Shoppers will be able to buy gifts from across the world and make a difference in the global community thanks to a new shop which has just opened in St. George's ahead of the festive season.

Conscious Vibes, which is located in Water Street by Caffe Latte and the Visitor's Information Service, sells Fair Trade goods including everything from tea and coffee to glazed pots and block print rugs and even model rhinos made out of flip-flops.

The store, which is run by owners Michelle and George Wales, and assistant Cathy Pitcher, has already proved to be a big hit with the public since opening its doors at the National Trust Christmas Walkabout held earlier this month and Ms Wales hopes it will boost trade in the town, as well as educate people, about the Fair Trade movement and the work it does worldwide.

It is the first store of its kind in Bermuda to primarily import a wide selection of Fair Trade products from accredited wholesalers with the aim of giving producers a fairer deal in terms of what they are paid. By dealing with fair trade wholesalers directly, producers earn up to four times more than they would otherwise take home.

The Fair Trade wholesalers, who are independently certified and rigorously monitored, also work hard to ensure that their producers have better working conditions and work towards protecting the environment as well as establishing medical and educational programmes to benefit communities.

Mrs. Wales, who is originally from London and is a teacher at East End Primary School, said she wanted to do her bit by becoming greener and helping to redress the balance of the waste produced in Western society.

"I came here to Bermuda eight years ago as a teacher and I absolutely love St. George's," she said.

"It used to have Trimingham's and Cooper's and it had a vibe about it and just seemed like a really brilliant little town, but I have gradually seen it become a ghost town and I thought I should be proactive and do something about it.

"I have to believe in what I sell and 98 percent of the products here are Fair Trade, which is great — the only ones that aren't are the pictures, which we are trying to source a Fair Trade supplier for.

"One of my goals is that, even if people don't shop in this store, at least they are aware of what is going on in the world without going too much out of their way."

Many of these products in store are hand-made or hand-grown and limited in number, coming from around the globe, from rhinos and pendants produced from flip-flops found in the sea off Kenya, which have been cleaned and recycled and sent back to the Western world in the form of innovative and creative designs, to telephone wire baskets made using Zulu traditions in South Africa, and giraffes made from tin cans.

There are also wedding vessels from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Vietnamese decorated pots, glass plates from Chile, Asian rugs with wood block print patterns, and hand-crafted gourds such as bird feeders and boxes from South America, hand bags made of newspaper from the Philippines, as well as tea, coffee and jam which has come via the UK and Cards From Africa, which are sold to help raise funds for children affected by AIDS and war.

Mrs. Wales has already generated a lot of business through handing out 100 Fair Trade leaflets and attracting new customers by word of mouth recommendations from early visitors.

She plans to bring in men's clothes, including shirts, as well as launching online shopping and home/work deliveries and hopes to take on new staff depending on how trade picks up.

For more information about the store or Fair Trade contact 297-0208, email infoconsciousvibes.biz or visit the website at www.consciousvibes.biz