Organic, Eco-friendly, Fair-trade, Ethical products & companies are everywhere, promising a healthier environment for all where it could begin to seem like just an expensive trend, especially if one doesn't have time to consider all the beneficial variables. So what does it really do?
I can't speak for all the Organic-Eco-Fair-Ethical companies out there--& I know there's a great number marketing themselves as so but instead are just a front--but I can speak for what we do as a genuine Organic-Eco-Fair-Ethical & for those other companies we've met that are sharing in this journey to "make the world a relatively better place."
Better Work Environment & Cleaner Products
When you buy something truly Organic-Eco-Fair-Ethical, you promote so many people to have safer, cleaner, funner, fairer, happier places to work & you also get a product that is safer & cleaner for you & your family. Though Organic-Eco-Fair-Ethical companies make a small dent in the grand scheme of mass production chemical & pesticide employing companies, it may seem like there's no way those types of businesses & situations will go away. The percentage of organic farming & businesses is larger than it was 10 years ago & seem to keep growing. It seems simply because it's just the natural way of doing things.
It's Not just the Destination but also the Journey that Matters to Us.
To speak for ourselves, from the day a hemp seed is put into the ground, this is done by a Co-Op Farm in China that is a part of the Fair Wear Foundation meaning the people who work this business also own this business, they pay themselves fairly & have conditions to their choosing, no one else's & being a part of the Fair Wear Foundation means they even choose to meet a higher standard.
Our distributor who visits the China farm every year for the last 20+, Hemptraders, brings this hemp textile to Los Angeles & supplies it to a majority of all the hemp businesses in the United States. The owner of Hemptraders runs a working environment that he works in with the same staff for the last 10+ years we've known them. They get paid fairly, have fun & have become family that we hang out with all the time in their definitely awesome warehouse.
We then take these fabrics & personally cut & sew them along with a seamstress who works from her own home getting paid $15 an hour. We also work with a husband & wife-owned & operated sew house 30 minutes from us that pays their other 3 employees $11.50+ an hour where we go & hang out & eat donuts & shoot the shit & have fun.
We utilize a small co-op sock mill in North Carolina weaving our socks who we speak on the phone with all the time & always ask us to come visit, because they've become friends & are proud of what they do.
Anything that we dye is done locally in Los Angeles in low-impact dye houses that we visit with an in-house owner adverse to chemicals & if you ever went to a non-eco-conscious dye house even in the United States, you'd find a toxic smell & very rough conditions.
From our home office, we then quality control & ship & do all the things we need to do to run this business while our pug snores away sun-bathing in the sunny side of our hemp couch. We also print all of our tags, labels, & packaging here in the USA using companies w/ people working in fair conditions.& this is the whole process of how our business & many other genuine Organic-Eco-Fair-Ethical businesses run; supporting "small" business owners that actually work in their facilities & are accountable to the many they all employ. This is the process of a SUPER SMALL business like our own; there's so many larger Organic-Eco-Fair-Ethical businesses doing this same process on a MUCH LARGER scale & we couldn't be happier & prouder to promote that & aim for that. So to run a non-ethical, large business, that is a long chain of exploitation to be had & many businesses fronting as ethical may be ethical on some parts of the chain, but a business is a long chain & it is possible to do the right thing all along the way or at least do your best.
Eco-Conscious Business are very Conscious of Service outside their Industries.
Additionally, because we are just a small business of people who can't help but care 'cause that's what people do when they're not focused solely on making money, we also happen to donate 10% of our profits to an Orphanage, Habilitation Center for Special Needs adults & an Animal Sanctuary. We're not trying to toot our own horns or think we're special, we're just trying to show that that's what real people owning real people businesses would naturally do.
The Burden of Fast Fashion on Consumers
Now onto the consumer & the burden of truly Organic-Eco-Fair-Ethical products. I've worked in the fashion industry for 5 years, meaning I've worked in advertising for 5 years. When one of the literal richest people in the world is the owner of the world's leading fast-fashion chain, you learn that we so grossly over-consume that we don't even realize it. All big clothing & in general most companies spend more money on advertising than they do the actual products they sell, because they know it's more profitable to get you to want something you don't need & then just make great stuff that you would actually want & need. So given the way we've all been trained to consume since the day we were born, a $21 pair of underwear compared to $5 is a burden to the consumer. But when you start switching into the Organic-Eco-Fair-Ethical mindset, suddenly you realize you don't need so much STUFF, you become conscious of what you really need & purchasing quality that will last you much longer than quantity. Likewise, the beneficial impacts will undoubtably give you more fulfillment when you become aware of it.
Not only fast-fashion, but fast-food preys on the poorer consumer giving them something that is more "affordable" but that you therefore need to purchase more of & comes at the cost of your health & the health of the chain of people making this more "affordable" item.
Going organic is not just an expensive purchase that many people think; it's a whole mindset of consciously living your life in a natural & genuine way not driven by impulse, over consumption & mass production. You learn to live more simply & with foresight that does save you money in the long run while saving the people who make the things you buy. I no longer need to dress only for endlessly trends set by the industry through media; I can also dress for comfort & sustainability & health which truly saves my bank account from buying into marketing & advertising which are some of the biggest industries in the world being funded by all of us under our noses. Though Organic-Eco-Fair-Ethical businesses may never take over the world; say they do & everything is more expensive, this isn't as much of a burden as we think it is, it would force us all to consume less because everything's more expensive, but at least it would be more expensive because people are getting paid fairly & if over-consumption had to cease, why would that be so bad?
As an Organic-Eco-Fair-Ethical business, we may not be able to save the world or change people's habits, but we are just doing genuinely good business, supporting other genuinely good businesses, creating good jobs & making ourselves available for other conscious buyers who care about what they're buying being Organic-Eco-Fair-Ethical. & if the organic trend is a sign of anything, it looks like the number of people who care about this kinda thing is growing & that doesn't seem like such a bad thing. I by no means frown upon or judge fast-business, capitalism, or the people that support that as I am not the perfect person or consumer either. I just try to do better through the way I do business & live my life. I just wanted to make a case for why we & many other Organic-Eco-Fair-Ethical businesses do what they do & why buying Organic-Eco-Fair-Ethical is totally cool & not just a trend or ploy thing to do if you want to too :) Oh ya! & your product will be natural, healthy, chemical & pesticide free for your enjoyment & pleasure too!