There are some very clever Instagram posts trying to get people thinking about the causes of environmental degradation. This one above made me laugh.
But maybe that isn’t funny after all!
Some years ago a friend bought a bottle of water whilst travelling and she brought home the empty bottle because it was a very pleasing design. I remember marveling at how much nicer it was to hold and look at and I kept it for ages just as a good design. But it wasn’t at all a good design because it was created from plastic, for just one use i.e. to hold a single litre of mineral water. True, I did use it on a number of other occasions when I needed to carry water but it ended up as waste in months, rather than years or decades. Put like that it is obviously a foolish design, wasteful and contributing to environmental degradation.
I challenge you for the next few weeks, to look at everything you pick up and use and ask yourself three questions:
Was the environment harmed in the making of this product (sometimes you don’t know how it was made but you can imagine, guess or look it up)
Was it made to last?
Will it harm the environment after its life is over?
In MESH we are trying to do that with everything we design and sell. Our Zero Waste page on our website has some examples. There are weak spots in our logic because many of them are made of cotton which does put a strain on the environment (water and pesticides) so we look for organic cotton where we can, or we offer upcycled/recycled products instead.
We promote reusable instead of disposable. We also encourage customers to buy alternatives to plastic and paper and our Veggie Bags, for use when selecting fruit and veggies in the supermarket, have been a best seller. They are made of organic cotton and can be used for decades.
We have a big variety of tote bags for all kinds of uses, all are great alternatives to plastic or paper and they will last for years. They can be used for carrying stuff, as storage at home or for presenting gifts. Some of our bags are made of waste saris. One little fold-away bag fits into a pocket or glove compartment of the car so there is no excuse to go out without a bag.
In our shop We also have lots of jute bags. Jute is a better natural fibre than cotton in terms of environmental impact. It can be used for years and easily biodegrades if it is not laminated. We also sell jute kitchen scrubs and cotton bath scrubs as alternatives to all the plastic versions that are found in most kitchens and bathrooms. Those marvelous green kitchen scrubs most of us use, are great, but they are also plastic and will not biodegrade. There was no negative environmental impact during production of our jute ones, and they will not harm the environment on disposal.
In our shop we sell beautiful hand painted papier-mâché Christmas decorations which have a long life and are made of waste paper. There is no banned glitter, or plastic or breakable elements in MESH’s Christmas Decoration range.
Sometimes we think "what can I do about the environment?" How about a bit of wise shopping as a good contribution to lessening the environmental problems looming large? Better still, if you buy those types of products from MESH you get the extra benefit of assisting artisans with disability, to earn a living.
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