Living A simple green Life: Emails to Tesco re NOT IN MY TROLLEY campaign against the use of child slavery in the Indian cotton fields to supply the shops with cheap clothes

Welcome

Welcome to my wee blog.My name is Andy ( The Dafthermit ) . For the last 20 odd years i have ben trying to get back to a simpler way of life and finally in my old bus up here in the Scottish mountains i am finally getting there. My time now is spent taking pictures of the highlands ,making films to show the world the beauty all around and writing something that has surprised me having had a few of my stories published , Having picked up a camera and laptop in 2008 i have really enjoyeed the journey the camera has taken me on again having had a couple of pictures in national magazines, last year three of ,my films where shown at the Loch Ness film festival. anyway i hope you enjoy your visit to my wee blog

love and light

Andy

Tuesday, 31 January 2012

Emails to Tesco re NOT IN MY TROLLEY campaign against the use of child slavery in the Indian cotton fields to supply the shops with cheap clothes

my email to Tescos

Dear sir/madam

Over the last few years i have watched the price of your clothes fall, and have always been shocked as to how you do it, it does not take long to find out though that the clothes are using child slavery in India and as a result i have set up a facebook group to put a halt to this, as a loyal customer of many years i am sure that you can do your bit to help, i have asked my members at NOT IN MY TROLLEY if they would pay an extra 50p per item to stop this and 100% have said yes , my idea is that you have a dual label one with the price and another with the added 50p this would give the people the choice, also the money must go to the bottom of the chain to ensure the cotton pickers receive it and it is not stolen . i hope to hear from you with regards my worries , yours a worried customer

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Dear Mr Lowe
Thank you for contacting us and I apologise for the delay in my response.
As a founder member of the Ethical Trading Initiative, Tesco seeks to put ethical trading at the very heart of its operations.
We realise that this is a complex issue with many causes which we acknowledge are hard to address individually. However, the use of organised and forced child labour is completely unacceptable and leads us to conclude that whilst these practices persist in some countries, it is something we do not condone.
To this end, we require our suppliers to identify the source of raw cotton used in all Tesco clothing – and we will randomly audit records to ensure our requirements are being met.
In addition we are working with world leading traceability experts, Historic Futures, to develop and implement an online track and trace system to monitor cotton country of origin and provide greater transparency through our supply chains.
I hope this information is helpful to you and thank you again for your comments.
Kind regards
Kirsty McGregor
Tesco Customer Service
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A wee film about us on STVs the HOUR SHOW click on STV logo to see the film

Andy the Daft Hermit lives 45 minutes outside Inverness with his wife Mel in an old bus parked in a layby. This current home of theirs is the longest they have ever stayed in one spot. “I’ve been travelling now 25 years,” said Andy Lowe. “Mel’s been travelling 15. One of the reasons we’ve come and stayed up here is because of Mel’s health. I wanted to bring her to the mountains for fresh air and clean water and just a slower pace of life.” Mel has had breast cancer twice, skin cancer once, and for three years believed she had bone cancer after being wrongly diagnosed. Andy’s belief in the restorative powers of the north made them pack up ‘The Black Bus’ that they live in and cross the border into Scotland. New Highland home for hermit couple Andy and Mel “I think we both believe in trying to get to a more simple way of life,” said Andy, “but it’s strange for us because we are sort of hermits, or we like to live separate, but it’s not being anti-social… it’s just the way we are that allows us to be creative.” Andy first began travelling when he left the army. Fed up with bureaucracy he packed a rucksack and left for France and has been travelling ever since. By investing any money the couple have earned into solar panels and wind generators they now live a self-sustaining existence, without electric bills, and collect rain water “straight from Heaven”. “It’s not easy,” said Mel. “There might be time when there might not be enough facilities around, but you always find a way, you know?” Rather than rejecting technology, Andy blogs about his travels online and collaborates with artists from around the world via his ‘Scratchy Heid Film Studio’, which he runs from a static trailer next to the couple’s bus. He explained his philosophy: “My belief is that if you can go through life and you drop dead and you’ve got a balance there that slightly outweighs the good than the bad, you’ve done alright. “Yesterday, with what Mel’s been through with the cancer and all that, I had a woman on one of my sites there that thanked me for the writing, for the positive things, and to me that’s worth everything. You can keep your millions, we’re not interested. That is what we do.” To check out Andy’s artwork and video projects check out his website. MORE FROM THE NORTH