How many times have you heard about people working in unsafe conditions or families struggling to get by on a pittance of a wage? Sadly, there are many families across the world who are struggling, many of whom work for well known household names. Long before we launched Catkin Toys, we made a decision to always support fair trade and ethical business where possible. It began as small changes, such as switching to fair trade coffee, but soon we were experiencing and enjoying many different brands which give back to the people who work so hard. We were determined to stock as many ethically sourced brands as we possibly could and our range is expanding constantly.
Just one of our ethically sourced brands is Pebble toys. Arlo was just a few months old when we were gifted our first pebble toy by a work colleague of mine. It was absolutely delightful! That little strawberry face was just so inviting and I soon discovered not only were the toys themselves wonderful, but the ethos behind the brand was wonderful, too. Pebble toys work hard to support women in countries like Bangladesh, who would otherwise have to leave their families for months at a time in order to earn enough money to survive. They offer the opportunity to work in a safe environment for a fair price transforming the lives of many ordinary people across the world. They are truly remarkable!
It was also important for us to consider the environment. As parents, I know we all want to build the best world possible for our children. You only have to turn on the news to see that our way of living is having a drastic impact on our planet. Worryingly, some reports suggest that by 2070, when Arlo will be just 51 years old, many places will have become so hot as to be uninhabitable, forcing billions of people to move elsewhere. We believe it is in everyone's collective interest to do their part and so we implemented changes to reduce our carbon footprint. For example, all of our packaging is eco-friendly and made from recycled and recyclable material. The paint and gloss we use is produced locally in the UK and we even repurpose the cardboard from our large orders into play activities for Arlo before eventually recycling them.
Of course there are always improvements to be made and we are constantly on the lookout for new ethical brands to stock and ways to further reduce our carbon footprint. If you are trying to reduce your environmental impact too, drop us a comment below and let us know why it is so important to you, too.