YOGA
I
was hit with a piece of information recently that gave me hope. At a daylong meeting about insulated lunch bags, one of the presenters who was a mother told the following story about her two kids. One day after school her kids came home and insisted that their lunch for the next day be one with zero footprint. And, they insisted that any packaging used be eco friendly. The women explained to us that mothers these days hear this kind of thing all the time. My job is product design. I work part time for a company that designs and manufactures coolers and lunch bags on a large scale (which is why I was at the meeting). On the side, I run my own business where I design a line of Canadian-made vegan belts. It’s been a great view of both worlds; the world of mass manufacturing in China contrasted with my small company. To hear that the kids today
are being taught about the importance of ecofriendliness was the part that gave me hope. It saddens me to see Mother Nature reacting to our irresponsible behavior in such severe ways. Hearing the story of these kids made me realize that a new generation is coming forth, one that is different from my parents and myself, one that demands that animals be treated fairly, that the world not be polluted, and one that is actually responsible for their environment. In the past two decades words like “eco-friendly”, “recycled” and “zero footprint” have become part of everyday life. More and more companies in the fashion world have become trailblazers for a different world. Thrift clothing shops are now a cool place to buy clothes with a much smaller environmental footprint. Value Village has the cool nickname “V-V Boutique”. Actress Alicia Silverstone has gone vegan and has an amazing blog out called
The Kind Life. Huge brand name companies seem to now include a section of “eco” in their product offerings. Every little bit makes a difference, not matter how small. You may think that buying second hand, or going out of your way to buy an organic T-shirt, will not matter. But it does. Going out of your way to buy these products instead of the more environmentally damaging options helps to make this world a better place. It takes courage to go against the grain, but in the end it is so worth it. It seems like the younger generations have more sense of this than we do. But for heaven’s sake, let’s make sure this world is in a decent state for when they become adults!
Renia Pruchnicki is the owner of a company called Truth where she designs a line of vegan fashion accessories made in Canada. She also works as a designer of soft-sided coolers and lunch carriers for a Canadian company called California Innovations.
For more information on Renia, please visit www.truthbelts.com.