Blog

Before I even get into khadi and why it is much more than just a silky soft, hand spun, hand woven fabric made in India, some background is in order.

I was born and raised in Canada, but my roots are part Bengali on my father’s side. Bengali people hail from Bangladesh or West Bengal, the northeast Indian state adjacent to Bangladesh. In 1947, India achieved its independence after 200 years of British colonialism and oppression. Independence came at a divisive price as India was partitioned into the dominions of India and Pakistan following violent conflict between Hindu and Muslim extremists.  At that time, what is now Bangladesh became East Pakistan. This is where my father grew up until adolescence and where our family had lived for ages. Overnight there was a mass migration of Muslims out of India into Pakistan, and of Hindus out of Pakistan into India.  Our family was part of that teeming human flow moving from East Pakistan into West Bengal. Generations of family heritage were left behind overnight in exchange for survival. (Map Image: ©National Maritime Museum, London)

5 November 2010 — Their motto is “saving the world, one room at a time” and they are one of THE go to places for all things design. Apartment Therapy is a juggernaut in the online design world because they make design easy and accessible. And they do it with flair. Their mission is to help people “make their homes more beautiful, organized and healthy by connecting them to a wealth of resources, ideas and community online.” And this while trying to reduce people’s reliance on stuff.

So we are pleased as punch to be included on Apartment Therapy’s list of 25 Sustainable Servingware & Tableware Sources just released yesterday for the holiday season.  Their eco-friendly list is divided into three meaningful parts: 1) dishes made from mindful materials (we’re in here!), 2) servingware that’s fair trade, and 3) vintage tabletop ripe for re-use. (Image credit: Apartment Therapy)

31 March 2010 — While the mattresses that my grand-mother used to sleep on were made out of cotton, wool or straw (she was born in 1907), nowadays they are mostly made of foam.  Petroleum-based polyurethane foam used in mattresses breaks down over time and, according to a study by the Consumer Product Safety Commission reported in the Washington Post in April 2008, releases 0.802 mg of antimony and 0.081 mg of boric acid (the poison used to kill cockroaches) in the air every night.  These amounts are apparently OK if you are more than 5 years old (!). And formaldehyde – declared toxic under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act – can be present in box spring glue. Conventional mattresses for children may also contain phthalates, and often flame retardants such as poloybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs are banned in Europe and are being phased out in the United States… but are still very legal in Canada).

My friend Jean Corriveau is a pioneer in the world of non-plastic healthy mattresses and he manages his business in a very honest and ethical way.  He is just the nicest person, full of integrity, who would never compromise on quality.  He is the owner of Sleeptek which developed a completely natural mattress line 15 years ago in response to demands from some of his highly chemical-sensitive clients.  His Obasan mattresses are not only made of organically grown cotton and sustainably harvested natural rubber, but the wool he uses comes from a family-run organic sheep farm in the Netherlands.  The wood in the box springs comes from Quebec spruce — sustainably harvested — and no synthetic glues, dyes or finishes are used. (Read more:http://www.nationalpost.com/life/footprint/story.html?id=2072160#ixzz0jif8xE9h)