Green Patchwork

I just stumbled upon an interesting link for fair trade condoms. French Letter condoms are made in the UK under the same fair trade conditions applied to products such as coffee, chocolate, and bananas. Now workers in rubber plantations can enjoy the benefits of fair wages and good work conditions while you enjoy the benefits of French Letter condoms.

After a Capri Sun juice drink is drunk the container gets thrown away and sits in a landfill for decades or centuries. When I was a kid I loved these juice drinks and their convenience, but I never thought about what happened to them once I threw them away. Kids love these drinks and I bet if we went to a local elementary school we would find tons of these empty containers in the trash.

A women’s cooperative in the Philippines has found a useful solution for these bags and created a business out of it, called Doy Bags. They collect, wash, sanitize, sort, and sew these drink containers into functional bags that are also stylish and fun. The cooperative uses the bright colors and designs of the drink containers to their advantage by sorting and sewing them accordingly.

Wild Child kid’s clothing store on Monroe St. has a good selection of Doy Bags if you would like to have a look at them up close and see for yourself how unique they are. Renee at Wild Child uses her personal oversized Doy Bag totes for grocery shopping.

Last semester I took a course called History of Textiles where we studied civilizations’ earliest textiles from around the world. By the end of the semester we were looking at textile technologies and how textiles are being used in medicine, architecture, and contemporary art. We watched a video on these technologies where scientists in Europe were working on encapsulating fragrances, body lotions, or medicines into clothing fabrics. The capsules would be activated by the body’s heat and wear and the wearer would receive whatever was encapsulated. Read the rest of this entry »

The other day I wrote a post on fair trade businesses that work directly with artisans in communities that need an economic boost, but I forgot to add A Greater Good to that post. When I worked at Whole Foods we started selling A Greater Good products and it was the first time I had seen such a company or such products. The companies mission is to provide a fair economic outlet for otherwise marginalized producers and create market and consumer demand for ethically sourced products and supplies. Artisans from around the world create beautiful textiles, jewelry, and other small gifts while earning a fair wage for their work and you get to shop while supporting them. I love the woven scarves and the chunky beaded jewelry.

Another place in Madison where I have seen A Greater Gift products is the University Bookstore. Let me know if you have seen it anywhere else, I’d like to know.

Everyone enjoys shopping and finding unique treasures to keep or give away as gifts, but the items that we buy usually do not reflect the real price. The real price of an item would reflect the cost of gathering the raw materials which can be economic, ecological, and social. Our natural resources are invaluable, but they are often exploited for short gains and leave lasting marks on the environment. Read the rest of this entry »