Make Hay Ethical E-Media

Leonora of Elio Studio has worked with Make Hay for some time, being one of our longest-standing Green Hosting and web design clients. She is also a good friend of Green Girls Global. So, a warm welcome please…

Please introduce yourself and tell us a little about your work.

Hello, my name is Leonora Oppenheim and I’m the director of Elio Studio, a design consultancy that crafts narratives to inform and inspire.

Our work can be described as design storytelling – in other words, we use word, image and form to tell local cultural, environmental and community stories to wider audiences.

We work in collaboration with architects, designers, curators and scientists on creative projects that promote engaging conversations around sustainability issues.

I also regularly put finger to key to tell epic tales of design derring and sustainability do for TreeHugger.com and other online and print publications.

How is your business different to that of others in your industry? How do you stand out from the crowd?

From working on plans for a chocolate factory with cacao farmers in the Ecuadorian Amazon to reporting on biogas toilets from the mountains of northern Ethiopia, we tell many an adventurous tale of beautiful and inspiring encounters with creative minds around the world.

With an unusual combination of design, writing and sustainability skills Elio Studio tells cultural stories through several disciplines, including public design installations, journalism and brand consultancy.

This diversity gives us multiple platforms to communicate from and we often enjoy blurring the boundaries between them, which makes for a pretty dynamic and unique approach to storytelling.

How would you say your work is ethically and / or environmentally responsible?

Every project that Elio Studio is involved in has its root in ethical and environmental responsibility, we take that as a given. If the project is not making a positive contribution in some way then it’s not the right fit for us, and moreover it’s just not fun to work on.

What motivates you to do business this way?

I like a good challenge! And I really believe that forging emotional connections between individuals and their local environment is one of the greatest design challenges of our time.

At the studio we’re excited by the possibilities of creative collaboration with local communities. We take local stories at a grassroots level and promote them on global platforms, inspiring businesses & individuals to create positive change.

How do you communicate your positive work with clients and potential clients and how do they respond?

We try to take a light, engaging tone that shows we’re as passionate about good design as we are about environmental issues, and that the two are not mutually exclusive.

We communicate using word and image through multi-media channels of email (hello [at] eliostudio.com), website (www.eliostudio.com - thanks to Make Hay) and Twitter (http://twitter.com/ElioStudio).

Occasionally, when we really want to grab someone’s attention we like to be old school and send a beautiful hand written note. Sometimes we even turn up in person!

Each medium is useful in it’s own way. For example Twitter is an excellent tool, not only for promoting your own work, but also to curate content of others you trust and admire. It gives you the opportunity to create a dynamic ‘brand voice’ that gives potential clients an impression of what your business is about.

Do you see your work as part of a movement of ethical business?

Yes, absolutely.

It’s difficult to say whether there is any body else doing exactly what Elio Studio is doing right now, but there is certainly a fantastic community of sustainable design thinkers locally in London, and globally in the blogosphere, working in all sorts of different disciplines – fashion, products, architecture, service and systems design.

We all bounce ideas off each other regularly and often form fantastic collaborations. I feel very lucky to be part of this community that keeps me inspired and motivated every day.

My top 5 UK ethical design business picks:

Worn Again - www.wornagain.co.uk
Imaginals - www.imaginals.net
Thomas Matthews - www.thomasmatthews.com
Exploration Architecture - www.exploration-architecture.com
New Frontiers - newfrontiers.uk.com

Share your top 3 tips on how other businesses can work more responsibly.

Cradle to Cradle – learn to embrace systems thinking and close the loop.

Act local. Think Global – get involved in your local community and tell everyone about it online.

Work for ‘More joy per person’ – always ask how your business decisions affect people, from supplier to consumer and everyone in between.

How do you see the future of your business and what are you most excited about?

The future of my business is multidisciplinary and multi platform storytelling, finding creative ways of communicating the important issues of our time to people locally and globally.

I’m most excited about the possibilities of working with commercial brands to communicate their sustainability initiatives to their customers in fun and engaging ways. I think there is so much potential to inspire people through design storytelling.

Is there anything else you would like to tell us about your work?

You might like to check out one of Elio Studio’s projects that’s currently in development. It’s a series of public design installations called Creative Data (www.creativedataprojects.com) that are taking place around the UK over the next few years.

We’re working in collaboration with climate scientists with the aim of the communicating local environmental issues to local people in their local environment.

You can watch the short film of our pilot project The Butterfly Effect,  and watch out for the up coming Creative Data projects in Wales 2010 (coastal), Cornwall 2011 (Eden Project) and London 2012 (Olympics).

If you are interested in finding out more about Creative Data or would like Elio Studio tell your design story please do get in touch (hello [at] eliostudio.com)

Visit Leonora’s website at www.eliostudio.com

Ethical jewellery label Fifi Bijoux runs their website on Green Hosting…

Please introduce yourself and tell us a little about your work.

Vivien Johnston, Director and founder of Fifi Bijoux. I set up the brit brand in 2006 to offer consumers jewellery made exclusively from ethically sourced materials; fairly traded gold, platinum and silver mined without mercury or cyanide.  The jewellery is crafted in London by master goldsmiths. Our diamonds and gems also come from ethical sources, small scale co-operative mines where possible and carefully selected mining and cutting projects which practice exemplary social and environmental responsibility standards.

How is your business different from that of others in your industry? How do you stand out from the crowd?

Fifi Bijoux is a design label, we show at London and Paris Fashion Weeks and have been readily accepted by the fashion press. It’s a luxury product; with the unique new luxury of known provenance of all our materials. Our customers are a mixture of hip ethical shoppers and fashion-forward trend setters.

How would you say your work is ethically and / or environmentally responsible?

We take great care to partner with mining programmes which demonstrate a strict code of conduct for social standards, including no child labour, fair advancement for all workers, living wages to employees or co-operative projects which invest back into the communities where possible. Environmental standards are tough and they have to be. Standard mining practices rank 2nd in the world for environmental damage and the consequences to water sources, fish, flora and fauna, as well as local communities who depend on these for their food sources can be devastating.

Fifi Bijoux was founded on the principle of maximising the positive impacts for the local communities.

What motivates you to do business this way?

I experienced the lack of transparency in the typical jewellery business model and saw that the value chain was heavily weighted after export of rough or unrefined goods, meaning a raw deal for the producers. The extreme problems in the jewellery industry have been well documented; a lack of traceability in the supply chain ultimately allows for conflict situations and for corruption to flourish. The film Blood Diamond shows the civil war which was funded by diamonds in the 1990’s; but similar atrocities occurred as recently as Nov 2009 in Zimbabwe when Mugabe’s troops murdered miners in the diamond fields. The DRC and Cote d’Ivoire remain volatile.

At worst, diamonds and precious minerals remain an easily smuggled hard currency. At best, mining companies who do actually fulfil high standards of CSR remain invisible and often lumped together with the worst offenders because of the lack of traceability. I think consumers should be able to make informed choices, especially on something as precious and sentimental as an engagement ring for example.

How do you communicate your positive work with clients and potential clients and how do they respond?

The press have been kind and have shown great interest in Fifi Bijoux and my business model. I meet with private clients and work on design briefs with them, I also design ready to wear collections which are sold on-line and through our stockists. Currently, we have around 30 stockists across the UK and also export to France, New York and Australia.

Do you see your work as part of a movement of ethical business?

Yes, most certainly.  I see forward thinking business and sustainability being critical to the global economy.

Above image: Little Acorns - 10% profits to Child Sponsorship Project, Entebbe, Uganda

Share your top 3 tips on how other businesses can work more responsibly.

Know your supply chain. Use your purchasing power to make ethical choices. Accept that ‘being ethical’ is about making a journey; you have to start somewhere and don’t be discouraged if certain things elude you to begin with. Companies like Make Hay didn’t exist 10 years ago; but now boast a very lively client list and provide a green choice for business.

How do you see the future of your business and what are you most excited about?

We launched our own on-line boutique last year and it’s going from strength to strength. Export is also growing, so we hope that Fifi Bijoux will develop its international reputation in the next few years as well as the UK has received our designs.

Is there anything else you would like to tell us about your work?

We have just launched a silver collection and a collection of 18ct gold engagement and wedding rings.

Visit the Fifi Bijoux website at www.fifibijoux.com

In the first of our interview features we are very happy to introduce one of our lovely Green Hosting clients, Bloom Psychology. Find out what motivates them to help people discover their ideal career and how they stand out from others in their field.

So please give them a very warm welcome…

Please introduce yourself and tell us a little about your work.

We are Rob and Amelia, co-founders of Bloom Psychology.  We’re psychologists who help people make and deal with change.  We realise this may sound a bit vague, but for example we do a lot of work with people wanting to identify their best career.

Both of us made a career change ourselves (I was a management consultant and Amelia a TV Producer) so this has real meaning for us.

We also help leaders who want to improve their performance at work, Mums who want to return to work, people who want to improve their health and wellbeing, and teams that wish to work more productively together.

We think that the barriers to change are usually in the mind, so we use psychology to help people understand what’s going on and act more consciously towards what they really value.

How is your business different to that of others in your industry? How do you stand out from the crowd?

This may sound like a cliché, but our values really do set us apart.

Psychologists are all about evidence, and having proof for what you say.  So being evidence based is a key value, because otherwise it’s difficult to make an informed decision.  Another key value is to be remarkable, that is, we want to do work with people in a way which is inspiring and energising.  We want to ‘bring psychology to life’.

We always work in the direction of someone’s strengths – ensuring that the change we make is authentic.

Finally, we gave up our jobs to do something that makes a difference.  I remember too many jobs as a consultant which simply did not need doing.  The client was being sold something they didn’t need.  We don’t want to be like that, it has to be about more than profit.

All this doesn’t mean that we’re perfect, but it does mean that we try to do the right thing through what we do, not just what we say.

How would you say your work is ethically and / or environmentally responsible?

For the ethical stance, see above.  We want to look back on this adventure and know that we stood for something beyond just success in the market.  For example, we do cut price work for people on low incomes, pro bono work for good causes, and we also help businesses work out how they can change employee and consumer behaviour towards environmental issues.
But for the environment – other than using Make Hay and using public transport we think we could do a lot more!  Any ideas from your readers?

What motivates you to do business this way?

Because if we can’t look back on our work, knowing we really did our best to take a stand for what we believe in….then really what’s the point?  We see a lack of real leadership in this country with too many people looking after only their own interests.  We want to stand for something more and set an example.

Ironically, we think that doing this will bring us more meaning and fulfilment and we reckon we’ll be more successful because people can see we mean it.

How do you communicate your positive work with clients and potential clients and how do they respond?

We’ve just completed an e-brochure of our services for organisations and we also have a great newsletter, Bloom Vine.

We also have a Blog, where we try to give as many career change exercises and resources away for free.  We also feature an inspiring series of people who’ve changed careers on our Blog.  If any of your clients would like to be featured please get in touch!

Follow us on Twitter, here. And finally we have a rather nice website, hosted by Make Hay!

Do you see your work as part of a movement of ethical business?

Yes.  Organisations have the power to change the world.  But it will take small businesses and their consumers to lead the way, it will take us to show them how it can be done.  It’s all about being authentic to a set of values beyond mere profit.  If this sounds wishy washy to anyone, there’s strong evidence that organisations that operate in this way also outperform those that don’t.  Quite simply, people want to trust the people they work with.

Share your top 3 tips on how other businesses can work more responsibly.

Clearly, we all have a responsibility to think about the resources we consume.  Making this the default setting in your life (think ‘Nudge’) by making good habits easier is key.
But we have only 1 proper tip.  Most people make decisions automatically, almost on auto pilot.  But this means we tend to make choices based on short term comparisons – how’s he or she doing, am I missing out?

Our tip is to identify the things that are really important to you in terms of values.  Then to live more consciously in pursuit of these.  Money is not a value, it’s the values that it buys you (think about security, freedom, status) that really matter to people.

How do you see the future of your business and what are you most excited about?

Right now, we’re trying to bring the cost of our career services down by introducing a brilliant online career decision making tool called CareerStorm Navigator (see pic).

In terms of our work for organisations we’re looking forward to delivering more of the services which we are good at – employee engagement, change management and coaching.  Our recent clients include Directgov, the School of Life, The Arts Council and working out in the desert for the Abu Dhabi Civil Service (see pic)!

In terms of our own development, we are pioneering the use of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in our work.  This is a new, evidence-based way of helping people deal with change and stress which is incredibly effective in helping people identify and make progress towards the things they value most.
Is there anything else you would like to tell us about your work?

We don’t love it all the time.  Seriously, running your own business isn’t about becoming happier, which many people think it is.  Since starting, we’ve been more stressed, more tired, more anxious and every day we face new challenges and frustrations.

But the difference is we know that we’re doing something that matters.  We’ll have no regrets…and there’s no happier thought than that.

Visit Bloom Psychology at www.bloompsychology.co.uk

Our latest newsletter ‘An Interview with an Ethical You‘ is out now and we’re looking for your views on a new client interview idea.

Make Hay has always been about working to raise the profile of environmentally and ethically responsible businesses and organisations. We like to talk about the positive work that our clients do.

We really want to go above and beyond the services of a regular web design and hosting company to spread the word about all of your positive work. So we’re starting a new way of helping our clients get their message out there, through our own regular streams of communication. It won’t cost clients anything extra at all and it will mean that you tell our audience (and like-minded folk), in your own words, what you’re all about. Read our newsletter to find out more.

Its always good to hear from fellow businesses and organisations interested in raising the profile of positive and ethical work. Recently we came into contact with Rob Morley from Fountain Partnership, a copywriting business, who do just that. Having similar values when it comes to doing business responsibly we invited Fountain to share the benefits of professional copywriting services here on our blog.

Over to you Rob…

Using a copywriter to get your ethical message heard and acted upon

In these times when ethical and green voices need to be heard more than ever, it’s important to stand out from the crowd.

When it comes to writing the text for your website or promotional material, the chances are your natural instinct is to write it yourself. After all, it’s your organisation and you know what you want to say.

The question is, do you know what people want to read?

Copywriting is the art of using proven principles from psychology and marketing to engage with the reader and persuade them to take action.

With a website, on average, you have 5-10 seconds to connect with a reader and keep them engaged.  The title you use and the way you write will determine whether the reader stays or goes.

With flyers, you need to get the reader’s attention and make your message relevant to them, before persuading them to take it on board.

Whatever you’re writing, the words you use will determine whether you get your message heard or not.

So, if you’re investing in a new website or promotional material, it’s worth considering a copywriter to ensure you get a great return on your investment.  And, perhaps more importantly, to ensure people are aware of your cause.

Want to know more?  Here are some of the benefits of using a copywriter:

• Your words will connect with the reader straight away – making them want to read on.
• The benefits of your product or service are clear, with the reader actually imagining what life would be like if they used it.
• Sales and leads are generated by the reader being persuaded to take action.
• The value of your product and service is clearly demonstrated
• Your organisation will come across as trustworthy and credible
• You can rest easy, knowing that a professional has combed the text for grammar and spelling
• Your copy will flow and be a joy to read
• Your online text will be full of keywords for SEO (search engine optimisation) but not read like a shopping list.
• A Copywriter is an objective eye, able to present your organisation in a way that will appeal to potential clients

Get your message heard – talk to a professional copywriter!
www.fountainpartnership.co.uk