Product CategoryAll our products are hand-made. We check all our products for quality at source. Sizes, shapes and colours (of stone in particular) of our products may vary slightly because they are hand-made using natural materials. We may occasionally alter a size or substitute an ordered style for a similar style and our sales team will advise you accordingly.
Besmo buys nothing in China.
Fair Trade and Environmental Policy
Our aim is to buy high quality, ethically sourced and environmentally friendly products from disadvantaged producers from across the developing world in order to help people trade out of poverty.
We are a relatively small business that looks to work with individual artisans, co-operatives and small businesses across the developing world. Tilnar Art, Besmo & Mo-Home is recognised by BAFTS, the British Association for Fair Trade Shops, as a fair trade importer.
Buying Policy
Tilnar Art, Besmo & MO-HOme predominantly buys from primary producers. We make advance payments for materials, to help our suppiers buy raw materials and this ensures that producers do not have to take on debts in order to complete our orders. We try to order regularly from each producer to maintain continuity of demand.
We either visit our suppliers personally or ensure that our agents in each country make regular inspections to check that Fair Trade standards are adhered to. We also encourage our suppliers to join national and international Fair Trade bodies. In addition each supplier is asked to complete a comprehensive Fair Trade questionnaire.
All our suppliers ensure that their workers are paid a fair price per piece, and we strive to make sure that men and women are paid the same rate. We aim to ensure that no children under the age of 16 are involved in production of our products. Many of our items, particularly from Zimbabwe and South Africa, are produced by home workers which provides useful additional income whilst allowing them to look after their homes and families.
Buying Policy In Zimbabwe
Tilnar Art aims to help provide stable employment and basic needs for many dependants in Zimbabwe at a time when unemployment and inflation are at unimaginable levels. Our artists either work for themselves or work in co-operatives. We ensure that we pay a fair price for all our products and our fair buying policy can be seen by the fact that our family run supplier has worked with the same artists for over 10 years.
Tilnar Art does not support the regime of Robert Mugabe. To the contrary, the items are purchased direct from the artists, thereby supporting the indigenous tribes of Zimbabwe. We can confirm that no money is paid to the Mugabe Government and the money goes to our family run supplier who pays the artists. Indeed more often than not our supplier is advancing money to the artists to help them support their families before products are even made. We believe that it is now more important than ever to support these artists during these very difficult times as the ability of these artists to support their families depends on our purchases. We believe that we should not turn our back on individual artists due to the human rights abuses of a government as to do so condemns them to even greater hardship.
Environmental Policy
Tilnar Art, Besmo & MO-HOme seeks to minimise our impact on the environment. All our items are handmade so no machinery or energy is used in the making of our products. We do not air freight any of our products and transport all of our products by sea to reduce the carbon footprint of our products.
Sustainable Wooden Products
We try and ensure that all of our wood products are sourced from sustainable sources and from a non-rainforest region of the world.
All of our wood products are primarily sourced from Jacaranda or Olive wood. Olive wood has a very quick planting to maturity cycle and is grown and regularly replanted for its fruit. Jacaranda is a non-indigenous invasive species from South America that is considered a weed in Africa. It is now illegal to plant Jacaranda trees in South Africa due to its invasive qualities and the damage it causes to other vegetation.
The MO-HOme Bamboo collection is very environmentally friendly as it is handmade from bamboo. Bamboo is considered by many environmentalists to be the best source of wood for wooden products as it is the fastest growing woody plant on earth that has the quickest planting to maturity cycle. It can also grow in very challenging environments where other plants cannot thrive.
Re-Used/Recycled Products
We also try and source a large part of our range from recycled, natural or re-used materials to be as environmentally positive as possible. This can be seen in our ranges of Recycled Tin Animals, Recycled Bottle Tops, Leather Animals (made from natural materials) Recycled Vinyl Records, Rubber Tyre, Seatbelt and Car Number Plate Handbags. We also encourage suppliers to source raw materials locally, to use natural substances and to use recycled packaging wherever possible.
Re-Used Cardboard Boxes and Packaging Materials
As well as sourcing our products from sustainable, natural or recycled sources, we also try and reduce our carbon footprint by using recycled packaging materials as much as possible. We operate a cardboard and packaging recycling programme where we re-use packaging and boxes from our local retailers.
