Crossgar man opens ethical school uniform shop
A Crossgar dad has launched an online school uniform shop that is good for people, planet and purse.
Liam Charlton-Killen, who moved back to Crossgar in County Down after becoming a father to two adopted children, has launched Ethical Schoolwear – a new business based at his Crossgar smallholding.
For communications manager Liam, the new venture marks a change in direction and one that was prompted by his relocation as well as his experiences as a parent.
Since Liam became a parent seven years ago, when he and his husband adopted their son, he realised that his son “asks a lot of questions: ‘What’s that? Where’s it from? Who made it? What’s it made from? How much? Sorry, I think I misheard you… how much’?
“Interestingly, many of these questions have been about school uniform.”
Liam found it difficult getting answers to his questions about uniforms, and sometimes getting no response at all. So he decided to set up a shop himself, and Ethical Schoolwear was born.
“Ethical Schoolwear is for people who are trying to do the right thing for the planet, their purse. We are reaching out to people who make school uniforms, the kids who wear them and the grownups who pay for them each year.
“Ethical Schoolwear is an online shop, offering plain and embroidered school uniform, and only sells items that have been produced by B Corp certified suppliers.
“The business has also pledged to plant a tree for each sale, and the trees can be named by our customers.”
Having grown up surrounded by fields, Liam is a self-confessed nature-lover which has been boosted by his children’s desire to look after the planet.
Liam plans to increase the amount of wild land by creating more woodland and native hedgerows to act as nature highways.
He added: “I hope that by creating an oasis for wildlife, as well as a carbon sink to absorb CO2, that our small efforts can make a lasting difference.
“Each tree will absorb nearly a ton of CO2 in its lifetime. Customers will have the option to name their tree and I will post the planting on social media so that they can explain to their kids the positive impact their uniform is having on the environment.”
In addition to a range of affordable plain uniforms, Ethical Schoolwear already selling embroidered items for Cedar Integrated Primary School in Crossgar.
Liam is already in talks with more Northern Irish schools whose headteachers are keen to offer the choice of ethical schoolwear to their parents.
www.ethicalschoolwear.com
More About Ethical Schoolwear
Ethical Schoolwear promises only to sell school uniform from manufacturers that:
• Are B Corp certified
• Use as much recycled fabric as possible
• Are signed up to the Better Cotton Initiative
• Pay the living wages for the countries in which they operate
• Align their values with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals
• Open up their factories to third-party independent inspection to ensure healthy and safe working practices, zero child labour and zero modern day slavery
• Take action to eradicate period poverty within their workforce.
About Liam
In 2020 he and his husband moved from Manchester to rural County Down – where Liam grew up. The main reason for the move was their daughter’s chronic lung disease. Which since the move hasn’t been an issue.
Their smallholding has a few small fields which the previous owner had nurtured into a haven for wildlife, which includes a pond and woodland.
In 1999 it was certified by the Ulster Wildlife Trust as part of their Wildlife Areas Scheme.
Customers who sign up to receive email updates from Ethical Schoolwear will receive an email asking them to name their sapling.
The existing woodland has an abundance of mature trees. Those trees produce copious amounts of seeds each year. They will be the parents of the new woodland.
About B Corp
A certified B Corp is a for-profit enterprise that meets “the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose.”
This definition is published by B Lab, a non-profit organisation in the US that measures other companies’ social and environmental impact against a set of sustainability and transparency standards, and certifies companies with B Corp status accordingly.
Companies certifying as B Corps should do no harm, and their products, services, and business practices should benefit all stakeholders.
B Lab defines stakeholders as workers, community, customers, and the environment.
