Banana Bark & River Grass Placemat
Made in India
by artisans committed to eco-conscious practices
$ 12.00
Decorate your table with hand-woven placemats. These elegant placemats are made out of a durable banana bark. Every purchase supports female artisans working with Sustainable Threads in India.
* Sold individually
* Approximately 13" x 19"
* Care Instructions: Wipe clean with damp cloth, spot clean with soap solution, dry in shade
* Materials: banana bark and cotton
Classic Handmade Eco-friendly Banana Bark Fiber Fair Trade Placemat
As with all handmade items, no two pieces are the same. Variations in size, color, and design will occur.
Sustainable Threads
Sustainable Threads is a fair trade enterprise that works with more than 10 artisan groups located in India. The organization focuses on creating long-term relationships with its artisan partners and is community-oriented, in addition to caring about creating beautiful products. Sustainable Threads has a certification from Green America and prides itself on using environmentally friendly packaging. It is also a member of the Fair Trade Federation and is committed to promoting rural development, entrepreneurship, and social justice in the communities where its artisans live and work.
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THE TECHNIQUE
Using 100 percent cotton, indigenous artisans and artisans with disabilities in India weave cotton linens and pillows by hand. Artisans working with Sustainable Threads begin the production cycle by using frame looms to create cotton threads, which becomes the actual fabric. The rough cotton is spun while using looms to form thread. The cotton threads are vertically dyed using eco-friendly, AZO-free dyes. After dying, the threads are woven into segments of cotton fabric, varying in intricacy according to the design. Executing with a high level of precision, the artisans weave segments of cotton that are very specific in dimension, which limits waste.
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India
Its combination of spiritual depth, unmatched physical beauty, and cultural diversity makes India one of the most fascinating destinations in the world. A very diverse country, India is symbolized by the plurality of its culture, which reaches back about 5,000 years, making it one of the world's oldest cultures. With 1.237 billion people in 2012, India is the world’s largest democracy and fourth largest economy. In spite of the impressive economic growth it has seen in the last decade, for more than 400 million of India’s people (one-third of the world’s poor), crushing poverty and malnutrition are still harsh realities, and 29.8 percent of the total population fall below the international poverty line of US $1.25 per day. Moreover, in 2012, India ranked in the 136th place out of 187 countries in the 2013 Human Development Index of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which assesses long-term progress in three basic dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life, access to knowledge and a decent standard of living.
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Fair Trade Products
Fair Trade is an approach to international trade centered around equitable partnerships, transparency and respect. It seeks to empower marginalized producers by providing them safe working conditions, fair pay, and a means to establish a sustainable business free from exploitation. As a member of the Fair Trade Federation, we are committed to the Fair Trade principles.
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