good green news

This morning I went on a tour of the wholesale flower markets. It was a one time BBG class and it was wonderful. I'd been very curious (and fully intimidated) about the markets since my FIT days when I traipsed through the heart of it every day. Anyway the tour was a lovely whirlwind, I don't think I've totally processed it yet. But I did learn a lot, most importantly we learned about a few stores that will sell to individuals. Another great thing was that the teacher, Nancy Kitchen, offered to help/advise on flowers for the wedding. I'm still hoping to use Lebak Flower Farm, but in case it doesn't work out it's good to know what the alternatives are. 

Some other good news; Mood now carries organic cotton knits and twills, as well as some bamboo and hemp knits. Not really anything that will work for current Jewelweeds products, but someday. Hopefully if enough people ask, they will start sourcing more sustainable fabrics. It's nice to have a resource for these that I can actually touch! There are more and more companies selling online, but I really need to touch stuff. Swatches really don't do it for me, you can't see how it drapes and many times fabrics look and feel totally different when uncut. I can't really explain it, but somehow you don't get the full essence of the fiber.

Also, Daytona is trying to cut back on using so many plastic bags. It used to be that even the smallest piece of ribbon got put in a small plastic bag and the ladies would mark the yardage and price right on it so there was no way around getting plastic from them. But today, I was escorted to the cash register so that she could just tell the owner how much to charge me. And she asked if she could just put my stuff in a bag I already had. And, and they had a sign on the counter asking customers to bring their own bags! Progress!