Tomorrow, millions of Americans will take to the shops and just think of all the plastic bags that don’t have to be used. Plastic bags have never been so un-fashionable.  And for good reason!  There are so many stylish options available for reusable bags these days. Here’s a round-up of three fabulous reusable bags…

Maggie Bags

We love these Maggie Bags made from Recycled Seatbelts. They come in a range of single colours, or multi-colours like the Autumn Leaves bag pictured here. These bags are made to last with four nickel plated feet on the bottom and internal zip pockets for your purse, keys or cell phone.

Rebagz Tote Bags

These Rebagz Cinchy Tote Bags are made from recycled rice sacks. The one pictured here is called Honeybee, and there are other fresh and funky styles available. These Cinchy Tote Bags are not only eco-friendly and stylish but they are human-friendly too because they are made under fair labour conditions. Makes a great shopping bag, handbag or even a briefcase!

Flip & Tumble

Finally, the Flip & Tumble Reusable Shopping Bag. Gorgeously designed in loads of colour choices. Reusable shopping bags that folds up into a tiny pouch when not in use, it’s so easy to take it along when you go shopping. This bag can hold 25 pounds and has a comfy fit felt shoulder pad.

Click here to join me and take the pledge to make plastic bags history!

No time to read this?  Then please just click on over here to see what I’m doing now.

Life changed considerably when we moved from the UK to South Africa in 2008.  It’s a completely different lifestyle, and being green can be quite a challenge here at times.   We’ve moved 4 times in the past two years, so it’s been difficult to put down roots properly and set up an eco-friendly home the way we did in England.  Our last move was 6 months ago now, and yes, we’re finally putting roots down and making plans to transform our new home into an even more eco-friendly place than our English home.   But in the meantime, something else has been taking my attention.  And that is the desperate need of so many people here in Cape Town.

Poverty is rife here.  There are some who have lots and some who have enough to live comfortably (we are fortunate to fall into this category), but there are millions of people here have to stuggle on a daily basis just to feed their families and provide a roof over their heads.

When we moved six months ago, it was to a home in a wonderful part of Cape Town called Newlands.  It was here that I met a crowd of Zimbabwean crafters who make their crafts from recycled materials where possible (for purely economic reasons).  Most of them live in Delft, a township on the outskirts of Cape Town that is notorious for its high crime rate and high unemployment rate.  They work at night, making beautiful artworks that they then sell during the day at traffic lights in Newlands.  It all sounds like a great micro-business plan, until you see your first police raid!  You see, it’s illegal to sell anything at the traffic lights in Cape Town.

The first time that I witnessed a police raid on the craft sellers at the traffic lights it really shook me up.  Police arrived in numbers and chased the craft sellers in all directions.  Those who managed to get away lost the wares that they had to drop or leave behind in their hurry to get away.  Once the police had caught a few of the sellers and loaded them into the back of the police van, they then came back to the lights to pick up their wares.

My first feelings were those of outrage and indignation.  How dare the police spend their resources on bullying these guys who are trying to be creative and make an honest living.  There is plenty of crime in this country that could really do with the attention of the police.  Murderers, hijackers, rapists, burglars, there are plenty of them at large.   Gentle creative people, displaced people trying to earn an honest buck, they really don’t need this harassment.  They need support and encouragement.

So the following day I took a walk to the lights to go and talk to these guys.  I asked about what had happened yesterday with the police.  They were very eager to tell their stories and told me that this was something that happened regularly.   I asked about their crafts, what happened to them after the police took them, could they get them back.   I was told that sometimes those who are caught and have their goods confiscated are given a ticket by the police and told that they can retrieve their goods from the police station by paying an admission of guilt fine (somewhere in the region of R200 per item).  This is usually prohibitively expensive, and more than the materials cost, often more than what the crafter can sell his wares for.  Other times, the goods are just taken without receipt (because it’s better to run away, lose your stock and be free to go home and make more, than to risk being arrested and spending the night in jail).  Often, bags, jackets and other belongings are also taken and never seen again.

I spent weeks mulling over this sad state of affairs.  It didn’t sit right with me.  I felt drawn to help these guys.  A few months down the line, and I’d formulated a plan and invited two of the crafters that I had got to know fairly well to join me in setting it up.

And so we started the Mother City Craft Collective, an online outlet for the arts and crafts that are currently being sold at the traffic lights n Newlands.  The goal of the project is to drum up enough sales online so that these guys don’t have to sell their goods at the traffic lights anymore.

We’ve started the project with no capital or funding, simply volunteering our time and expertise.  It’s been a slow start and at times very frustrating.   We decided to register as a cc with 3 members so that the two Zimbabwean crafters who started the project with me could apply for their business permits.  This proved impossible to navigate with CIPRO as the two Zimbabweans didn’t have South African identification documents and we ended up in a catch 22 situation where you need a business permit to get your identification document, but you can’t get the business permit without the identification document.

Our website took me quite a while to get going (I’m no web designer, just a blogging housewife after all), but we’re there now, and we have a showcase for some of the wares.  We’ve also expanded our collective from 3 to 5 people, and as soon as sales pick up, we’d like to expand this further.

Sadly, because it’s taking time to drum up sales (we’ve only had 2 sales at time of writing this), these guys are still having to support themselves by working at the traffic lights, and still taking the risks everyday of being arrested and having their goods confiscated.

Just this past weekend, one of the guys was walking through the park on the way to the traffic lights when he was stopped by the police and had all his stock confiscated.  They took well over R1000 worth of stock, and it will cost him over R800 to get it back.  R800 that he doesn’t have.  And so it carries on.

The reason why I’m telling this story here is because I’m hoping that EcoStreet readers (those that are still bothering to check this site now that I’m not updating it very often) will be interested in what we are doing.  The members of this collective and I would be immensely grateful if you would follow us on Twitter, like our Facebook page, and most importantly tell everyone you know about what we are doing, what we would like to achieve and how we need customers to make this possible.

Thanks so much for reading this and before I go, here’s our website address again: http://www.mothercitycraftcollective.co.za

I’m completely enchanted by Makazi’s Guesthouse. It’s built out of sandbags, and is kitted out with solar heating, composting toilets and recycled furniture. The house has been beautifully decorated (inside and out) and all profit made is used to fund the community-based Indlovu project, including a crèche, youth centre, clinic and soup kitchen.

This would be an eye-opening and different stay for any visitor to Cape Town,

Makazi’s Guesthouse is a community-built project in the Monwabisi Park area of Khayelitsha. For more information or to book accommodation, email office@shaster.org.za or phone +27 216571026 or +27 833750988.

sisonke singenza amahluko is Xhosa for “together we can make a difference”

photo credit: mamakalisa

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My pick of the bags are these dragonfly print jute shoulder bags with cotton lining (the handles are lined too to be comfortable on bare shoulders) with a cell phone pocket.

“Each Freeset Bag tells a story of one woman’s journey to freedom. She used to stand with 6,000 other prostitutes in a small but well known area of North Calcutta. She didn’t choose her profession; it chose her. Poverty does that. It robs people of their dignity and children of their innocence.

She still lives in the same area, but instead of selling her body she makes Freeset Bags. Now she has choices, the choice to work decent hours for decent pay, to re-establish her dignity in her community and to learn to read and write. Now her daughter won’t have to stand in the street selling her body like her mother used to. Freedom has been passed on to the next generation.” – from the Freeset website.

Also check out these wood-free Kantha journals. They are handbound, with a kantha- stitch multilayered cover, a screen-printed pencil and white wool paper. Each journal is unique. They are made by the daughters of sex workers. Freeset’s goal is to bring wholeness and restoration to their lives. Many tragic stories are told by the girls. By giving these girls a dignified job, Freeset have given them a step up, to gain respect by society. The cycle of shame is broken!

Freeset products are available in the UK, US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Sweden.

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Here’s all you need for a green cup of hot chocolate:

Step 1: Make sure you only boil as much water as you need for that hot chocolate. It’s easy to do with an Eco-Kettle or Tefal Quick Cup. At £29.50 you can’t go wrong with the Eco-Kettle. As an Eco-Kettle user myself, I heartily recommend them. The Tefal Quick Cup has had mixed reviews, and costs twice as much at £59.99. Design-wise it’s a more attractive thing to have on your kitchen counter, but looks aren’t everything. And there’s also the all new Morphy Richards Ecolectric kettle that has an 85′C setting for coffee and hot chocolate. Not a bad price at £34.99.

Step 2: Get your mug out. If it’s a global warming mug to remind you of why you’re making the effort to live green, all the better!

Step 3: Spoon some lovely Cocodirect Fairtrade Drinking Chocolate powder into your mug. It’s rich, creamy and velvety, and guaranteed to contain only Fairtrade cocoa beans and cane sugar from Latin America. At no less than 40% cocoa solids, it has almost twice as much as ordinary drinking chocolate. If you’re going to indulge, you do it properly!

Step 4: Pour the water over the hot chocolate, add a little organic milk if you like, and enjoy!

Best drunk outside watching the autumn leaves falling, wearing a pair of soft fleece eco-gloves (made of 94% recycled PET bottles) and a Fairtrade woollen beanie from People Tree.

There’s nothing quite like free P&P to make buying online really worthwhile. So, for Organic Fortnight (6 – 21 September 2008, Ethical Superstore are giving us just that, free P&P for all orders of £15 or more.

Love your planet, buy organic.

Twenty years ago organic cotton pioneers built their own supply chains from scratch and created a new business model based on a concept of partnership. Farmers made a commitment to supply organically certified cotton and retailers bought it at a reasonable price. Because the crop had to have organic field certification to qualify for the final label on the garment, a link between the farmer and consumer was established.

Farmers who converted to organic cotton are now seeing benefits in terms of their health, the environment and, for the first time, enjoying a closer relationship with retailers. But this relationship is now facing challenges as mainstream retailers start placing huge orders. Whilst this can bring opportunities to expand and benefit farmers, it will depend on whether big companies continue to use the ethical and equitable trading practices set up by pioneers who are mainly relatively small businesses. For example, a well known high street retailer recently had a huge marketing campaign based on their tee shirts being made from Fairtrade cotton. But this did not extend to the garment manufacturing. So, as a case in point, we see that it is very easy to put a ‘spin’ on things with clever marketing and things are not always what they seem.

Production of cotton is a crucial part of the economy of many third world countries, with millions of people dependent on it for their livelihood. Fifty years ago ‘white gold’ was seen as the great hope for developing countries. But these dreams have faltered, with cotton farmers barely able to make a living and in debt to pesticide suppliers. Chemically intensive cotton production and monoculture has contaminated soil and water resources and reduced fertility of the soil. Effects on the environment and workers health has been devastating. Not enough is known about the chronic effects of being continually exposed to pesticides, but it has been suggested that deaths as a result are vastly underestimated because very few workers have access to medical diagnosis and treatment.

Only over the last twenty years have the social, environmental and health impacts of cotton begun to be considered. This is because of the complexities of the supply chain for conventionally grown cotton which makes it difficult for consumers to be aware of the beginnings of the chain. Fibres are blended and are not traceable to their point of origin. In the case of organic cotton the fibre needs to be separate from conventional cotton fibre and cannot therefore enter the same supply chain. With conventional cotton there is such a long chain of buyers and manufacturers. Clothing retailers shop around for the cheapest fabric and the growers at the end of the chain are squeezed to the maximum so that the price of their product falls. They see the only way forward as increasing their yield with increased use of chemicals. Eventually pests develop resistance and the yield decreases. American and European subsidies push the price down even further and this way third world countries are kept poor and in debt to the Agrochemical giants who maintain a healthy profit.

Benefits of organic cotton to the environment and growers are well documented, but what is not so often recognized is the fairer supply chain. Pioneering cotton companies have also undertaken to share the daunting risks. Agriculture is subject to forces beyond our control in terms of adverse weather and climate. There is no safety net for third world cotton farmers and banks that see them as high risk charge exorbitant interest rates for loans and overdrafts. Pre-financing by arranging input advances during the growing is a central aspect of a fair trading model.

With the high street giants seeing the marketing potential of organic cotton come new challenges to be faced. Will these giants continue with the trading standards set up by the organic cotton pioneers or will they expect to continue with the practices that they have previously imposed on their suppliers, such as making them wait 90 days for payment? It is imperative that they set up new ways of working and do not rely on their size and power to impose unfair conditions. It is also important that they continue to uphold the pre-finance support, listen to what farmers say and understand and develop the principles of the organic agricultural model. It is critical to fair and ethical practice that we continue to have clarity throughout the supply chain.

Photo credit: Jonne1985

Until fairly recently ethical shopping was a niche market but it is becoming more mainstream as people become more aware of environmental and ethical issues. Numbers of people buying organic or Fairtrade continues to rise as it becomes more accessable and receives a higher level of support from retailers but it is still a small part of the overall market.

There is a huge buzz of interest about sustainability or development which meets present needs but does not compromise future generations. George Monbiot in an article for The Telegraph says “There is an inherent conflict between the aspirational lifestyle journalism that makes readers feel better about themselves and sells country kitchens, and the central demand of environmentalism – that we should consume less”. So being an ethical shopper is not about continuing to take several holidays a year by air and buying things that are surplus to requirements. Perhaps the root of the problem is our rampant consumer culture which is reinforced by the media continually. Take a look at the Sunday glossies. They are selling the lifestyles that we aspire to: travel, fashion, beautiful homes.

Some say that we can’t afford to be ethical shoppers with the credit crunch but can we afford not to be? The “race to the bottom” is an expression used to describe the practice of international retailers employing developing world contractors, who cut corners to keep margins down and profits up for western paymasters. We need to be ecologically aware, supporting conservation and adopting proactive attitudes towards recycling, energy saving and carbon reduction. Promoting the welfare of animals and rights of human beings to live and work in conditions of decency.

It is my belief that all retailers should all be working towards providing more assurance to the consumer that their clothes are produced cleanly, responsibly and ethically. Unfortunately, indifference, yours, mine, theirs, to the issues is very real, I am not taking the moral high ground here. I am as guilty as the next person. Perhaps we should start out by having a system of labeling on clothing denoting that it has been produced responsibly enabling consumers to make more informed choices.

Many people start the day with a few cups of coffee, or if you’re like our very energetic team at Ecotopia – a few pots of coffee. But have you ever thought where it comes from? If you haven’t checked out “Black Gold,” the acclaimed documentary that takes a look at the multi-billion dollar coffee industry and the poor farmers who cultivate the beans, then you should! You probably will never set foot in a large supermarket to buy your coffee again.

The film follows Tadesse Meskela, the General Manager of the Oromia Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union, as he visits coffee-growing regions in Sidamo and Oromia, as well as a coffee processing center, a coffee auction house, and his union’s headquarters in Addis Ababa. He also travels to England and the US in an effort to promote Ethiopian coffee by eliminating the numerous middlemen.

With great frankness, Meskela uses “Black Gold” as a stage to describe the chronic situation Ethiopian coffee farmers face. When the price of coffee hit a 30-year low at the start of the Millenium, farmers struggled to feed their children and send them to school. Some quit farming. Others began growing a more profitable line – a local narcotic banned in the US and Europe. With their families malnourished and being forced to travel long distances to accept foreign aid, some farmers saw no alternative but to bring their families to government feeding centres.

So why do they call it black gold?

Coffee is traded as a commodity—just like oil or gold—and is second only to oil in commodity value. Because of the production surplus brought about by sun-grown coffee, the price of coffee has been chronically depressed on the world market, making it difficult for farmers to make a good living from year to year.

The price of coffee is rising, but little has changed in these communities. In Ethiopia, country that depends on coffee for about 40 percent of its export revenue, farmers make as little as 2.5p for every cup of coffee sold in Europe. Meanwhile, multinational coffee corporations collectively rake in as much as £160 billion each year, according to the film.

So why buy Fairtrade?

Fair trade organisations work directly with cooperatives of small farmers to eliminate much of the middleman costs and provide the growers with a stable price that ensures a reasonable standard of living. For instance, in 2004 the UK Fairtrade market guaranteed participating coffee growers a minimum of 126 cents per pound for arabica coffee beans, compared to a world market price of 52 cents per pound. Many fair trade organisations also encourage their growers to employ sustainable farming practices (such as organic and shade-grown).

Photo credit: jsbarrie