Material Concerns

For my fortieth birthday, my husband gave me a Bible and a tattoo (not literally, of course - he faints at the sight of needles!). IMHO, the two are not mutually exclusive, although some seem to think so. I have never had Leviticus quoted at me so often as then (”Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves”). In return for Lev19v28, my husband always quotes back the end of v19 “Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material.” That usually silences the critics.

Because haven’t we come a long way since those days? Crimplene, nylon, lycra, spandex….the list goes on and on….fabrics for all purposes and occasions…..

Organic fairtrade t-shirtsHowever, the tide is turning. Fair trade. Organic. Cotton. My new best friend hemp. People are beginning to care about what they wear - where it came from and what environmental impact it has. New companies are being formed daily to surf this new wave of material concerns.

One company that has been raising awareness and offering choice in this area since 1999 is Natural Collection. It promotes products which use modern technology to harness nature’s benefits without exploiting her resources. It explores eco, organic, fair and sustainable trade, natural living and well-being. When organic cotton was expensive and difficult to acquire, it invested in upfront purchases.

Organic cotton has become more mainstream and available as information and education about cotton production has become more widespread. The Natural Collection range was there before the trend.

Maybe we are going full circle and will have to admit that Levitical laws may make sense in this day and age too.

Without costing the earth.

M&S. Fair trade. Organic. All words usually guaranteed to inflate a price tag. And yet this morning, I found their new Tshirt range colourful, extensive and best of all, good value for money! For once, an easy ethical consumer decision. The only difficult question was ‘How many?’!

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