out wall thicknesses for bespoke door frames, or drawing elevations, or I can be chasing sub-contractors, checking quotes, placing orders, or sourcing lighting or furniture. Site visits involve warm clothes, a tape measure and a sense of humor – there is always something to throw a spanner in the works! If something really hasn’t gone to plan, then a blast on the beach with the mutt usually de-stresses me and I can come back with a clear head to think through a creative solution. Having a project in such lovely countryside is a fundamental part of how I want the business to continue – being able to stay here for several days a week to project manage is such a treat. When the sun hits the sand dunes and the salt marsh, with the grasses rustling and the colors all greys and greens, I have no desire to jet away to remote shores.
On Tanya’s Wedding… “We used local suppliers for almost everything, even the deck chairs that people sat on during the ceremony.”
I regularly get out and about searching for stuff – fabric, furniture, light fittings, and often find myself at antiques fairs, or dealers’ showrooms to view something in particular that might work for a specific room. I always love getting something old into a scheme, and love being part of the decorative industry that finds value in these beautifully crafted objects with all of their history and patina of age. Sometimes this means working with a designer-maker directly, for example here in Norfolk I have found wonderful craftspeople making wall hangings, a pottery that makes ceramic pendant lights, even the builders, who might not have built a wall with that finish before, but working together we make it happen and we haven’t had to either compromise on the design, or ship in some expensive and unnecessary expertise or product from elsewhere – my first stop is always local craftsmen and tradespeople.
Any words of wisdom?
Put your flag in the ground, stand tall and be passionate about your business. In the words of Aung San Suu Kyi “If you have chosen a certain path ..walk it with satisfaction and with determination and try not to make it appear as a tremendous sacrifice…Whatever you do out of your own free will, that should be a gift that you give to life or to those whom you love”
All links below were broken so have been removed
Tanya’s website is having a little makeover at the moment, but check out her Facebook and Twitter to see more of her amazing designs and wonderful, ethical, life. Here is what Tanya had to say about Ethical Pets:
“I just wanted to say how impressed I am by your ethical policy statement. Most ethical policies I have read seem a bit vague.. yours is so comprehensive regarding all aspects of your business and personal lives. I will be forwarding your website address to many friends I know who will be really interested!”
Animal Welfare: For Yarrah as an organic pet food company, the most important aspect of organic agriculture is the very high regard for animal welfare. Poultry, cattle and fish form the basis of our premium Nature’s Finest pet food. It is therefore crucial that these animals are treated with dignity and respect. Organic agriculture guarantees that poultry and cattle have room to move and grow at a natural rate in an environment that minimizes stress. Because regulation regarding organic fish do not meet our standards of animal welfare, Yarrah has decided to switch to MSC-fish (read our statement!). Nothing artificial: Yarrah does not add any chemical colorings, aromatic substances or flavorings. We do not use artificial preservatives: we preserve our dry food with vitamin E and rosemary extracts. For our wet food we use precise temperatures for sterilization. These steps ensure that the valuable vitamins and minerals are not broken down during production.
Our natural and organic recipes contain all the required vitamins, minerals, proteins and amino acids a dog or cat requires in the correct proportions. All of our products are made from certified organic materials in compliance with EU Regulations for Organic Products. The Dutch organic hallmark (EKO) issued by Skal is the guarantee for the organic origin and manufacture of the products.
All certified organic ingredients are completely traceable to the source. All the organic materials are constantly monitored from start to finish ensuring they meet our stringent requirements. To be sure all the ingredients are 100% organic, Yarrah buys all the ingredients themselves. To give this 100% guarantee the Quality manager of Yarrah visits the producers personally; the larger ones at least once a year, the smaller once at least every other year.
No animal testing: Yarrah deliberately rejects any and all animal testing. Any palatability tests (to gauge the pets acceptance of the product) are carried out in the pets natural home setting. Yarrah does not allow any of our foods to be tested using either captive animals or invasive testing techniques. This has some consequences for our health claims. We cannot claim that our products have beneficial influences for your pet. Luckily there are many people who are very happy with our products and are willing to tell this to others.
Alternative testing: How do we test our products? Simple: if we want to introduce a new flavour or a new product, we ask about 100 dog or cat owners to feed the new product to their pet. Of course none of the ingredients has a health risk, so it is absolutely safe for the pet to eat the new product. If they like the product, we will adopt the new product. We are proud that we can use the logo of the Dutch Society against animal testing.
Why organic pet food? Is it better for our pets?
Yes, organic pet food is better than conventional pet food because what it does NOT have. A dog in general is not very picky when it comes to food. If the food smells good, the dog will eat it. There is a reason that most if not all dogs will always eat (high end) conventional food, the added chemical scents or fragrances that are applied ensure this.
The second reason that organic is better is the lack of preservatives. Conventional dog food is preserved with chemical preservatives to give the food a longer sell by date. Organic pet food has a short shelf life because no chemical preservatives are applied. Natural/organic antioxidants such as rosemary extracts are used instead.Are these chemical fragrances and preservatives really healthy for dogs? Probably not. Can these chemicals cause irritations in dogs? Maybe, but why risk it when they can be avoided.
Arguing that the organic grain and meat ingredients being better than conventional can be controversial. There are many studies that prove organic agriculture produces higher quality, more nutritious products, but there are also studies that claim there are no differences. What organic pet food CAN guarantee is that there are no chemical pesticide residues, genetically modified organisms or pharmaceutical residues in the food.
Organic pet food, at least in Yarrah’s case, also guarantees that we do not use bones, feathers, hooves, blood or other cheap fillers in our products.
Does organic food improve animal welfare for farm animals and wild animals (too)?
Organic farm animals are treated much better than animals in the conventional farming industry. An organic chicken for instance lives twice as long and has over 16 times more space to live on and is able to go outside. The beef Yarrah uses, are completely grass-fed so no tropical forest have to be cut to grow soy. Organic farmers do not use dangerous pesticides, so also small rodents and useful insects like bees are not harmed. What changes would Yarrah like to see in the pet food industry? Where would you like pet food to be in 100 years?
The first thing other pet food producers should stop doing, is testing their food on animals in kennels. A dogs life should not be used in this way; it has a right to have a normal life among people in a family.
The next step should be informing the customer truthfully about their products and where the ingredients come from. It is a terrible idea that people do not know that they are feeding their pets with meat of animals that are kept in small cages, with no room to live.
In 100 years, but hopefully much sooner, all pet owners will get the message that harming one animal to feed another is not acceptable. They will demand to know what is in their pet food, they will realize that chemical flavors, fragrances and colors are not needed, and will pick their brand of pet food purely on quality standards and not the amount of marketing budget a brand has available.
Welcome to Ethical Business: Ethical Life – we aim to showcase the people behind some of the amazing Ethical Businesses we have met through running Ethical Pets. This first volume is about Kevin, a friend, customer and all round inspiring guru chap. He runs a great small business called Lakeside Ethical Treats… and he does it all to raise funds for West Midlands Vegan Campaigns! It’s hard to sum up Kevin without gross overuse of words such as “dynamic” and “enthusiastic”. I think he is most simply encapsulated by his answer to the question “how many hours a week do you work”, he replied “Personally I wouldn’t call it work! But it’s got to be over 70 I think.”
When did you start your ethical business and what happened next?
My group Midlands Vegan Campaigns organizes the annual West Midlands Vegan Festival and various other vegan/animal awareness events throughout the year. With the festival costs increasing every year, I spent many months considering how I could raise more funds. It obviously had to be something ethical, but I also wanted to do something that would itself promote Veganism.
The idea came to me at The West Midlands Vegan Festival in October 2010: the festival featured 2 new stallholders, Goody Good Stuff sweets and Moo Free Chocolate. Goody Good Stuff sold out half way through the day and went home, and Moo Free also had an excellent day. Within 2 weeks of the festival, I had ordered a load of stock from both companies and Lakeside Ethical Treats was born!
First of all, we had stalls at various fairs and sanctuary open days in the run up to Christmas 2010 – and then an on-line store was set up too. The ‘shop’ soon started to stock delicious chocolate creme eggs, made by Birmingham based Chocolate Wendy House (consistently our most popular product over the past 2 years). The trial period went extremely well: it was clear the shop had great potential.
Since then the stock range has increased to over 120 lines! I believe that Lakeside Ethical Treats is now the biggest vegan confectionery shop in the world, and it’s without doubt the only vegan sweet shop to be run by volunteers to allow all the profits to go back into vegan awareness events!
Kevin and Toby (who is a big fan of Ethical Pets!)
The West Midlands Vegan Fair cost over £10,000 to run this year, and while Lakeside Ethical Treats helps to meet this cost, the shop has become about much more than fund-raising. During 2011, our stalls could be found at over 80 events throughout the year, everything from local group meetings, rallies, food fairs and big festivals.
The shop really showcases the vast array of vegan chocolate, sweets and snacks available – therefore promoting Veganism itself..
Describe an average day in the life of you.
My life revolves around vegan/animal rights/environmental campaigning and awareness raising. That’s the way it’s been pretty much since I first got involved over 15 years ago. My life is far from conventional – I admit to being totally and utterly obsessed!
Much of my time is spent organizing vegan/cruelty-free fairs and festivals. For example, taking stall bookings, arranging speakers/cookery demonstrators, updating the website, designing leaflets, promoting the events via magazine adverts, social media, press releases etc.
When orders for chocolates etc come in they need packing and dispatching and I of course have to update the shop website and maintain stock levels, making sure there’s enough stock for the big events.
I’m active in the animal rights movement in various other ways too, for example, I help
Kevin at the Brighton March for Farmed Animals
coordinate coach transport to national demonstrations. I also run The Redditch Green Fair and I am the moderator for the Redditch Freegle group, which I formed 7 years ago – it now has over 12,000 members!
To top this all off, I am a Green Party activist and Parish Councilor for the village of Feckenham, which is within the borough of Redditch.
What are your ethical principles and how do they guide and motivate you?
Firstly and most importantly, everything I put my name to has got to be cruelty-free and vegan. Environmental friendliness is also critical.
Although I was not fully aware of the animal farming industries until my mid-twenties, compassion and eco-living has dominated my entire life.
This is largely down to my Mother, who was, for example, campaigning against the Canadian seal slaughter way back in the early 1960’s. My best friends have always been the animals around me and I wouldn’t want it any other way. The wonder of animals and the natural world is imprinted within me, just like words through a stick of Blackpool rock.
In this over-consuming mad world, I struggled, at first, to come to terms with the idea of selling products, but eventually I came to the conclusion that food is the most ethical product to sell – particularly when it’s vegan and organic, fair-trade, locally produced etc. Most products from Lakeside Ethical Treats tick several of these boxes.
People will always want to buy sweets and chocolate, so you can’t get much more ethical than Vegan confectionery sold in aid of vegan awareness raising!
Any words of wisdom?
People are more ready than ever to taste the delights of Vegan cuisine and to learn the benefits of plant based diets – many are now changing their diets as a result. A massive 54% of visitors to this year’s West Midlands Vegan Fair were non-vegans!
We need to take advantage of peoples growing curiosity: the time is ripe for compassionate vegans to get more organized and coordinate food fairs and festivals everywhere. Don’t say it can’t be done in your town: look at what has happened in Wolverhampton!
Donald Watson, founder of The Vegan Society and inventor of the word “vegan” said in 1944:
“A common criticism is that the time is not yet ripe for our reform. Can time ever be ripe for any reform unless it is ripened by human determination?”
So, lets get more active and speed up the dawn of a vegan world!!
Come and meet Kevin at the Kings Heath Christmas Fair!
Come and buy some yummy chocolate from Lakeside Ethical Treats at the Kings Heath, Birmingham Cruelty-Free Christmas Fair – on Sat 15th Dec, 10.30 till 4pm
We love working with other ethical businesses, and have decided to showcase some of the amazing people behind them. We would like firstly to introduce some of the great people we have met since we started up a year ago, and secondly – well, we want to meet even more great people too!
The “Ethical Business, Ethical Life” series will consist of short interviews with people who run their own ethical business: we will ask about how the business got started, what day to day life is like in their office, what motivations them and if they have any advice for people who would like to start up their own ethical business. We are always looking for more new ways to spread the love, and can’t wait to get started with this project! If you would like to nominate a business, just drop us a line by email, on twitter or on facebook.
Joey and I are keen to start cycling, and we think this Project in Birmingham is really great! They have so much to offer so its well worth a look if you live locally (Anna’s Grandma lives in Erdington by the way, another reason we love this project so much). In putting together our cycle themed newsletter we have learned loads about how green cycling is, how useful bikes are and the cool stuff can be done with your bike when its old. All in all, we are pretty impressed with bikes! This is What Bike North Birmingham had to say:
