Are you interested in doing your bit to help salvage the planet? I mean, are you willing to pay a little bit more for something that has been manufactured in a way that is less polluting to the environment and the planet? Do you support organizations that sell items manufactured in far off lands in traditional ways that are ecologically friendly?
These are the minimum measures that people in the West should be prepared to take in order to support those who are attempting to reduce our impact on the environment and dispense some of the West’s wealth to the poorest peoples of the world.
There are lots of organizations which say they do this. There are probably also a couple that say they do, but do not. An online check should weed these rogues out.
One of the easiest methods to help reduce your effect on the planet and help poor peoples living in remote places abroad is to take more care where you purchase your fabric from. These days the only cloth that people buy in substantial quantities is clothes and bedding, so you ought to endeavour to buy materials that are natural, not man-made, which necessitates the use of much more chemicals.
Whilst it is true that bleach has always been used a great deal in manufacturing material, it is not absolutely necessary to have pure white sheets or duvet covers, even if tradition does require that you wear a pure white shirt to go to the office or a pure white gown to walk down the aisle.
Buying bedding manufactured from 100% cotton is a splendid way to lessen your effect on the environment. In fact, 100% cotton sheets and 100% woollen blankets make a perfect combination for any bed in any season and your effect on the environment would be minimal. Cotton is cool and wool warm, but in fact acts as insulation, so can be warm in the winter and cool in the summer.
Another fantastic natural fibre is silk. Alright, it is a great deal more costly than cotton, but it is also a lot tougher, so you will find that silk sheets last a lot longer than cotton ones. This means that silk sheets are not as expensive in the long run as they first seem. Silk has a lavish feel to the skin, but it is not as warm as cotton. Ideal for the summer months and 100% non-chemical as it is produced by silk worms and spun like wool.
Other fibres that you can obtain from the Far East, Africa and South America are flax, hemp and coconut fibre materials. If you make a point of checking out the stores that sell objects such as these you really can make quite a difference and help poor trades people in far off lands for just a few dollars more.
Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on a variety of topics, but is now involved with Personalized Throw Blankets. If you would like to know more, please visit our website at Woollen Blankets.