We're an Ethical Consumer Best Buy!
In 2023 our unbleached bamboo toilet paper was assessed by The Ethical Consumer as part of their shopping guide to eco-friendly loo rolls. We came top of the class! You can read the article here.
We were thrilled to earn the top ranking from one of the most respected voices in UK ethical and environmental advocacy. So as of July 2024 we’re showing off our grade with The Ethical Consumer’s “Best Buy” label, awarded for our unbleached toilet rolls. You’ll be seeing the label on our website and emails, so we thought we’d take a moment to dig into the history of Best Buy status, and what it means for us at Naked Sprout.
What is the Ethical Consumer?
Since 1989 The Ethical Consumer has been a leading publisher of high-quality research and journalism in the ethical consumer movement. Their team of researchers and journalists work to provide people in the UK with resources that will help them make purchasing choices that are “simple, informed, and effective,” with the goal of supporting a more fair and sustainable consumer economy.
They publish a bi-monthly magazine which features shopping guides and industry news across a range of sectors like energy, supermarkets, and fashion. They also maintain a website which has databases collecting their research into over 40,000 companies, brands, and products.
And they don’t just analyse, they advocate. The Ethical Consumer uses their research and reporting to support a range of causes, such as consumer boycotts, tax justice, and anti-animal testing campaigns.
What is the Best Buy label?
The Ethical Consumer Magazine created their Best Buy Label in 2003, to highlight companies that are upholding the values they stand for. Today the blue butterfly label can be found on the packaging and websites of nearly 50 environmentally and ethically conscious companies.
We’re delighted to be one of them, but what do we mean by “environmentally and ethically conscious?”
Regular readers of our blog will know that we talk a lot about our environmental credentials; these are things like CO2e measuring and reduction, reducing plastic wherever possible, and avoiding common pollutants like bleach and harsh chemicals. All of these help us to reduce the impact our products have on the environment.
When we look at ethical values, we are thinking about the impact that our company has on people, animals, and the wider community we’re part of. The ethical consumer considers our pay structure, supply chain transparency, and our approach to employee welfare, among other things.
What is the process?
The Ethical Consumer’s Best Buy label is a simple mark that signposts a unique and comprehensive research and ranking system. It differs from accreditations like B Corp because as well as evaluating the overall ethics and processes of a company, they also look at the impact of the individual products that they sell.
So for Naked Sprout, they have considered our corporate structure, our messaging and transparency, our supply chain, and a range of other factors that go into making us an ethical company. As well as this, they have also done a health check on the specific production, pollution, and packaging footprints of our products; unbleached, sustainable toilet rolls.
Looking at the company as well as the products gives a comprehensive view of how a business conducts itself. After all, it’s possible to make low carbon products but underpay your team, and it’s possible to pay everyone well but use polluting manufacturing methods.
We were the only eco toilet roll company that they assessed who got full marks in all of their core categories, and we also got a bonus for company ethos!
The Ethical Consumer’s combined approach means their label provides an assurance; when you choose a Best Buy product you’re avoiding greenwash and supporting “genuinely ethical products.”
It doesn’t get more straightforward than that.
Conclusion
That’s the story behind the blue butterfly, and why we’re so proud to see the little chap flapping its wings on Naked Sprout. If you’re interested in ethical and sustainable shopping, as well as keeping up with news and events from across the ethical consumer movement, you can pick up their magazine, or head over to their website, to read more.
And if you're not a subscriber with them, but you'd like to be, we have good news! Ethical Consumer are currently offering Naked Sprout customers a discount on a new magazine subscription, with 14 months for the price of 12, just use code SPROUT14 at checkout.
What to try the unbleached rolls with the blue butterfly seal of approval?
