Our Credentials
Seals of approval
People Tree is an active member of many Fair Trade, social justice and environmental networks. Accreditation by these bodies, like WFTO, the Fairtrade Foundation and the Soil Association gives you the guarantee that we are doing what we say we are doing when it comes to Fair Trade and the environment.
Fair Trade credentials
Since 1996 People Tree has been a registered and highly involved member of the World Fair Trade Organisation (WFTO). We also initiated World Fair Trade Day, endorsed by WFTO and the only global Fair Trade event, celebrated in 70 countries worldwide.
WFTO is an internationally recognised organisation that aims to improve the livelihoods of disadvantaged producers, by linking and promoting Fair Trade organisations and speaking out for greater justice in World Trade. WFTO members take part in regular reviews to ensure that they meet WFTO standards.
Like all WFTO members, Fair Trade is at the heart of People Tree's mission and we make sure that we comply with the 10 standards of Fair Trade.
In addition, most of People Tree's organic cotton carries the FAIRTRADE Mark. This guarantees small scale cotton farmers in developing countries receive a fair and stable price and an additional premium which gives them the opportunity to develop their communities.
A few of our organic cotton items do not carry this mark because they are made with a high quality cotton fibre, which is not yet grown by an approved producer in India. People Tree is initiating new organic Fairtrade cotton projects in Bangladesh, so that so that in future our handwoven cotton can carry the FAIRTRADE mark.
Ecological credentials
People Tree has promoted organic cotton farming for over ten years, and all our organic fibre is certified in India by Control Union (an international Dutch based organic certification body).
We have been working hard to get our organic cotton clothing certified by the Soil Association too. This guarantees that our manufacturing processes also meets Global Organic Textile Standards. So, if you see the mark beside the colour of the garment on our site, you can be assured that every step of the production process, from sowing the cotton seeds to shipping a t-Shirt to your doorstep, has been carefully inspected to ensure organic standards.
Our new colours for organic clothing now meet stringent requirements for organic dyes.
Some of our organic cotton products don't carry the mark, even though they use low impact dyes. This is because the screen print workshop we use is a small family run business that we didn't want to desert for the sake of certification. We're supporting them so that they can meet the organic criteria soon.
Getting many small scale producers certified is a complicated process, but Fair Trade focuses on marginalised and small-scale groups. We hope that by next year our entire organic cotton collection will carry the Soil Association symbol.
Our Awards
- 2009: MBE for Safia Minney, People Tree founder and CEO
- 2009: The Observer Ethical Awards for Fashion
- 2008: Cosmopolitan Best Ethical E-tailer Award
- 2008: Safia Minney was a finalist in the Triodos Bank Women in Ethical Business Awards for the Best Ethical Business Award
- 2006: Safia was named Social Entrepreneur of the Year in the Edge Upstart Awards in Britain
- 2005: Safia was awarded the Community Award at the annual Asian Business Awards, in recognition of her work with Asian Producer Communities
- 2004: Safia was selected as one of the world's most "Outstanding Social Entrepreneurs" by the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship
