Buy responsibly

BUY RESPONSIBLY – programme for sustainable consumption and production

ekonsument.pl

Buy responsibly is the motto of the PGN’s thematic programme for sustainable consumption and production. It is aimed at increasing Polish society’s awareness and capability to make environmentally and socially responsible consumer choices and at strengthening the impact of Polish consumers on the policies of Polish companies and global corporations to improve their environmental protection and human rights standards.

To this end we conduct wide-scale consumer campaigns, disseminating information on social and environmental impacts of various consumer products. To date we have thoroughly analysed problematic areas in clothing, toy, timber and paper industries. We are conducting an analysis of the food sector and have initiated research in the cosmetics industry. Results of this analysis are published at the programme’s website: www.ekonsument.pl.

Apart from information activities targeted at the general public, we implement educational projects, social campaigns and advocacy activities. We reach particularly important target groups, including: entrepreneurs, media, governmental institutions and schools through numerous conferences, seminars, meetings, debates, film showings, happenings, exhibitions, festivals and trainings. Our representatives participate in various advisory bodies, e.g. in the Corporate Responsibility Group, established by the prime minister at the Ministry of Economy. We have issued over a dozen publications, e.g. handbooks for NGOs, companies and consumers, lesson plans for teachers and education brochures for children and youth.

We utilise modern communication tools, including social media, in order to strengthen citizen involvement in consumer issues. We coordinate preparation of guidebooks on sustainable consumption in various cities (Walking Guide on Conscious Consumption) and distribution of urgent appeals to Polish companies and international corporations. In August 2011 we published the first Good Shopping Guide for Poland, presenting socially and environmentally aware companies active on the Polish market.

Cooperation with other NGOs, both in Poland and internationally, constitutes an important part of our campaign. We are one of the founders of the Fair Trade Coalition and we act as its representative. The Coalition unites 14 organisations and companies involved in the development of Fair Trade in Poland. It acts as a partner for international representatives of the Fair Trade movement. Together with the Coalition Karat, Polish Humanitarian Action and the Warsaw eFTe Group we have established the coalition Clean Clothes Poland (CCP), which transfers international initiatives of the Clean Clothes Campaign to the Polish context and organises its own activities related mostly to consumer education and dialogue with clothes companies. Key partners of this campaign include: United Nations Development Programme’s branch office in Poland, Sudwind Agentur and Fairfood International.

The section below gives a brief overview of our current activities.

Good Shopping – this is the first online consumer guide in Poland presenting companies and brands that are more environmentally and socially responsible. This is an online database of information about companies that use organic or recycled materials, apply environmentally-friendly modes of production, follow Fair Trade rules, employ people vulnerable to exclusion, support national economy or initiate other activities that contribute to sustainable development. Currently this database covers clothes and toy companies (around 80 firms). It will be gradually extended to include other consumer goods. In the nearest future we are planning to add furniture and paper industry and next food, cosmetics, cleaning products, electronic equipment, etc.

A Walking Guide on Conscious Consumption – this is a practical guide to environmentally-friendly and socially-responsible places in the largest Polish cities (Warsaw, Krakow, Poznan, Wroclaw, Gdansk, Gdynia, Sopot, Upper Silesian Agglomeration, Lublin). It is systematically updated and expanded and its online version is available at: www.ekonsument.pl/spacerownik. It includes:
- shops and cafes selling organic and Fair Trade products,
- places selling handmade or recycled items or providing services in exchanging/ repairing things of daily use,
- other places that promote conscious, responsible consumption and that function in a sustainable way (cafes that organise information events, places organising free workshops, cultural events, film shows, debates, etc.).

3R Academy – this is a pilot educational project promoting reduction of packaging waste, implemented since January 2009. The project’s aim was to develop and shape environmentally-friendly attitudes in handling waste among children and youth in Polish schools. We focused not only on informing about responsible behaviour when it comes to waste but first and foremost on activating young people. This is why, together with partner organisations from Poland and the European platform of cities and municipalities for waste reduction, we prepared an Educational Package for teachers that contains various lesson scenarios together with examples of exercises that encourage pupils to practically apply the newly-gained knowledge and undertake initiatives for the sake of their communities and environment. All in all during the project we conducted 360 meetings in 180 classes in 10 voivodships. The project’s pilot stage was finalised with an in-depth evaluation of respective activities. On the basis of information collected through two project monitoring interviews conducted among teachers and two questionnaires evaluating implementation of the 3R principle in schools we prepared a project evaluation report. At the result dissemination stage, this evaluation was presented to over 700 teachers that we had trained during 30 trainings in the 10 voivodships that were involved in the project from the very beginning.

Buy toys responsibly – this is a part of a European campaign for better conditions in the toy industry, implemented since February 2009. Together with organisations from Austria, France, the Czech Republic and Romania we have a closer look on the toy industry, assuming that children would not like to play with toys produced at the expense of somebody’s suffering. We propagate information on abuses connected with toy manufacturing in developing countries (mainly in China) and suggest how consumers can influence toy companies in order to make them apply fair and good practices that are advantageous for the people that work in toy factories as well as for consumers. During last three years we have communicated our message to hundreds of thousands of consumers in Poland, including kindergarten and primary school teachers, owners of toy shops and children-friendly cafes as well as parents. We have managed to motivate many of them to take action, which resulted in over 60 meetings, film showings, toy manufacture workshops and happenings. Nearly 1,200 people became involved through our website in sending “urgent appeals” to toy companies, which contributed to improving the situation in the Yiuwah, Tianyu and Tai Qiang factories. Further 1,200 people signed the petition to the International Council of Toy Industries. These are numbers for Poland only – dozens of thousands of appeals and letters were sent from the whole Europe! On behalf of consumers from Poland and other countries we have spoken to such companies as Disney, Mattel, Lego, Carrefour and Smyk. We have also contacted many smaller toy companies – the best ones are recommended in our guide Good Shopping.

Buy clothes responsibly – we started this campaign at the beginning of 2010. Together with organisations from Austria and Germany we not only draw attention of consumers and civil society to abuses that occur in the clothes industry but we also try to present positive alternatives to conventional, global brands. We try to show how consumers can react to abuses of human rights, employment rights and increasing environmental pollution. We suggest how ordinary people can impact clothes companies so that they apply fair and good practices favourable for their employees and clients. We also promote responsible fashion, which respects human rights and Fair Trade rules, as well as organic and recycled clothes. During the project we have developed the first in Europe innovative training programme for small and medium clothes companies. We have also published a practical guide for clothes designers and companies – Towards Responsible Fashion, which explains how to implement responsible strategies and create responsible fashion in Poland. All in all, during seven trainings and workshops conducted during the project we reached around 220 designers, clothes design students and representatives of clothes brands and around 15 teachers working in clothes design colleges. Together with 15 representatives of the media and clothes brands we participated in three international conferences (London 2010, Linz 2010, Berlin 2011) on development opportunities for responsible fashion in Europe. In October 2012 we are organising in Warsaw the first in Poland Fairs of Responsible Fashion, where designers and creators will have a chance to present and promote their environmentally and socially responsible collections. The event will also include a professional fashion show, interviews, meetings with experts, workshops, film showings and a press conference.

Buy timber and paper responsibly – this project was launched in 2011. In cooperation with organisations from Italy, Romania, Spain and Malta as well as our Polish partners we want to draw public attention to social and environmental problems connected with forestry management as well as timber and paper industry in Poland and elsewhere, suggesting possible alternatives. This project is targeted at pupils and teachers in secondary schools, consumers and companies of the timber and paper sector. Its aim is to show that responsible production and consumption of goods that come from forests, such as furniture, flooring, windows and paper, is a must if we want to preserve forest resources for the current generation and posterity. We suggest how consumers can oppose environmental degradation or abuse of the rights of indigenous people and local communities inhabiting exploited areas. Within the project we published a multimedia Educational Package for teachers in secondary schools to support them in introducing the topic of sustainable forest management. We are planning to conduct such classes in 120 secondary schools in Poland. They will be accompanied by competitions for mini projects that activate school communities and international pupil exchange. The project will also include trainings for teachers, an interactive multimedia educational exhibition in Warsaw, Łódź and Krakow, a festival of films on forestry-related topics, expanding of the Good Shopping consumer guide with timber and paper products and an international conference summarising the project.

Follow our activities on: ekonsument.pl, facebook.com/kupujodpowiedzialnie and twitter.com/Buy_responsibly

Programme’s coordinator: Maria Huma, maria@zielonasiec.pl

Activities within the Buy Responsibly Programme in 2011-2012 are co-financed by the European Commission under the EropeAid Programme and the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management.