Jul 6, 2008 11:11 am US/Central
Opting To Buy Clothing With A Conscience
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) ―
It seems the era of the big box store has helped people become big consumers. Cheap clothing and electronics have led many to treat those products as disposable items. However, the Green Movement is changing that, which is music to the ears to those who've been a part of it for years.
Birch Clothing in Lynden Hills has been in business now for three years, and Kelly Magee is a regular.
"I'm here kind of on a regular basis yeah. It's rare that I come in and don't find something," she said.
She loves stylish clothing and she also loves knowing where the products she buys come from.
"You have to spend your dollars where your ethics are," said Magee. That's why she's thrilled the Green Movement has helped businesses like Birch thrive.
It's no longer as hard to find organic, ethics and style wrapped into one.
"I think finally fashion has come to point, where they've realized that it's not just baggy, saggy, hippy weirdness," Magee laughs.
The owners of Birch Clothing opened the place wanting to sell clothing made with fair labor practices. They stumbled upon the motivation to go green as well.
"And as we investigated the whole textile industry, we realized how polluting manufacturing of apparel is," said Marti Markus, owner of Birch Clothing.
From pesticides and fertilizers used in conventional cotton production to dyes and waste in the manufacturing process. Organic clothing aims at reducing those impacts on our environment.
"And it doesn't bother you paying a few extra dollars for it," WCCO's Jeanette Trompeter asks Magee.
"It lasts longer," she said.
"I think we have a lot of products that are almost made to break down so you buy more," Markus said about today's clothing culture. It's almost like we think of clothing as being a disposable item.
There is plenty at Birch Clothing for the ladies, but men can find very unique items too. How about a bicycle messenger bag made out of inner tubes? The strap is made out of an old seat belt. The number 76 on the bag means 76 percent of the bag is recycled.
A pair of flip flops are made out of recycled car tires. They're lined with hemp, and shoppers say they're very comfortable.
"So people are coming up with really innovative and original ideas for re-using and re-purposing so these things don't end up in landfills," said Markus.
You'll also find purses made out of candy wrappers, pop cans or pop tops from pop cans. You can also go online to learn about the people who made the item you've opted to buy.
"We want to know that the people who are making our basic needs are having a good life also," said Markus.
It means something to people like Magee, who want to know more about the things they buy, so they know the real price paid for an item before they open their wallet.
"The story behind what we consume matters," she said. "It does, and if we're not going to say it matters, than who is?"
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