Casa e Cose

I want this! It would be perfect for my vacation that is just around the corner. Fill it up with things I’ll buy in Italy. And you know what: its made of recycles cement bags in Bangladesh and its fair trade made so even better.

Helt underbar! Bara vill ha denna resevaska nar jag aker pa semester till Sicilien nu i sommar. Jag kan fylla den med saker som jag ska kopa dar! Sen ar den fair trade made i Bangladesh av gamla cementpasar. Slitstarka som bara den!

I could also see my white sofa filled with pillows like these!

Jag skulle ocksa kunna tanka mig min vita soffa fylld med dessa kuddar!

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What Jess sais from Melbourne based fashion label BHALO, a fair trade design company:

Thanks for your interest in Bhalo!

Bhalo works with a fair trade producer in rural Bangladesh called Thanapara Swallows whos women workers hand loom and hand embroider our cotton and silks. Unfortunately our producer has not yet obtained the official organic certification, however we can say that they are in the process of getting certified and working hard to convert the whole village to organic farming. It is a challenge however to convince farmers to switch over, as it requires education and the first few harvests are generally pretty poor, and many of these farmers are struggling to make a living already. Because of this certification issue they have lost a few potential buyers, however we have decided to stick with them while they develop, and prevent workers from losing jobs and becoming even more marginalized.  It definitely helps to have financial assistance from abroad while they set up the process.

I adore the grey dress with the abstract print. So easy and you can wear it 24 hours. Just add some accessories and your ready for the night! Please visit Bhalo on-line shop and there informative and happy blog.

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Supermodel Liya Kebede started LemLem in 2007 as a way to inspire economic independence in her native country and to preserve the art of weaving.

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Below images are from Qoyuchi new spring summer collection. I find the images stunning in its simple luxury. And I love the fact that its organic : good for the earth, good for the farmer and good for you. It goes the whole circle. I would love to get my hands on some of those towels or new organic sheets for my son. Maybe ill go for it cause the prices are good too!

This northern californian based company specilized in organic cotton products developed through fair trade. Please also see some very interesting videos regarding production of cotton the convential way vs.organic cotton farming at Qoyuchi.

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All royalties made from the collection People tree loves Emma will be donated to the People Tree Foundation, an independent charity working alongside People Tree the Fair Trade company. The aim of the Foundation is to bring the benefits of Fair Trade to an even greater number of farmers and artisans through scaling up training, technical support and environmental initiatives and through raising awareness and campaigning for fair and sustainable fashion.

Emma Watson says;” I think young people like me are becoming increasingly aware of the humanitarian and environmental issues surrounding fast fashion and want to make good choices but there aren’t many options out there. It has been the most incredible gap year project.”

Acting as a creative advisor, Emma has worked closely with People Tree’s in-house design team and CEO Safia Minney to create a capsule lifestyle collection. Emma has utilised her love of fashion, great personal style and young perspective to help develop a range that will bring Fair Trade and organic fashion to a new audience.

Not only does 80% of the collection use 100% organic and Fairtrade certified cotton it is also made entirely by Fair Trade groups by hand, using hand weaving, hand knitting and hand embroidery to create livelihoods for some of the most disadvantaged people in Bangladesh, India and Nepal.

Emma and People Tree’s mission is to bring more global awareness of Fair Trade, organic and sustainable fashion to a new generation.

The collection will be on sale throughout all territories in which People Tree currently operates in (EU and Japan) and in addition the People Tree e-commerce site will open up to take orders and ship to the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand from 10th of february 2010.

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Escama Studio, based in San Fransisco and Brazil,  makes beautiful recycled fashion accessories using crochet and recycled aluminum pull-tabs. Yes aluminum pull tabs. And they are very stylish and such an easy accessory to combine with just about anything.  And the thing is: its so geniously made: you don’t notice they are actually aluminum pull tabs. You just see this interesting shiny surface and you want to touch it.

Its also a fair trade project!

Each piece comes with a hang tag bearing the signature of the person who made it. You can read more about this person by visiting Escama Studio web. If you would like to send a thank you note, click the email icon and we will translate your message into Portuguese and forward it on.

The artists work in co-operatives located outside of Brasília, Brazil. The groups offer women and men in the community a means to earn a living wage through handicrafts and provide a setting where friends are made and self-esteem is regained.

Bags from Escama Studios has been published in Elle, Perspective and Time Out HK among others.

See how the pull tap bags are made in below video:

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FIN is exquisite, made with elegance and style. FIN is where design and awareness are combined into fashion. This is an invitation. An invitation into our dream.

On our path, towards unique results, every step is equally important. We carefully select our material, to achieve the finest expression. The use of organic cotton provides us the luxury of environmentally friendly textiles. Hand spun wild silk, gives us beautiful textures. Organic alpaca gives us the rarest and must precious fibre available. To recognize the hard labour that has gone into producing the fabric in our clothes, we Fairtrade certified cotton. To reduce CO2 levels worldwide, we invest in climate credits to reach the global goal of carbon neutrality. To seal it, we let our eminent designer Per Sivertsen add passion into his creations.

We are quite ambitious about the future, and we are proud to have notable persons such as, Keira Knightley and Kate Bosworth, among our FIN fans. We let all the levels of perfection define our style. That’s why FIN is more than luxurious.

Personally I could just eat their clothes – that’s how good they look! And again, here is just another proof that superb style goes hand in hand with organic. Dress with style!

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TERRA PLANA is a company that strives for the perfect ecologial fashion shoe and with every collection they come a little bit closer: there are recycled elements in every TERRA PLANA shoe whether it be the sole, upper or the trim. Recycled PET bottles for mesh, recycled rice husks for soling materials, recycled leather and recycled foam for footbeds.

They also support fair trade and young artist designers. Well to sum it up, I could buy one of these below ( or somebody could surprice me ) and be a stylish still very proud walker!

TERRA PLANA are proud winners of an Observer Ethical Fashion Award in 2007 and picked up an award from Drapers for Ethical Footwear Retailer of the Year in 2008.

This is on my wishlist…..psst all from their on-line shop.

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On EKOKUL ( in english it would be something like ecofun ) you will find ecological and fun toys for your kids. Harmless for nature, harmless for them and their future.
All from puzzles and cars to teddybears, watercolors to stickers and backpacks…Im going to do some shopping now! See some of my favorites from their web shop all in ecological materials and some also fair trade:

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When going through HESS NATUR web shop I read the following about ‘who they are’:

We are not a not-for-profit organization, though we work closely with excellent ones every day.

We are in business to make money. It’s how we choose to make it that matters to us and, hopefully, to you too.

Ah so refreshing to read. And the more you read the more you want to take the next plane to Germany and start working for them:

- all cottons are ecological

- they are working with farmers to develop and offer all natural fibers ecologically produced

- only fair trade

- clothing lines for the whole family: mens wear, womens wear, kids and babywear that you can buy on line

- their working environment seems very human and very resepctfull to the importance of the family. The building has been made to reduce to the maximum energy costs, all paints and materials are non toxic, flexible hours or part time if necessary, family is welcome to the top foor cafeteria at lunch time, comuting with company bus, no aircondition or elevator, recycling to maximum,  and encourage life long learning buy offering at classes in anything from pilate to mandarin

They have learn such a simple lesson: if your workers are happy, feels satisfied and inspired with what they do..they will certainly make a better job!

And that will help the buisness – your buisness -  at the end of the day.

Well take a look at their website – there filosophy and happy energy will inspire you!

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