Sustainability Blog and EcoPetites News — Category_A little bit about life RSS



Why I’ve been so quiet the last few months

At least from a blogging perspective, you haven’t heard as much from me over the last few months. So I thought I would share with you why. My focus has been on my family. My son was born with club foot on the right side. He had surgery and casting in South Korea, where he was born, before we adopted him. I am grateful that he received excellent care there which was on par with the medical treatment he would have received here. In fact, the surgeon who has been monitoring him for the last six years was so impressed with his first surgery, that he talked about wishing to go to Korea to study with the surgeon! Two years...

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How can I measure progress?

Then and now: how green I am. As a sustainable-modeled business, you know I value that which is green, in the eco-friendly sense, but that is not what I mean here. This is a major career change for me, coming from a background as a medical illustrator and moving into fashion. And I started out green, and I mean green behind the ears, not knowing what I was getting myself into kind of green! Now, don't get me wrong: there are some things I know that do apply: sewing and designing my own clothes for 20+ years, knowledge of human anatomy, experience in running a solo business and a passion for sustainability. But when it came to how to start...

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What magazines do you like?

I’ve been on a magazine kick lately. It’s great light reading before bed; a welcome break after getting about half-way into a rather heavy novel (Cedar House Rules by John Irving, for you curious folks) and a source of inspiration for different parts of my life; cooking, gardening, health, sustainability, entertainment and business. Here are some I’ve been checking out. Rodale’s Organic Life. I did not even realize when I picked this one up that it was their first issue! I’m really liking this one. I keep coming back to this one for the recipes, the photography is gorgeous and I love the overall commitment to the sustainability theme. Naturally, Danny Seo. I like this one for its substantial reading...

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Why I do this

Sometimes people ask me, why did I decide to jump in and start this business? What is my passion and what does it mean to me? I believe in being part of a positive change in how the fashion industry produces clothing, from the fibers to the factory. Mostly, I care about how the industry affects the people in it, wherever they are in the world. I want my children to know that exploitation does not have to be tolerated as status quo and that we don’t have to turn a deaf ear while others suffer, just so we can have something we want but don’t really need. My kids are citizens of the world. One was born in Guatemala,...

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The New Year's Resolution that Birthed a Business

I have made plenty of resolutions that I didn’t keep, just like everyone else. But one resolution actually stuck, and led to one change after another. It was my 2012 resolution. I resolved to not buy any newly produced conventionally grown cotton. Why I chose that is the topic for another story. I wasn’t perfect in keeping that resolution: I bought my son canvas sneakers and I bought vitamins with cotton balls stuck in the tops. And I wasn’t even sure if the choices it led to were good ones: is silk any better? Polyester? But it sure did make me think about every purchase and led to research on other fibers. Some items were easy. Take kids clothing: lots...

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