I like to google “Flannel Fings” to check out what people are saying about my products. Today I read a comment about my denim recycle nappies that illustrates something that has been on my mind.
“ridiculously expensive for towelling and recycled denim if you ask me! if it was bamboo/hemp with a hidden layer of pul, I could understand, but not for just towelling”
The comment does not bother me – because I do not expect everyone to appreciate a product that is made entirely of recycled fabric. What does concern me is that this comment reflects a seemingly common belief that someone buying a product should only pay for the price of materials (or even less than that if they can!).
Why do so many people not value the time that goes into creating something? Perhaps they don’t realise, that more often than not, what they buy is made by poorly paid sweatshop workers in a third world country. Or perhaps they know, but just don’t care? Why should that sweatshop worker have to pay for their stuff?! Why should the environment have to pay for that new bamboo or hemp when there is perfectly good cotton denim or flannel fabric going into landfill?
I shouldn’t admit this, as it reveals my poor business sense, but each one of my denim nappies currently takes over two hours to sew, and that does not take into account the time taken to reclaim the fabric even before I start sewing. I purchase the second hand clothing from opportunity shops (made of perfectly good fabric that would have otherwise ended up in landfill), launder (using 100% green energy and harvested rainwater), dry (line dried except for toweling), deconstruct, and then iron – all before I even start cutting and sewing!
My wish is for people to realise the true cost of their ‘stuff' and not transfer that cost onto developing countries or the environment. For now i’m just happy there are some lovely parents out there who are happy to put ‘the greenest modern cloth nappy available’ on their babies bum no matter what the cost.
Are you a LOHAS and prepared to put your money where your heart is or do you love a good bargain no matter what the cost?
Want to learn more about the cost of our ‘stuff’, or having trouble explaining sustainable consumption to someone else? I highly recommend the story of stuff.
