A Second Thought About Flokati

Well, it turns out that there is no such ting as a perfect rug. While our Flokati rugs are natural, organic, formaldehyde-free, vegetable dyed and have no vinyl backing, none of this guarantees humane treatment of the sheep from who's back the wool grew . I recently heard about a widespread practice called "Tail Docking, in which the the tail and the area around the tail are cut off with a blade in order to prevent flies from laying maggot eggs around the anus of the sheep, thus ruining the wool. This procedure is performed without any anesthesia. A similar procedure, called "mulesing" is prevalent in Australia, where Merino sheep are raised for their wool. These particular sheep have many folds in their skin, which attract more flies and leave their wool more vulnerable to infestation by maggots. To remedy this, ranchers literally slice large patches of skin from around their tales. In order to perform this procedure, the sheep are forced onto their backs with their legs restrained between metal bars, and once again, this is all done without anesthesia.

I guess the moral is, you need to pick your battles. I believe it is important to be informed-- to know what goes into making the rug that sits on your floor, and decide what is most important to you: the materials used to put it together? treatment of the animals involved in the production? treatment of the people who's labor was used to manufacture the product? carbon emissions during the production and destination processes? Choosing to make one your priority does not negate the the necessity to acknowledge the others. Awareness is a powerful tool and so, similar to what I have done here, do not be afraid to exploit it. Share what you know, keep the knowledge alive and continue to make informed and educated choices. Whatever you do, don't turn a blind eye.

The musician Pink filmed a short piece for PETA about the treatment of sheep raised for wool. It is difficult to watch but if you feel up to it, you can access the video at http://www.savethesheep.com/f-wool_boycott_update.asp

Don't Let The Bed Bugs Bite: The Road To Sweeter Dreams

Winter is upon us and as the temperature drops it’s time to get cozy. But before you snuggle up under those covers, here’s a thought or two to consider about your mattress.

In the United States, mattresses are legally required to be treated with toxic fire retardants, usually containing formaldehyde or polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). These dangerous chemicals have been linked to cancer, slow brain development, hormone disruption, asthma, skin rashes and hives. Lately, high levels of PBDEs have been found in the breast milk of North American women, making newborn babies doubly vulnerable to the effects of this chemical.

We spend a lot of time in our beds, with our mouths and noses pressed close to the mattresses and bedding. Next time you buy a new mattress, or if you are currently experiencing symptoms such as headaches, asthma, burning eyes or lungs, consider purchasing a mattress made from organic cotton or natural latex and wrapped in wool (which is a naturally fire resistant material). By doing this, you can avoid breathing in many of the fumes offgassing from standard mattresses.

Even if a new mattress is not in your budget, there are things you can do to help protect yourself against sensitivity triggers like dust mites and offgassing chemicals: use organic cotton bedding (conventional cotton accounts for 25% of the world’s pesticide use!); wash your sheets every two weeks in hot water; use an organic cotton or wool mattress cover is a useful barrier to put some distance between you and the mattress. In addition, you can consider an organic cotton futon mattress, which is considerably less expensive than a cotton/wool/latex mattress and can be a good compromise, especially for kids’ rooms. Be careful, though: even organic cotton futons and mattress covers can be treated with boric acid, so if you’d like a mattress truly free of all flame retardant chemicals, ask your doctor for a prescription and present it to your local mattress retailer—s/he can special order you a clean mattress (just make sure your smoke detectors work!).