esme

Esme was established in 2009 by Rachel and Steven Fligelstone, when we decided to set up a business which would enable people to buy tried and tested ethical and eco-friendly products locally.

Having come to recognise, like many other people, that acquiring more and more junk was not a route to happiness, we became aware how difficult it could be to find sustainably and ethically produced articles for our home, or to give as gifts. We discovered that a great deal is available, but that it can be frustrating and expensive to source individual items, and to find out whether they are of reasonable quality.

Going 'green' does not have to involve sacrifice. Since banishing petrochemicals from our bathroom and our cleaning cupboard, we feel no sense of loss whatsover, and everything smells much better than before. With a little perseverence it has been possible to find genuine eco-friendly alternatives — recently we have even managed to banish plastic cleaning implements from our kitchen.

We firmly believe that our shopping choices make a difference, to other people's lives as well as our own. We are retailers — and therefore we do not see it as our role to globetrot in order to watch producers at work. That job falls to our suppliers, whom we trust because of their genuine concern to promote economic independence and alleviate poverty. If we can help them to open up new markets and bring desirable fairly traded products to our customers, then everybody wins.

In these days of 'green wash' every manufacturer wants to be green and ethical. At Esme, we try to help our customers to see beyond the packaging, and to know which labels really mean something, and which products are really worth buying.