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:: Starter Activities
Product Pairs - Extreme items -
Environmental /
Social
/ Economic
Environmental issues
Pens/pencils
Remarkable recycled plastic cup pen, from
www.remarkable.co.uk, tel. 0208 741 1234 (10 for £4.25) compared with
a cheap biro sourced locally.
Issues to consider
What is the barrel made from?
How long does the ink last?
Can old pens be reused in any way?
Socks
Organic cotton socks from
www.naturalcollection.com compared with locally
sourced synthetic socks.
Issues to consider
Use of fertilisers and pesticides
Use of synthetic dyes compared with natural colours
Energy use
Toothbrushes
Compare the finger toothbrush with an electric toothbrush sourced locally.
For details of the finger toothbrush see
www.no-shank.com
Issues to consider
Energy in use
Materials needed in manufacture
Possibility of disassembly
Packaging
Shopping Bags
Compare the Fair trade Sisal Durable Shopping bag £12.95
www.naturalcollection.com with any conventional
shopping or plastic bag.
Issues to consider
Durability
Litter
Waste
Social issues
Dolls
Compare a Razanne doll with a Barbie
Issues
Do toys encourage awareness of other cultures or reinforce stereotypes?
Use of materials to make toys recycled textiles.
Barbie to be made from recycled plastics?
Chicken soup
Compare a standard chicken soup and kosher Jewish soup.
The Jewish religion includes dietary laws. These laws determine which food is
acceptable and in conformity with Jewish Law. The word kosher is an adaptation
of the Hebrew word meaning fit or proper. It refers to foodstuffs that meet the
dietary requirements of Jewish Law.
Issues
What is the social and cultural impact of choosing certain products?
Is it important to conserve culturally different ways of doing things?
Economic issues
Chocolate
Compare a locally sourced product made by, for example, Mars or
Nestle with Green & Black or Divine Chocolate, both available locally or from
www.goodnessdirect.co.uk.
An article by the Daily Telegraph's Rachel Baird warns, Up to 40 per cent of
the chocolate we eat may be contaminated by slavery.
Ivory Coast is the world's biggest producer of cocoa beans with over a million
cocoa farms and plantations. A British TV documentary, Slavery, claimed that
90 per cent of Ivory Coast cocoa plantations use slave labour. Most are young
men and boys from impoverished areas in Benin, Togo and Mali. They are enticed
by traffickers who promise them paid work, housing and an education. Instead,
they are sold to Ivory Coast cocoa plantation owners who beat them into
submission and offer no pay for gruelling, 18-hour days. Big companies like
Nestle purchase their cocoa on international exchanges where cocoa from Ivory
Coast is mixed with cocoa from other countries and loses its identity as a
slave-made product.
Cola
Compare Qibla Cola
www.qibla-cola.com
Email:
[email protected],
Qibla Cola Company Ltd
PO BOX 6440
Derby DE1 9NE
Tel: 01332 371 001
Call for details of your local distributor with a locally sourced coke.
The boycotting of major brands, such as Coca-Cola, across the Muslim world, has
highlighted the anger felt by consumers towards such companies. Increasingly
Muslims are questioning the role these brands play in their societies, and are
seeking out alternatives - brands that dont use the revenues they earn to
support injustices.
Questions that Qibla Cola ask of other brands of cola:
1. Do your products contain any alcohol or animal extracts?
2. Does your company contribute towards any states
that oppress Muslims?
3. Does your company contribute to third world causes?
4. Does your company exploit the work force in the third world?
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