The Observer Magazine, part of the Guardian News and Media Ltd group, promotes companies and an ethical lifestyle, introducing to its readers companies and products locally sourced, fair-trade, and organic. In the last six years it has established an award to reward those companies working with these standards and a panel of expert judges has been submerged with projects, nominations and products.
Among them, names like Gordon Roddick, cofounder of Body Shop, one of the first ethical company where make up was not tested on animals and where the products were bought fair trade when forty years ago these concepts were not known yet, or Damian Carrington head of environment at the Guardian and also Colin and Livia Firth, owners of the first eco shop in London, Eco Age. The awards have been divided into categories so to give a better care of the different topics of this important and awaited prize.
Readers of the Observer Magazine have voted for the finalists in four categories like “Local retailer” “OnlineRetailer” “Campaigner” and “Global Campaigner” while the panel of judges had to choose a winner for each of these categories: “Big Idea”, “Grassroots Project”, “EcoverEthical Kids” “Fashion and Accessorizes”, “Conservation”, “Ethical Business”and “Ethical Blog”.In times when consumerism encourages us to change mobile phones every six months and shops are selling clothes for few pounds diminishing the quality and the work behind it, more and more companies feel the need to give back to the community and to the environment, a contribution, a help for workers in less developed countries, or a recycling system and also local projects where the priority were ethical production and the use of organic stock.
From the shortlist the choice had to be very hard because all the nominations where equally praise worthy.The Observer Lifetime Achievement Award Winner has been given to scientist JamesLovelock, the originator of the Gaia hypothesis, a pioneering model that now forms the basis of climate science. Doctor Lovelock could not be at the V&A to receive his award but a video with a small interview by Lucy Siegle, host of this prestigious ceremony and columnist of the Observer Magazine, has been screened for the guests on the evening.Winner for the “Local Retailer” has been The People’s Supermarket, based in London in the Holborn area, a cooperative who sells healthy food at reasonable prices.
The products are mainly British, where possible local produce from London, buying from trusted suppliers and sourcing stock in surplus or cancelled orders so to minimize food’s wastage. Winner of the “Online Retailer” category has been Riverford Organic Vegetables, a company that delivers tens of thousands of organic vegetable boxes a week in UK with farms supplying the stock and keep up with ethical standards. Global Campaigner for this year has been Greg Valerio with his production of fairly traded jewellery, a tough environment where exploitation of workmanship is widely known everywhere. Children have been involved in this project and the winners of the category “Ecover Ethical Kids” were pupils of the year 8 at Mersey side who working together with students of the Duke of Edinburgh, made, sold and distributed bats and birds boxes within the local community. This is a very positive message for the future generations, seeing young children being so involved in preserving the local fauna.
Fashion is not a beginner, regarding ethical issues and this year the winner for the “Fashion” category has been “Pachacuti” a word in Quechua that means “world up side-down” and its production of Panama hats by women from Andes working with sustainable procedures where every single straw in the hats is organic and work is FairTrade. The category “Big Idea” sees the winner “Pavegen”, a company that with kinetic energy transforms footsteps in electricity. Slabs by Pavegen have been set at the Bestival,in a school and in East London, producing electricity by walking over these special tiles.The Bristol Bike Project won for the category “Grassroots Project” where unwanted and broken bicycles have been repaired and given to under privileged in the city.
Thames side Nature Park won the category “Conservation” transforming a land fill site in a living landscape with wild fauna and nature on the north bank of the river Thames, thanks to the efforts of the Essex Wildlife Trust. The ethical blog worthy of the Award for the “Blog “category has been Shirahime, an ethical fashion blog where thorough and detailed researches in the fashion trade give an insights of what is going on in this that is not a frivolous world anymore.The “Campaigner sponsored by B&Q” ‘s award went to Compassion in World Farming,an organization established 40 years ago by a British farmer horrified by the intensive factory farming.
Investigations brought up the terrible conditions of livestock and with the media coverage ending cruelty against the animals in farms. When thinking about Ethical companies the thought goes automatically to small projects and local companies,but the winner for the “Business” went to the Co-operative Group, a member-owned and UK based family of business, spread out in various ventures tackling important issues like climate change, responsible retailing, investing in communities and tackling global poverty.Among the celebrities giving the awards Colin Firth and Livia Firth, model Lily Cole,Baroness Lola Young and poet and novelist Ben Okri.
Hopefully more and more companies will take the example from this year and previous year’s winners making a small but significant change in everyday life and in a broader view for the environment and a better life for the less lucky ones.