Friday 25 January 2019

HOMEBODIES | Turning In

When the sun is constantly shining and warming our outside world, we tend to make plans with friends outdoors. Camping, hiking, BBQing. On the West Coast, our winter may not be bitingly frigid the way it is in many parts of Canada, but it is still dark and wet. It's that time of year when you are waking up and going home in the dark (in this hemisphere anyways). 

This atmosphere compels us to turn to our indoor spaces to spend much of our time. Our fireplaces and our favourite blankets become our closest companions. We tend to spend more time alone, or more time with just the people that live in our homes. We talk a lot about home. What makes a home? What sustains a home? We think that undoubtably the most popular answer would be the people in your home. The family and friends that you co-habit with, or have visit you. That is true.

We feel that your home can also be a statement about who you are. It doesn't have to be one that jumps out like a flashing neon sign. However, what you have visible in your home will represent you no matter what. How we live speaks volumes to what we value and how those values influence our lifestyles. Looking around a home, you could probably deduce if someone is a conscious consumer, or one of convenience. If they prioritize trendy over longevity, want over need, accessibility over sustainability. 

We love home decor that is not only beautiful and functional, but has a story, a good one. Behind every item you can hold, wear, touch, is a story of the creator. Someone had to make it. Someone put thought and effort into it.

For example, creating our SALT candles, an item we tackled for the first time this past winter, was a journey of thoughtful decisions. Firstly, we knew we wanted them to be produced locally, so a collaboration with Salt Spring Island Candle Co. was the obvious answer (a company who has a story all unto themselves). The questions went on from there. What scents did we want? What did we want them to convey in a home? What ingredients did that mean? What receptacle did we want them to be in? How could we make that as sustainable as possible? What did we want to name them? More thought than you might think! In the end, we decided on 3 scents that combine 100% essential oils with 100% soy wax to create an ambiance of refreshment, calm, and natural environments. The names of each scent pay homage to the West Coast, evoking thoughts of the ocean and the areas we so desperately want to keep safe. Plus, the glass we chose is actually a whiskey glass, and at the end of the life of the candle, can be cleaned out and used in the kitchen again and again. All these details were part of the process, part of the story. We love knowing that when they are burning brightly in a home, these are the kinds of details the owner can share with their guests.

Or consider anything we have that is made by Convivial Production, like their Riveted Mug, that brings us so much warmth in the mornings. All their items are sustainably created by hand with the intention of bringing people together. With their timeless style and geometric lines, we can't imagine their pieces not being conversation starters.

Anything you bring into your home could become a conversation piece. Why not ensure that those conversations revolve around sustainable production, mindful consumption, and taking pride in supporting local stores and small batch artisans? We're not saying your living room has to be a political statement loaded with challenging questions for your guests, but combining comfort and style, with conscious consumption is an easy way to lead by example when it comes to being mindful of how your purchases impact our planet.

The items you collect speak to who you are and how you make decisions. There are so many areas in your home where you can represent a conscious lifestyle. In your kitchen, choosing sustainable options for your pan brushes like ones from Iris Hantverk, instead of plastic. Keeping cloth napkins and dishcloths on hand, instead of relying on the one-time use rolls of paper towel. In other parts of the home, frame personal photos or hang locally done art on your walls instead of generic prints. All these details will add up to a home that is unique, thoughtful, and stands for going beyond just what is convenient or trendy.

Even though the darkness may propel us to spend more time at home, in cozy spaces away from the cold, we encourage you to welcome people into your space at least a few times over the next few months. Connecting together over good food and good company is part of creating and maintaining community. Doing it in a space that you love makes it that much better.

Shop sustainable home decor, and comfortable style for at home, online or in-store anytime.  



from SALT Shop - Journal https://saltshop.ca/blogs/news/homebodies

Friday 18 January 2019

LIFE WITHOUT PLASTIC | Can We Do It?

 

Have you ever tried to count how many times you touch plastic in a day? Try it. If you live a conscious lifestyle and make an effort to eliminate plastic in your home, it might not be as many times as it could be. But if you leave your home, you have less control over coming into contact with it. And what about your car? What about every time you use something electronic, use running water, use a washroom? 

And you have to think not only about the ingredients of the items you are using, but what was used to produce them as well. So even if the final product is plastic-free, what about the tools or machines that were used to make it? Unless it is a handmade item made from a sustainable substance, chances are that at least some plastic went into the process used in it's production.

This musing got us wondering "What if plastic was never invented? Would our lives really be that much harder?" The honest answer for a lot of people would be yes. In the last roughly 100 years since plastics have become more popular, it has become a part of nearly everything we do. 

We feel like National Geographic highlights this issue succinctly.

"Versatile, pliable, durable, cheap to produce - and ubiquitous....It is also both a life-saving miracle product and the scourge of the Earth." -National Geographic, Fast facts about plastic pollution

 

There isn't anything quite like it. Currently, plastic has many modern uses that we depend on quite heavily. Uses in home production, medicine, transportation, electronics, large scale agriculture, and getting just about any kind of modern service (like internet and running water) to our homes and businesses. The way we have integrated plastics into these products and systems, it would be nearly impossible to turn back the clock.

We could argue that many of these things could be done without plastic by using other substances like glass and metal, things that can more easily be recycled and reused. But does that argument stand in all these instances? What about medicine? Our current medical system makes an overwhelming amount of waste with their dependence on single use plastic items. Yes, things like metal, glass, and ceramics used to be the only options and we made due, but we also had issues with sterilization and operated at a lower level of technical acuity.

Now, the way our health care systems are structured and with the sheer number of people that need access to them, it really isn't feasible to revert to these other options (is it??). The repercussions to the system simply couldn't handle it, it could put people's lives at risk. But eventually, our Earth won't be able to handle all the waste we are creating. So what is our answer here?

To all of the questions this conversation raises, there is no simple solution. The reality seems to be that when we created plastics and integrated them into our lives to the point of dependency, we were not yet equipped with the policies we needed in place to deal with them responsibly, and we still aren't. We took things from the Earth (natural gas, oil, coal) that were probably never meant to be messed with and turned them into polymers and other substances that nature didn't intend to create. Nature is a closed-loop system - it never creates something it can't, at the end of it's life, repurpose. It's biology, it's physics, it's life. There is something arguably unnatural about the way we live now, even though we are a natural species. Like we have come too far, and we can't find our way home.

What would be great, would be if all plastics produced could be done so in a way where they could be broken down and/or recycled infinitely. Research and investment is happening to develop alternate forms of plastics, like starch-based, and cellulose-based plastics, hopefully resulting in bioplastics that are not only recyclable, but biodegradable. We look forward to delving into those results more in the future.

For now, as always, we encourage everyone to keep these thoughts in mind; consume consciously and make more sustainable choices when it comes to, well, everything. Read labels, ask questions, and make a stand for only purchasing sustainable "alternatives." Realistically, everything we use is going to be depleting some kind of resource, is going to have some impact. As a species, we can't avoid it; there are too many of us! But we can choose things that won't live on the Earth forever; things we can clean and melt down and re-purpose. Items that will eventually break down and return to their source and become something new. We would like the world to get to a place where instead of these items being thought of as plastic alternatives, they are just the norm. We were there once, and we're even more developed now; hopefully we can use that to our advantage.

 

Really, when we dispose of something without being responsible, or buy something without thinking about where the waste from it is going to end up, we are essentially saying that the lives of those that will live after us, human, animal, and otherwise, are less important than our own. And we all know, that is never true.

This discussion is complicated and could be taken in many different directions. This year we will be looking at many ways that plastic impacts our planet and our lifestyles, what is being done about it, and how we can be better. We hope you will follow along, offer your input, and be inspired to be a part of the movement to keep our Earth safe. 

Shop plastic alternatives like Goldilocks Wraps, Dans le Sac, Falcon Enamelware, and Iris Hantverk in-store and online.



from SALT Shop - Journal https://saltshop.ca/blogs/news/life-without-plastic-can-we-do-it

Friday 11 January 2019

BONNETIER | La vie de chalet

When you're looking for cozy, where do you start? Top down, or bottom up? It could be different every day, depending on what you're doing. If you're living the "chalet life" having toasty toes are going to be a big priority. There is nothing worse than shredding the slopes worrying about frozen extremities when you should be focused on your next turn or jump. 

We figure that Isabelle Marcotte and Henry Cho never have this problem. They are the duo behind Canadian made Bonnetier. For those not well versed en Français, this translates to "hosier", the original definition being one who concerned themselves with the creation of legware. The founders were no doubt intrigued by the craftsmanship and history of the term, and the profession, and it's links to advancements in clothing production. In the Our Story section on their website, they site references made to the involvement of early hosier's in the development of technical weaving and the invention of the sock itself. An admirable thing then, to pay homage to. 

"We chose this name because it recalls the work of the craftsman and the pride of a job well done, but it also reminds us of the innovation behind it all. " -Bonnetier

As the name suggests, the company concerns itself with a myriad of high quality socks that will keep more than your toes warm. Their line also delves into "... a collection of outdoor clothing made of merino wool..." and a number of "...funky t-shirts." The tees are screen printed by hand in Montreal with graphics and words inspiring thoughts of ski hills and French-Canadian winters. All the inks used are environmentally friendly water-based options, and every item is completed locally in Montreal. It is important to the founders to support as many other local businesses as possible in the production of their items, and to reduce their environmental footprint in the process, a commitment we commend. 

Bonnetier creates for outdoor enthusiasts, the ones who are pushing limits and need clothing that will keep up with them. They use a variety of fibres, with the most heavily touted being Merino Wool. This naturally occurring fleecy wool is quite the substance. Lightweight, odour resistant, and much less itchy than other wools. It also has an amazing ability to wick moisture away from you when you are hot, and use moisture to keep you warm when it's cold. It's also machine washable and dries quickly. To source their EMAS certified wool, Bonnetier works with a farm in New Zealand who treats their animals ethically and let them run free.

 

At SALT, we admire a company that brings forward lessons from history into our modern society. You may hear expressions these days about how things used to be made, how they stood the test of time longer. Getting back to the simple processes is something we aspire to, as they are usually the ones that are best for our planet. With less muddling of natural items, the longevity of the inputs don't lose their integrity and function the way nature intended them to - in a closed-loop cycle. From Earth, to Earth, and around they go again. 

From Bonnetier, we choose to carry a few styles of socks that fit in with our pallet and our philosophy. They are often the most popular items picked up by guests for gifts, or by the people who receive them, fall in love, and have to come back for more. Find them on our website here, or in store at our Salt Spring Island or Victoria locations.



from SALT Shop - Journal https://saltshop.ca/blogs/news/bonnetier

Friday 4 January 2019

THALASSOPHILE | Lover of the Sea

Bare toes squish the wet sand. The swish, swoosh, swish, of the waves keeping time like a heartbeat, like the Earth breathing in and out. As far as you can gaze, the sea stretches into blueness, and falls away over the curve of the horizon.

The Ocean. It holds so much power, which sometimes bursts forth in ways that remind us how much respect it deserves. It talks to the moon, locked in a never ending push and pull that gives us tides. Is there anything on Earth so mysterious? The sheer size of it alone begs so many questions, hides so many secrets. We will never unlock all it has to offer.  

The ocean is what makes our planet different from every other one in our solar system. That is pretty special. For 4 billion years, it has been shaping our planet. Without it, we wouldn't have the lush greenery of the land we call home. Something worth saving, we imagine everyone would have to agree?

Last year, we at SALT really solidified our commitment to the deep blue sea. As we look across the horizon of a new year, we know that the clock is ticking on the health and survival of our oceans. Humans are simply too hard on the planet. Whether it's an argument of our lifestyles, our lack of regulations, or any number of the other factors that could be argued are the worst contributors to the devastation of our seas, there is much to be done to keep our oceans safe.

As Canadians (and humans), what we are most concerned with when it comes to our oceans and what we want to see done about it is going to vary from person to person, taking into account our individual opinions and education on such matters. The Canadian Federal Government's Department of Fisheries and Oceans looks at marine conservation and regulation from many angles, which we could discuss and debate at length (To learn about all the work they do, visit their website and explore what initiatives they are taking on). One item that caught our eye was the discussion around Marine Protected Areas (MPA). An MPA is "A clearly defined geographical space recognized, dedicated and managed, through legal or other effective means to achieve the long-term conservation of nature with associated ecosystem services and cultural values." (MPA Network). At this time, they are working to protect more of the ocean around our country under this definition and the regulations that go along with it.

The pursuit of this strategy is supported by WWF-Canada, as well as other conservation organizations, lobbyists, and additional stakeholders including the Province of British Columbia and several First Nations. Recently, WWF-Canada urged the Federal Government to move quickly with their plans for MPAs, based on the recommendations laid out in the National Advisory Panel on Marine Protected Area Standards. These recommendations come from a report that this body produced after being established in the Spring of 2018. The below quote indicates what is contained in the report.

"The Panel makes 13 recommendations to the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard.  Recommendations focus on minimum protection standards in federal marine protected areas, including Oceans Act Marine Protected Areas and marine refuges established by Fisheries and Oceans Canada, National Marine Conservation Areas established by Parks Canada, and National Wildlife Areas established by Environment and Climate Change Canada.  It also makes recommendations on better engagement, stronger governance, and robust MPA planning, on the emerging concept of Indigenous Protected Areas, and on marine spatial planning." (www.newswire.ca)

It takes some time to implement these strategies, so in the interim, the first step the government has proposed is their ‘Freeze the Footprint’ idea. Via a Ministerial order, this essentially means no increase in human activities other than ongoing activities in a certain area so that no further damage is done, while “…further science, consultations, risk assessments, and socio-economic and ecological overviews…” are conducted with the intention of having a resolution within 5 years. 

That is all well and good, but we must agree with the plea from WWF-Canada to expedite this process as quickly as possible. There is just too much damage done every day.  

Why are we talking about what our government is doing? We can all agree that with great leadership can come great change. What the government is doing matters. It matters whether they are doing a good job, or have room for improvement, and it matters that we are aware of what they are prioritizing. The more initiative we see taken by our elected leaders, the more we can hope that lasting regulatory change will happen, if we, as stakeholders, use our voices to support their best initiatives. 

So what about us? Aside from continuing on our pursuit of a lifestyle that encourages mindful, sustainable living, we don't yet know what initiatives we will pursue this year for marine conservation, but we know we want to get as many people involved as possible. Perhaps a series of beach clean ups, or the sponsorship of a Seabin. We definitely will be making use of our new space in Victoria to have events that bring awareness to issues challenging our oceans and funds to the marine conservation organizations that we believe in, especially ones that all operating close to home. We are excited to dive into planning and we will keep you updated!

The conversation of what is to be done is one we have mused over before. In the past year, we have focused more on what you can do as an individual to help protect and conserve our oceans. This year, we want the breadth of those efforts to multiply. As much as we believe that our individual every day choices make a collective positive impact, garnering the interest of our peers to join us would make a bigger, better impact. Leading by example is a great place to start, and beyond that, the tides of change only grow stronger.

Everyone has a cause that is dear to their heart. Ours happens to be the salty waters of the ocean. Asking for support from friends, family, and beyond is not an unreasonable request. They have the choice to say no. However, if we all lend a hand even just now and then to the cause's that we care for, the load will get lighter with every hand lifted.



from SALT Shop - Journal https://saltshop.ca/blogs/news/thalassophile