we wanted to let you know a bit about our ethical policy and about the kind of company we are – because when you buy a gift from evolution your money goes towards the things we do.

evolution is the retail wing of windhorse:evolution. we design, import, source, retail and wholesale gifts from all over the world. we're wholly owned by a registered charity called the windhorse trust that uses the profits to support buddhist activities around the world and to fund projects that directly benefit the people who make our products.

the majority of people who work for windhorse:evolution are practising buddhists and, basically, we're committed to making money to give away! we're also committed to being an ethical business... but what does that mean? buddhist ethics come from the belief that things are interconnected. this means in practice that we try to live and work in a kind and aware way that does as little harm as possible. hopefully you'll find us honest, friendly and easy to deal with. we try to pay all our bills on time and to treat all our employees well. at our warehouse, we recycle our paper and cardboard, and we use recycled packing materials where possible. we never buy animal products (except wool).

in the spirit of 'fair trade', we have a programme of visiting the people who make our gifts. much of what we buy comes from developing nations, and is produced on a small scale with wages that are reasonable by local standards. these gifts are made in countries including bali, thailand, vietnam, kenya and guatemala. many of our factory-made items come from china, where we have visited most of our suppliers. we have checked that the workers there have good conditions, with reasonable working hours and good wages. some chinese products are not bought directly from the producers, and we haven't so far been able to check the suppliers fully, but, we believe they are all ethically traded. india is another fairly major area of supply, and our trade benefits some very poor communities there. circumstances are so complicated in india that it has proved difficult to check the intricate chains of supply! but we have put a lot of effort in, and have stopped trading with one supplier who did not meet our standards.

we're also very keen to give something back to the communities we work in. for example, we have bought equipment for 2 schools in bali and given scholarships to poor schoolchildren. in kenya we're supporting a well-digging project and will help with a health clinic. we helped finance a new school in rural guatemala, and paid for a computer room in a school in northern china. 

we're far from perfect – running a large ethical gift business brings up constant challenges. we feel that our ethical awareness and our effect in the world has been gradually improving over our 23 years in business, and we're very committed to continuing that process. we want to do good in the world and at the end of the day if it wasn't for you, our customer, we wouldn't be able to do that. so, thanks!