Sustainable Living

This is a sponsored post for which I was compensated to write. Any opinions and views expressed are completely my own.

The holiday season can be a tremendous season of excess. People buy stuff they don't need, wrap it in paper they throw away, and many times give away or sell unwanted gifts at garage sales later. It seems there is a flood of stuff you don't really need coming in to your house. Most of it has been on the way to the States for the last several months from off shore manufacturers. I wonder how foreign countries would view our excessively unsustainable lifestyles?

In our area of the mid-west, sustainability is HUGE. I know many families who purchase only what they can get locally, and choose to live without certain items if they are not available. A great example of this is our Dane County Farmer's Market which is the largest producer only market in the midwest. Each season the market has hundreds of thousands of visitors. The market was started by a visionary city mayor, who in 1972 was inspired by European markets and wanted to bring that style market to Wisconsin. One man made a choice to make a difference. It's amazing what one man can do.

Another man with a vision for sustainable living is Mark Dwight, founder of Rickshaw Bagworks, a San Francisco based company that makes locally produced messenger bags from up cycled materials. In a recent Inc. article Mark shared his company's belief in the three f's of sustainable design: form, function and footprint:

 "We pride ourselves on making high-quality products for long-term, everyday use. Some sustainable fabrics wear out too quickly to meet our standards. For instance, we tried making bags with beautiful (and expensive) Italian wool herringbone tweed, only to have the prototypes wear out in weeks. So we partnered with one of the few remaining upholstery mills in North Carolina to develop a proprietary collection of Rickshaw Performance Tweed: a gorgeous, rugged fabric made from recycled beverage bottles and finished with an eco-friendly, stain-resistant coating. With a little extra effort, we developed a fabric that met our goals for sustainability, style, durability, and affordability."

It's not a complicated concept, merely one we have forgotten in recent years. There was a time when everything was made and produced locally. We were once a self sustained nation. Just think what it could do for a struggling economy such as ours today! One man can make a difference. We face choices to purchase items every day. We need to educate ourselves on the impact our choices make.

Rickshaw Bagworks: Who We Are from Rickshaw Bagworks on Vimeo.

I don't think people fully understand what manufacturing goes into the commercially produced products we buy today. They are CHEAP. That means poorly made from low quality materials. They are not made well, intentionally. Companies like this because when your item falls apart, you will have to buy another one. If people were actually able to see what actually happens in the manufacturing process,  and what a MONUMENTAL WASTE of resources it uses, they would have an easier time choosing items made locally.

Photo courtesy of Rickshaw

With my apparel design background, I saw this first hand in the garment industry. I graduated from college into a world where US apparel manufacturers were closing their doors every day and moving their operations off shore. In fact, the company I designed lingerie for did exactly that, closing their 80 year old Chicago manufacturing plant, letting go all their design and production staff in favor of producing their goods in China. Hundreds of people, including myself, became unemployed. That's why I am so strongly in favor of sustainable living. I will not purchase imported goods when I have choices to buy them at home. It is a choice that I make, to live sustainably.

Photo courtesy of Rickshaw

But, it goes further than just the manufacturing. Manufacturing is just one part of the overall process.

At Rickshaw, their Zero Messenger Bag Collection bags are built to order in their San Francisco factory. Every part of the fabric is used with no fabric waste. (This in itself is a tremendous accomplishment). In addition, since their product is not mass produced, there are no extras that have to be sold off at the end of the season. Ever wonder where all that stuff at TJ MAXX and Marshall's comes from? It is excess product sold at a deep discount by the manufacturer. They need to get rid of it because they have so much extra, they can't afford to keep it all. Some of the products in these stores can be several seasons old!

Rickshaw sells their bags online, which is much more efficient and eliminates the need for additional wasteful retail supplies such as hang tags, whole sale brochures and printed consumer catalogues. They have even experimented with ways of packing their product in re-useable fabric pouches instead of plastic, cardboard and styrofoam materials used by other manufactures.

I LOVE this concept. Thinking outside the box can produce ways to reduce own"footprint". The employees at Rickshaw really take this seriously. They even ride bicycles to visit their vendors and suppliers instead of driving. Nearly 70 percent of their vendors are local, and they are looking to increase that number to 100 percent. That's impressive!

  It can be done. You can help make a difference. Seek out and purchase products that are made locally.  Look for unique products that are hand made. Ask shop keepers to carry locally produced goods. Tour a factory and see the manufacturing process for yourself (Rickshaw also offers factory tours). It's an education you will want pass on to your children and grandchildren.

Sustainability is fast becoming a trend in our area. Let's work together and continue to see it grow.