Afternoon:
9°c
The fashion websites where you can go green without losing your cool
Mark Prigg, Science Correspondent13 Aug 2008
Britain's most fashionable green website was named today.
The accolade went to People Tree, a London-based company that offers fair trade clothes.
News site TreeHugger and tour operator Responsible Travel were also singled out in the Green Web Awards, which aim to help people find the best environmental information on the web.
People Tree was founded by Safia Minney, 43, and aims to prove clothes can be both chic and ethically sound. It works with 50 fair trade groups in 15 countries to produce its garments.
The site took the ethical clothing and fashion category in the awards.
Ms Minney, who counts actresses Sienna Miller and Minnie Driver among her clients, said: "We have been running in the UK since 2001 and in Japan before that. Over that time, we have really seen the web emerge as an excellent form of communication.
"Whereas in our retail locations we can display clothes and sell them, I believe our website allows us to really educate customers about what we are trying to do. We wanted to explain how our clothes are made, and by whom. The site lets us do that. In print or in store you just can't do that."
Ms Minney, who has two teenage children and has worked in advertising and marketing, set up her firm in Japan after she and her investment banker husband James relocated there for his work. The family moved back to London a year ago and the brand has become so successful Mr Minney has quit his job and is on his wife's payroll.
Other award winners include Freecycle, a worldwide effort to help people living near each other swap unwanted goods. It was launched in America in 2003 and now has more than 5.6 million members around the world, with nearly 1.3 million in Britain. Users sign up to their local group, and can see what nearby goods are being offered and request items they want, all for free.
The awards were organised by Nigel Berman of website Nigel's Eco Store.
"The web is now a central part of our lives," he said. "We expect the sites we visit to be authoritative, dynamic and talking to us in ways that we understand. I hope we've been able to shine a light on some of the very best green websites there are.
"The web has become more and more important in spreading awareness and promoting action on environmental issues and these awards aim to recognise the achievements of the websites leading this revolution."
The awards did not only honour the best green sites. There were alslo wooden spoons for the biggest "greenwash" by a company. The worst offender was judged to be toy firm Mattel for its attempt to sell a range of eco-friendly Barbie dolls. Shell and ExxonMobil were singled out for advertising campaigns trying to portray their businesses as green. The attempts were widely condemned by environmental activists.
The awards were judged by a panel of environmental correspondents from across the media, including Anna Shepard from TimesOnline and Mark Harris from Metro, and bloggers including environment expert Adam Vaughan from website smart planet.
Click here for more information about the awards
