I grew up in a home where recycling happened as a matter of course, long before it became sexy. I don’t think my mother was deliberately thinking of "the environment" when she recycled. She was more likely judiciously considering how to extend the lifespan of things in her household by reusing and reinventing, rather than discarding or wasting.
Choosing ”fair trade” or ”organic” comes at a hefty price, far out of the reach of the masses consuming ”made in China”. If you want to enjoy Euro-certified ”Fair Trade” products in South Africa, you cannot afford to think about the routes travelled by those products to reach you.