While we were in India we were surprised and very, very pleased to be featured in an issue of Business & Economy magazine. We are featured along with a few other companies as “the latest brewing in ethical fashion”. Well we are flattered to be included in fashion although most of the garments we sell are very straightforward – for example organic t shirts. The company clothing industry on the whole requires good quality, colour fast garments which will fit a range of employees. I believe if we were too fashionable e.g. figure hugging t shirts we would not meet our customers requirements.
The question I ask every week, or even more often is “Are the enough customers who want to consider sustainability, social responsibility and fairness for Cotton Roots to be sustainable?” Impact Trading (my original company) still supports Cotton Roots but every order we get for Fairtrade polo shirts, every new customer who commits to the ethical options we offer, gives me a thrill. Really!
Most recently Chester Zoo has started to purchase from us their staff uniforms. They now have organic trousers and Fairtrade aprons. We are hopeful that when our new bottle green, Fairtrade and organic polo shirts arrive that the zoo also change to these garments. On a visit to Chester Zoo recently with Helen we met Brendan who made us most welcome and showed us around. They are so committed to ethical sourcing generally which includes food, water and now uniforms. I was impressed. www.chesterzoo.org Helen is in discussion with a number of other zoos so watch this space for more news.