Ethical marketing touches everything.

We are using fewer images!

You’ve probably noticed. The main reasons are reducing our carbon footprint and the labour going into creating (non-essential) visuals. We were ranked among a pretty cool array of sites to have sustainable UX/UI design by Green The Web – and we want to go even further.

You may have already seen our blog and Medium posts going without visuals, as well as this very newsletter!

We’re still learning about what this change will bring and the reasons for it. Reply to this email and let us know how this lands for you! ✍️

Because Katie Lewis just held an incredible community workshop this month called ‘Business as the Doorway to Access’, we’re staying with the theme for this section.

The brilliant Maria Arango Kure wrote an article on web accessibility after they brought our website to being partially conformant with WCAG 2.1 level AA last year.

It is called “Web accessibility: Where do I even start?” You can find it on our blog and our Medium publication.

We are taking the pledge for the use of products which have had no child labour in any part of the supply chain. Truth in labelling. A fair price paid for all ingredients and reflected in a reasonable scale price for our customers. Financial support to farmers’ co-operatives supplying the bulk of our raw materials. We believe in helping to make poverty history!

– Akua Wood, Sheabutter Cottage​

We’re making the ethical move because consumerism, driven by conventional marketing, is a root cause of the environmental and social problems facing the world. We want to be part of the change in our sales and marketing, as well as our services.

– Osbert Lancaster, Realise Earth​

Find more pledgee WHYs on our website:

• • This fantastic article to help with how to approach being within a system we’re hoping to change: How to Be an Anticapitalist Today by Eric Olin Wright (and their book ‘How to Be an Anti-capitalist in the 21st Century).
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• • The framework for ‘Developing a Liberatory Consciousness’ by Dr. Barbara J. Love has been instrumental in how I approach my work. Because I couldn’t find a graphic, I made one for myself for how I use it.
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• • ​This incredibly helpful IG post by @sim.does.dei showing us how to make a call booking form more inclusive in 5 minutes. It takes exactly that much time and makes a world of difference.
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• • Mikhail Myzgin invited me to his new podcast called Ethics in Marketing and we had a meandering, nerdy conversation about everything ethical marketing. Our episode is called “Ethical Marketing with Alice Karolina” and you can find it on all the common platforms.
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• • And what about Patagonia, huh? Nuance is called for, as always. This was an interesting read: No Good Billionaires: Yvon Chouinard Uses Philanthropy and the Language of Environmental Justice to Secure and Maintain His Hoarded Wealth By Erin Monahan. Our own Karen Webber has shared this awesome blog post where she thinks and learns out loud for all of us to benefit.
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*We share resources to broaden our horizons, deepen our knowledge of our industry, and learn how to market ethically. The ethical move team does not agree with every opinion, nor do we claim to have found the best resources on the subject. What support or resources would you like to see from us? Send a reply and tell us!

So many things!

We just brought on Jessica Walther, a brilliant Ops Manager (we’ll share more about her soon). Lots of projects under way with her already – alongside some straight up re-organizing of systems.

A review of our website and social media, which can now finally chill out and not be the only place for conversation with our community being live.

Speaking of which, we’re happily sharing and conversing in The Ethical Move Community. Two things strike me today: the depth of conversation combined with the respectful, humble way everyone holds the complexity of what we’re working on. Oh and the fun!

This is exactly what I was hoping we’d be able to create. I’m not surprised, just extremely grateful. 🙌

Mini disclaimer (you know I love those): The texture of our work has suddenly become denser, more complex, and also more gratifying with TEMC as our main focus. We might be a little slower in some areas until we find a good balance.

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