There are many reasons why you choose your first bank. For some it was their parents who opened their account for them. For others it was the bank offering the best student bribe benefit. While for others it was just the convenience of which bank was located in their High Street. For me choosing a bank was a no-brainer. I come from a “Co-op” family (pronounced “kworp” in the part of Manchester I am from). My great uncle was the Chief Executive of the Cooperative Wholesale Society - the Tescos of the 1950s when he was in charge. My grandpa was the chief actuary at the Co-operative Insurance Society in the 1970s. My brother-in-law still works for the Coop Bank today.
My mum was so brand loyal to The Coop that we even had to go to the Coop dentist which was appropriately on the corner of Redfern St in the centre of Manchester. Never did find out whether she got dividend on our treatment or not. In the early part of the 20th Century the Coop really could look after every aspect of your life. From baby food sold in the Coop supermarkets through to the funeral service which the Coop still dominates today. So in this context I opened a Coop bank account in 1986. I have laterally switched to their “fun” online brand Smile because I never need to go to a branch. But I have stayed loyal to the bank. And that loyalty isn’t much to do with heritage. It is down to the fact that they have taken ethics to their very core.
In 1989 they announced their ethical policy and overnight placed themselves in a different league to the other high street banks. The Coop Bank has conducted several stakeholder reports or social audits that look at the views of all of the Bank’s stakeholders. The report is independently audited and you can see clear action plans for how they are going to do more on each of the areas of concern. Even the CIS skyscraper in the centre of Manchester (where my Grandpa proudly had an office on the 19th floor) now has a giant solar panel down the whole of its south facing lift shaft. When you enter the reception you can see a giant display of how much energy is being generated.
And yet can I really say I love a bank after all the banking turmoil of the last 2 years? Well you probably won’t be surprised to learn that Coop Bank didn’t dash for the cash in the sub-prime market. In fact in March 2009 it actually posted a tidy profit for last year – rather in stark contrast to all the “state owned” banks who have fallen from grace.
I have no intention of moving my bank accounts and have already convinced 2 of my kids to bank with Coop. Perhaps it has always been in my DNA to bank with the Coop but they keep giving new ethical reasons to stay.
Back in January our Managing Director Andy wrote a blog “Our 2009 pledge to you” and asked for your feedback and comments. We were really pleased by the number of you who took the time to write in and leave some great feedback and ideas. Thanks!
From your responses it became clear that packaging was an issue close to many of your hearts. Unfortunately a great deal of packaging often just goes straight to landfill, so in the belief that through small changes each of us can make a big difference, I decided to review our current packaging and find greener, more eco-friendly alternatives.
One of the main bones of contention mentioned by many of you was our use of bubble wrap. As an ethical company, bubble wrap is a great source of conflict as it unfortunately isn’t green (eco-friendly I mean!). It is annoyingly necessary to protect glass and fragile items with bubble wrap but the plastic nature of the product means it creates waste that fills up landfills and takes many years to biodegrade. This was the first item that I wanted to change and I was so pleased to find a wonderful new green alternative to this conundrum - biodegradle bubble wrap. GeoBubble has the same benefits as traditional bubble wrap – protecting orders from damage while in transit but, what is so fantastic is it will safely dissolve naturally into the environment. And it is a lovely green colour too!
Another element we wanted to change was the way that we pack our bottles. Fragile products need extra protection, but frankly our old cardboard bottle holders required a degree in advanced origami to assemble! Our new wine bottle holders are now made from reconstituted paper and are pretty robust as this video demonstrates. They’re made from 100% recycled materials and are 100% recyclable too, helping to minimise the amount of rubbish that gets sent to landfill. It makes a great excuse to buy one of our fab ethical wines!
All of the paper that we use to pack our boxes and protect your orders during transit is recycled, and with no waxy lining you can recycle this paper all over again, not to mention the fact that it’s compostable too. Another eco-friendly packaging favourite is Eco-Flo packing, which looks and functions like polyestyrene, but biodegrades exceptionally quickly (check out our video clip in The Great Packaging Debate blog post).
As often as we can we reuse old boxes which means your package sometimes doesn’t look as pretty as it could, but the ecological benefits defiantly outweigh the negatives. If we can’t find a box to reuse, we use new boxes which are specially manufactured without wax, so can therefore either be recycled or you can use them to build a fort/time machine in your living room!
We hope you’ll agree that we’re heading in the right direction with our packaging and practices, but we are always on the lookout for new inspiration so if you have any ideas we would love to hear from you.
This morning’s news has been buzzing with talk of recycling, and questions of which of the leading supermarkets are engaging most effectively in the war against waste.
I for one am pleased to see such questions leading the national headlines, and it certainly made me sit up and take notice as I gulped down my morning toast and tea. It’s good to hear the BBC cross examining Heads of Food Packaging Departments, and I’m satisfied to know that British consumers are becoming discerning and environmentally aware enough to care about which shops are reducing needless packaging and which are gearing up towards the recycling effort. The premise behind the Local Government Association’s Survey of holding supermarkets accountable is a great one, and I’m encouraged to hear that since their 2007 report amounts of food packaging have decreased.
Despite improvement in some areas, the findings of the survey have also resulted in widespread criticisms of the various chains, which have in turn provoked a variety of responses both attacking and defending the key movers and shakers in the supermarket industry. You might not have anticipated this one, but the British Retail Consortium’s Head of Environment Bob Gordon spoke out in favour of some packaging, highlighting that the survey failed to recognise the crucial role packaging plays in preserving food: “It’s a nonsense to suggest that retailers swathe their goods in masses of unnecessary packaging. This would simply be a pointless cost. Packaging reduces waste by protecting and preserving products.”
Presents wrapped using our ethical wrapping service.
A while ago I was given the task of developing our Christmas Gift Wrap. I instantly thought old fashioned brown paper and natural wrapping, Something nice on the eye, something that would look beautiful under the Christmas tree, Something that would scream out on Christmas morning ‘Open Me’. I just love those presents!
After searching the internet for every combination and variation of ‘Ethical Gift Wrap’, I came across a beautiful recycled paper ribbon. Perfect! This was just what I was looking for. I immediately imagined the biggest bow, tied beautifully around my old fashioned natural brown paper, a classic look that I knew would never date.
But something was missing….and then the answer, to add the finishing touches to my beautiful, recycled, natural gift wrap, was the delicious Divine Fairtrade chocolate coin. That extra little Christmas treat, that I knew would go down well with children and adults alike. Yummy!
So there I had it, my fabulous christmas gift wrap, looking so traditional with its big red hand tied Christmas bow. I think this is the perfect ethical choice for all our customers.
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