Tells market wants to weave stories of creators to bequeath ethicality

tells market is an e-commerce site with carefully selected ethical products that users want to pass on into the future. It sells ethical products made from the feelings of the creators, the transparency of environmentally friendly materials and processes, and the inheritance of traditional culture.

Environmentally-friendly selections and the careful communication of the products’ creators resonate with us. We spoke in detail to tells’ Shiraki and Hoshino, Public Relations in charge of operating company Freewill Co. Ltd., about tells market and the future of ethical choices.

The desire to change the world that lies beyond mass production and mass consumption

The story of the tells market begins with Freewill’s Toshi Asaba, having traveled to 42 countries worldwide.

“Asaba was traveling as a backpacker at the age of 19 when he witnessed the harsh working environments in developing countries, which were behind mass production and consumption and pressing global environmental problems. He doubted the current capitalism as a way of life.

“He wanted to change the world somehow. However, changing people’s consumption habits and patterns is rather challenging. In that case, we should use info technology to automate a mechanism to allow shopping that contributes to the environment and society. With that in mind, tells market was launched.”

tells market’s definition of ethical – What they want to pass on to the next generations

Shiraki wants to promote ethical consumption by treasuring the feelings of Japanese makers and craftsmen, inheritance of traditional culture, solutions to social issues, and considerations for the environment.

“Traditional Japanese manufacturing and consumer culture values ​​coexisted with nature. Ethical manufacturing with minimal environmental impact has been the norm for a long time.

“For example, Nabu Tekki, a traditional Japanese craft whose manufacturing process involves returning materials to the soil. I want to learn and tell the story (thus “tells” market) of these disappearing Japanese traditional cultures, which hopefully leads to the succession of these cultures and the region’s revitalization.

“tells market displays a trust score regarding the transparency of manufacturing processes and raw materials. Visualizing reliability makes it easier for users to select products. In the future, we plan to implement a mechanism that makes it easier for users to select products that suit them, such as posting evaluations from purchasers.”

Creating a system that improves society just by “buying”

tells market is building a system that automatically expands forests through shopping. Points are given to customers upon purchasing ethical products, which are used to buy saplings.

“When you shop at the tells market, you will be given Sustainable Eco Coins. They can be used to make purchases at 1 yen per coin. In recent years, point services have become more convenient. On the other hand, I think many people have had a regrettable experience that they forgot to use their expired points.

“Often, these expired points are the assets of the company that operates the service. However, tells market converts unused point assets into ‘forest saplings’ and donates them to organizations engaged in forest conservation and environmental activities.”

“Tell-ing” the story of the creators who face the environmental and social issues

tells market spends a lot of effort to handle the products so as to select hand-made products to “pass on to future generations.” They hold meetings with each creator who are serious about facing environmental and social issues. As such, it takes time before products are listed.

“The most important thing in product selection is the creators’ feelings for their products. We emphasize what creators are thinking while making the products and what kind of story they have. Besides that, we also look at transparency, such as disclosure of processes and raw materials, and working environment.

“We get recommendations from people who resonated with the concept or people we meet on business trips. There is no service posting fee or management fee, and the only charge is a commission from sales, so even small-scale creators who handle traditional crafts can post their crafts easily.

“Although it is a small number of people, we repeatedly discussed with the website development team how to post a story full of the creator’s feelings and what site specifications to use for ease of use.”

First, a place to connect people through ethical experiences. Then, the world.

In the future, Shiraki wants to expand the lineup. At the same time, he wants tells market to be a place where creators can meet each other and provide manufacturing experiences, rather than just an ethical market to list products.

“I am under the impression that we currently have many female users in their 20s and 30s. Maybe it’s because we have many accessories and fashion accessories. However, we plan to include food, traditional crafts, kitchen utensils, and more in the future. We hope to see an increase across gender and age groups accordingly.

“In the future, we would also like to donate coins not only to environmental groups but also to local governments as local currencies, contributing to regional revitalization and regional revitalization.

“And to promote the wonderful culture of Japan to the world, we want to be able to respond in English. I hope tells market offer the opportunity for people all over the world to learn about Japanese products filled with the feelings of their creators. ”

Editor’s Note

tells market is designed to benefit creators, buyers, society and the environment, as opposed to the traditional capitalist business structure of sellers and buyers, supply and consumption, or rich and poor. Being able to benefit the environment and society just by shopping, we feel that it is a sustainable system that anyone can easily participate in unconsciously. If you are interested in sustainability and ethical action but unsure how to act, how about switching to an ethical shopping alternative?

Originally published on Life Hugger.
Translation adaptation by Roger Ong.