As a craftsperson I have total control over how my products are made. I also spent a lot of time researching the most ethically and sustainably produced finishes to use on them.
However, I can’t make everything myself. I always envisioned my toys being presented in fabric bags because they’re long lasting and practical. A cardboard box is discarded as soon as it’s opened and isn’t really of much further use. Whereas, cotton bags are great for storing and transporting toys and when they get dirty you can just chuck them in the washing machine. Unfortunately, I’m absolutely hopeless with fabric. I needed some help. That was when Jo Salter from Where Does It Come From? came to my rescue.
Jo founded her business in 2013 after becoming concerned that the clothes she was buying for herself and her family were not being created ethically, and that she may indirectly have been helping to sustain cruel labour practices and contributing to the world’s pollution problems.
This motivated her to seek a way of providing an ethical alternative for garments people needed to buy. Finding like minded people to partner with such as Moral Fibre Fabrics enabled her to produce her first ranges of traceable clothes.
Through her ethical connections in India, Jo enabled me to have my bags ethically and sustainably made by hand. Even the Love HeartWood logo is screen printed by hand.
Having them made in this way means they’re 300 times more expensive than having them made in China. However, it’s important to me that they’re made in as sustainable way as possible and that the people making them are paid a living wage. For me, and I hope for you, this knowledge is worth the extra monetary cost.
So you can trace Love HeartWood bags right back to the field the cotton grew in. View their life story here and find out who made your bag.
Or you can visit Where Does It Come From? and enter Love HeartWood’s unique tracability code CU23MLW.