Woollyeyes.com

For some people shopping is a hobby; for others it’s just something that has to be done… either way every product we buy has an impact on our planet. It’s often said that the buyer is king – and if that’s true, we have a real responsibility towards our environment whenever we buy anything.

Woollyeyes exists to help you make the best buying decisions which will help to protect the Earth and each other.

We often don’t realise the knock-on effect that our actions can have.

For instance, buying a new TV to enjoy the World Cup may seem like a great idea but it can have a big environmental effect: if you throw out your old TV to make space for the new one and it ends up on a landfill site, it can contain up to about 5 kilos of lead (that’s highly poisonous) which can leak out and pose a serious threat to wildlife and even humans. On top of that, the new lead that’s needed for the new TV has to be mined which further endangers wildlife habitats.

Buying a bar of chocolate may seem harmless (okay, so it may not be very good for you!) but the real impact depends where it was grown and under what conditions. Cocoa grows best in the same sort of conditions as tropical rainforest – so huge areas of rainforest have been cleared away and turned into farmland, wiping out loads of wildlife. Many farmers also use large quantities of pesticides which can be really harmful for the environment. It means that your bar of chocolate might have had a bigger impact than you ever realised; our advice would be to look out for the Fair Trade stuff!

How many T-shirts have you ever bought in your life? And for how many of those did you think about where it came from when you got it? Probably none at all! So you might be surprised to know that something as basic as a T-shirt will usually travel thousands of miles to get to you – and may have been made by some of the most exploited workers in the world.

We have created an “Ethical Shopping Guide”, to help you to be more informed when you make your purchases…

Use your local independent shops – you will be supporting the community in which you live, you will be actually seeing the faces of the people whose businesses you benefit, rather than the corporate suits at major supermarkets that allow your money to seep into their pockets via stocks and shares in addition to their disproportionate salaries. In addition, by utilising your local shops you will not have to use your car to go out as often, reducing carbon emissions!

Buy your electrical items from one of the few ethically focused retailers (below). Not only will you get the latest offers and savings you will generate a minimum 2% commission to Wollyeyes on every purchase you make!