Featured Retailer: Only Fair

October 12, 2009 by Brenda
Filed under Featured Posts, Featured Retailers

Who are you and what is your position?

I’m Kate James and I own and run Only Fair.

The reason for starting the company?

Early 2007, I was near to qualifying as a paralegal and after a difficult few months working in a new company I decided that the legal environment wasn’t right for me after all. I set up Only Fair because I wanted to work for myself and I chose fair trade because I wanted to be able to help make a difference, even if that were indirectly.

How long have you been in business?

Just over two years.

Tell us about your products?

All of the products I sell are fair trade. That’s the one thing that they must be. As well as that, many of them are recycled. I’m a firm believer in re-using what you can. In the UK we throw away a shameful amount of rubbish per year and yet some of the products I sell are made from everyday things such as newspapers or crisp packets.

What is your favourite green luxury item?

Divine chocolate, although I’m not sure if it’s a luxury item or a necessity!

What is your top green tip?

The best ‘green’ thing we ever did was get chickens. We first got interested in it after setting up our polytunnel – we were producing our own fruit and veg and thought how great it would be to be able to have our own eggs too, this was at a similar time to the Chicken out campaign coming into the public domain. We got our hens purely for eggs and not to be raised for meat. They are kept free range and, as hens go, are rather spoilt. Free range eggs have the richest and tastiest flavour you will find and, because they are free range, they are getting all the nutrition they need to give them the brightest yolk you will see. By having your own eggs we are not contributing to the system of hen rearing that is currently in the UK. Whilst much work is being done to improve welfare, far more needs to be done. Not only do they provide us with our eggs, but they help to keep bugs down in the garden and, without going in to too much detail, they also help to produce a very good quality compost.

What do you do to relax?

Lots of reading, mainly books but if I really can’t tear myself away from the computer, blogs. I’m also quite crafty and love to make things, including soy candles.

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