Ethical policy

Ethics is at the core of everything we do at Bananadesign. It is not an afterthought or an attempt at good PR. We started Bananadesign because we wanted to use our creativity to benefit people, animals and the environment. We strongly believe in social responsibility and in the value that individuals and organisations can make in improving the world.

This statement sets out our ethical policy and what we believe to be good business practice. Ethics can be a bit slippery, but we feel some good definitions are:

• the moral value of human conduct and the rules and principles that ought to govern it.
• a code of behaviour considered correct, especially that of a particular group, profession or individual.

Our aims

We believe that we should act in a way that tries to improve things for others, whilst at the same time ensuring no harm comes from our actions.

We aim to work with organisations that try to bring about positive change in the community and the wider world in which we live. This includes charities, not-for-profit organisations, public sector bodies and individuals. Our main criteria for working with others is whether the main purpose of the organisation or project has social benefit.

This can be difficult sometimes as increasingly companies with poor environmental or social responsibility records are supporting social projects with the aim of improving their public image. We feel this is a cynical approach and is usually designed purely to show these companies in a positive light. Eco/ethical/organic/green are buzzwords of the moment and there is a lot of bandwagon jumping going on. However it is not always clear-cut whether this kind of sponsorship is actually a bad thing; we try to determine whether the project benefit outweighs not being involved at all.

Practical steps

• we bank with The Co-operative Bank, the only UK high street bank with a credible ethical poilicy
• we use recycled or low-impact materials especially for office supplies
• we Freecyle equipment that still works but that we no longer need or can use
• we specify recycled paper stocks for clients
• we recycle as much of our waste as possible
• we buy ethical or fairtrade products
• we support like-minded organisations
• we are open and honest with our clients and suppliers
• we donate to charitable and voluntary organisations who benefit society
• we use public transport as much as possible
• we support our local Post Office as we think this is a vital community service
• we prevent waste by educating clients about efficient and low-impact printing methods
• we turn off our computers and equipment at night
• we are friendly and tolerant! As well as doing ‘ethical stuff’, it’s important to be nice people as well; we think that is probably the most achievable ethical thing anyone can do!

What we won’t do

We won’t act in a way that undermines our ethical aims, nor undertake any work that is illegal or likely to cause offence.

There are organisations who we won’t work with under any circumstances: those involved with animal testing, meat or fur production of any kind, those with questionable human rights or environmental records.

We are fundamentally against free-pitching, a practice which unfortunately still persists in the industry. We think design is an important resource that should be valued and we think it is unfair to ask anyone to work for nothing. Free-pitching debases design and encourages one-off projects whereas we believe in building relationships for the long-term so that we can better understand and meet our clients’ needs. Design agencies should be appointed on their credentials and of course their cost effectiveness. Please don’t ask us to free-pitch.

Notes and further reading

1. As defined in Collins English Dictionary, Seventh Edition (2005). A fuller definition and discussion of Ethics can be found on Wikipedia.