Ethical Gifts for Mother’s Day
Mothering Sunday, or Mother’s Day as we’ve come to know it, is a tradition dating back to the 16th Century. The celebration was actually an annual visit made by Christians to the ‘mother church’ within their community and when children who had been working away in service were reunited with their mothers.
During the celebration, children would bring a gift for their mother and the tradition has continued to this day. In the past, flowers and cakes were a common gift but now we tend to give a variety of different presents. This year, why not consider giving an ethical gift for mother’s day.
Mother’s Day ethical presents
Mother’s Day is an important time to show appreciation to your mum given the years she has spent loving and nurturing you. So, wouldn’t it be good to give a gift that lets her know how much you love her while also representing the same spirit of caring for the environment in which we all live.
An ethical gift is the perfect way to do this. Ethical gifts can be fairtrade, organic, natural, sustainable or recycled. There are many ethical brands producing beautiful gifts so you’ll be spoilt for choice.
Ethical & Sustainable Toys
As an eco-friendly adult you do all you can to ensure your green credentials are up to date – recycling, energy-saving light bulbs, fairtrade coffee and chocolate etc. But how about sustainable toys for the children in your life? How ethical are the toys you give to the kids? And would an ethical toy make it onto a child’s wish list in the first place? In this article we’ll discuss ethical toys and find out what makes a toy ‘green’.
The ethical toy debate
The toy industry, which is said to worth around £8 billion, has long been criticised for its lack of environmental awareness. However, that hasn’t stopped adults from splashing the cash. By the time the average British child reaches the age of 16, they will have owned around £11,000 worth of toys. It’s impossible for all those toys to have been made from sustainable materials or be ethically sound, so what’s being done to improve the situation?
The answer has, until recently, been very little. The mass market for cut-price toys lends itself to huge industrialisation leading to outsourcing and then questionable labour rights for the workforce who produce the products. Then there’s the materials used in manufacture.