Support fairtrade with ethical investments

Fairtrade is more than simply buying ethical produce, price comparison website Fairinvestment.co.uk- is encouraging people to support Fairtrade by investing their money in ethical companies.

Ethical banks, such as Triodos or the Co-operative Bank, support Fairtrade through the companies they invest in and through microfinance.

Ethical investments involve not investing money in companies that support the arms trade, animal cruelty, or environmental degradation.

Companies that ignore the human rights of workers are also excluded from investment.

Microfinance involves providing small loans to some of the world’s poorest people, enabling them to help themselves.

Microfinance can also be supported by donating to charities such as Five Talents that seek to help those in need through microfinance initiatives.

James Caldwell, Fairinvestment.co.uk director, said: “Microfinance offers people the opportunity to change their own lives – not through charity, but through self-sufficient loans which are repaid and then used to help more people to fulfil their potential.”

He added that if people need to cut back on charity donations during the recession, they can continue to making a difference by investing their money ethically and choosing to buy fairtrade.