If you’re anything like me, you love to touch, feel, and try on when shopping. Which is why I am so excited about the Grand Opening of Wildlife Works new store at 1849 Union Street in San Francisco. Unfortunately I’ll miss the celebration due to business (and some family fun) down in Santa Barbara and Los Angeles, so if you go, do a little extra shopping for me please!
Founded by Mike Korchinsky, the store is this fair city’s first all eco-chic shopping stop and it comes none too soon. Wildlife Works is a fabulous model of business for a sustainable future, producing organic cotton clothing at their fair trade factory and wildlife preserve in Kenya. Mike’s vision has literally transformed hundreds of human lives around Rukinga, and saved countless animals from senseless poaching. If you can’t make the opening party on the 14th, you can always shop from their website and feel good knowing that you are part of their unique brand of Consumer Powered Conservation.
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6 Comments
Hi Kimberly,
I’m just curious - given the influence moms typically have over what goes into their families’ mouths, have you personally considered adopting a vegan or partial-vegan diet, or promoting the idea within your network? Even a small change, like one meat-free meal or meat-free day a week, could have a big impact! Make sure to avoid dairy/egg products on those meat-free days - those industries go hand-in-hand with the livestock industry in terms of negative environmental impact. The more we can get our kids away from eating SAD (the Standard American Diet), the better it is for the environment AND their long-term health!!!
Did you know that rearing cattle causes 18% more greenhouse gas emissions than driving cars? It’s also a major source of land and water degradation.
http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2006/1000448/index.html
I was pleased to see your support for locally grown food. A resource folks might find helpful, if organic is outside their budget or simply not available locally or year-round, is this Shopping Guide from the Environmental Working Group. (http://www.foodnews.org/walletguide.php)
Also, families might want to draft their own “Sustainability Mission Statement” that includes a priority list for purchases. This helps to make sure that everybody (like helpful Dad stopping for groceries on the way home) is on the same page. For example, in our family the priority for obtaining food is:
1. Home grown veganic or organic
2. Locally grown veganic or organic (certified or not)
3. Locally grown low-spray/IPM
4. Domestic organic
5. Domestic low-pesticide produce
Another priority list might be for clothing (avoiding non-organic cotton, sweat shop clothing, etc.) and general purchases (made in America, companies that use sustainable practices, fair trade, non-sweat shop, etc.)
Amy, mother of 2
Cambridge, Mass.
“Car-free and oh, so happy…”
I will for sure check out this new store Wildlife Works and will spread the word! Although I agree with alot of what the above commentor has to say and happen to be a vegetarian/almost vegan myself, I want to really commend you on all of the good work you are doing and take the focus off of what you may perhaps not be doing! Goodness knows we ALL can be doing more but as a business woman myself I know first hand how hard it is to express and promote your beliefs but keep it palatable for the masses. Keep up the good work! Cece
Hi Cece,
Every time another mom joins our organization and gets excited about being a part of creating a sustainable future it gives me more energy to keep going. I appreciate your grasp of our positive messaging and thank you so much for your support. You keep up the good work too! And I hope to meet you some day soon.
Kimberly
Hi there Kimberly,
I just happened to check back to see if there had been any reply. I’m disappointed to see that my comments may have been taken in a negative spirit. My intention was not to focus on what you may not be doing (I have no idea about your family’s eating habits, for example) but primarily I wanted to commend you for supporting locally grown food and also suggest related information/tools to that end.
The information I shared about reducing meat consumption comes out of my recognition that networks like yours offer powerful opportunities to influence others, and I hoped that this may be an avenue you might explore in the future.
I’ll share a final comment, which I omitted from my original post so that you would not think I was being critical. I just wanted to say that while I also enjoy showing my support for sustainability with my wallet, a path that few people are willing to focus on is to figure out how to be satisfied with less, buy “new” clothes on consignment, kids’ clothes and toys at yard sales, etc. and reduce our impact that way. Again, moms are the lynchpin in the family when it comes to these purchases.
This message may be more suitable for middle-income America who can’t afford items such as those sold by Wildlife Works. Articles ergularly featured in online newsletters such as The Dollar Stretcher http://www.stretcher.com might help folks in this group reduce their carbon footprint and live a more sustainable lifestyle at the same time.
Just another nugget to mull over as you think about what your organization represents and with whom your messages most strongly resound. Bringing the message to the masses may be the biggest challenge of all for our generation of environmentalists.
Best of luck with your organization and keep up the good work!
Amy
(new to online posting and somewhat dismayed at how easy it is to misinterpret things!)
I have a bagfull of 10 unsolicited advertising magazines, eg : Macy’s, Talbot’s, Sur la Table, etc etc This is from only TWO DAYS’ MAIL!!! HELP! HOW CAN WE ELIMINATE THIS AWFUL WASTE OF TREES, TIME, AND MONEY? Is this part of your mission, which, by the way, I love and applaud?
Marcia Frank 415- 454-9410
Check out http://www.catalogchoice.com
Thanks for all that YOU do. And thanks for the applause. Hee hee