Posts Tagged ‘Fair Trade/ Social Justice’

The 46664 Bangle. In support of the 46664 campaign of the Nelson Mandela Foundation

Monday, November 22nd, 2010

The 46664 BangleThe 46664 Bangle design is striking and uplifting; the epitome of Style and Relevance.

We all know, (or we should), of the extraordinary man named Nelson Mandela and his remarkable historic journey from decades-long political-imprisonment to having received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993, having become President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and to having led South Africa’s transition towards multi-racial democracy.

You probably didn’t know that “Four, Double Six, Six Four” was Mr. Mandela’s prison number; number 466, imprisoned in ‘64. Mr. Mandela’s legacy is redirected for a new struggle; originally launched to raise awareness about HIV AIDS, 46664 has now expanded its focus to champion Mr. Mandela’s broader humanitarian work.copper box _CTX5576 500x662copper on black_CTX2793 sml 500x424

The 46664 campaign focuses on global social issues such as poverty, hunger, unemployment, education, gender inequality, discrimination, and HIV AIDS prevention. The 46664 Bangle initiative aims to create jobs for the less fortunate and also spreads awareness of the 46664 campaign.

Each 46664 Bangle is fair trade handmade in South Africa of the highest quality pure copper, or silver, gold or platinum with a copper inlay. Each bangle bears a digital imprint of Mr. Mandela’s hand and his symbolic prison number. The Bangle program makes a positive impact through job creation and skills training while promoting a message of social responsibility.

In 2007, Rob Favole and the Elegant Roots team began turning a concept, an idea, into a social business, ElegantRoots.com designed specifically to serve people, planet, profits. In October 2008 — exactly the time that The Great Depression became a topic for current events discussion — ElegantRoots was launched as an online boutique offering design-forward jewelry and accessories For Her, For Him and furnishings For Home – and all of it is green, either eco-conscious, socially responsible, or both.

Silver 70x183 no background at 72 copyOne Elegant notion is that design-forward products, lovely in form and function, take on unsurpassed beauty with the luster of fair trade, social responsibility and eco-consciousness. And knowing the story of these more meaningful products enables consumers to align their purchases with their values.

Transparency brings some benefits of globalization to those who had previously been on the margins, or worse, had been victims of globalization’s press for cheap labor. And transparency allows consumers to “vote” with their dollars for greater meaning and the greater good.

The ElegantRoots.com team strives to help provide access to the wide US markets for such products while providing their creators with some measure of recognition through a commitment to transparency. Thus, for each product, Elegant Roots tells the story — the Roots — through “our 4 Ws” (who made it, where, from what, and, why, beyond its beauty and function, it is a worthy purchase), and our designer profiles. Everyone wins — from artisan, to customer, to recipient of an ElegantRoots.com gift — upon delivery of an item of greater meaning than even its beauty or soulful qualities.

Silver Box front 500x494ElegantRoots.com supports the 46664 campaign of the Nelson Mandela Foundation by offering the 46664 Bangle on a non-profit basis – that is, ElegantRoots.com makes no profit on its sale of the 46664 Bangle.

Your purchase of a 46664 Bangle signifies you have risen to the challenge; making a real difference in the lives of those at risk from HIV/AIDS. More than a one-time act of charity, your purchase changes lives, unleashes opportunities for entire communities, and cares for, educates and uplifts those affected by this pandemic.

It’s not JUST a fashion statement. Tell the world that ordinary people can make extraordinary contributions. Be part of the new legacy.

Hand silver2 266x400Each 46664 Bangle bears a digital imprint of Mr. Mandela’s palm, a reminder of his slogan, “It’s in our hands”, and an embrace from one of the world’s most inspiring men.

Now it’s in your hands.

Join Brad Pitt, Will Smith, ElegantRoots.com and many others around the world in support of the 46664 campaign of the Nelson Mandela Foundation.

ElegantRoots Teams with Turquoise Mtn: A Social Biz and a Not-For-Profit

Thursday, November 4th, 2010

On a 2004 state visit to Britain, Afghan President Hamid Karsai discussed with Prince Charles the imminent loss of Afghanistan’s traditional crafts and how revival of those arts would help renew a sense of national identity. Prince Charles, an aficionado of traditional arts, committed to help. He raised seed money for a charitable foundation and enlisted his friend (and former tutor to his sons), Rory Stewart, to lead the effort.places in between cover 150

As Executive Director, Stewart, (author of The Places In Between and now a Member of Parliament), shaped a 3-pronged mandate for the non-profit TM: regenerating Murad Khane, Kabul’s ancient art center; establishing artisan collectives to renew traditional Afghan arts and architecture, and spur sustainable development; and to establish schools.

In 2007, Rob Favole and his team began turning a concept, an idea, into a social business, ElegantRoots.com designed specifically to serve people, planet, profits.

In October 2008 — exactly the time that The Great Depression became a topic for current events, ElegantRoots was launched as an online boutique offering design-forward jewelry and accessories For Her, For Him and furnishings For Home – and all of it is green, either eco-conscious, socially responsible, or both.

One Elegant notion is that traditional arts and artisan techniques when applied to updated designs can support traditional lifestyles around the globe, bringing some benefits of globalization to those who had previously been on the margins, or worse, had been victims of globalization’s press for cheap labor. Meilebag_iFan 500x646

The ElegantRoots.com team sees its place as helping to provide access to the wide US markets for artisans from outside as well as within the US. And to provide them some measure of recognition through a commitment to transparency. Thus, for each product, the Roots, or story, is presented through “our 4 Ws” (who made it, where, from what, and, why, beyond its beauty and function, it is a worthy purchase) and our designer profiles. This transparency also serves ElegantRoots.com customers, enabling an informed selection that allows them to align their purchases with their values. Everyone wins — from artisan, to customer, to recipient of an ElegantRoots.com gift — upon delivery of an item of greater meaning than even its beauty or soulful qualities.

Meanwhile … to achieve the revival of Afghan arts and the creation of a thriving art and design community, Rory Stewart brought in to Turquoise Mountain many talented volunteers – architects, urban planners, engineers, and artists. Pippa 100x133Among them was Pippa Small, renowned designer and anthropologist, whose design brilliance resulted in “Pippa Small for Turquoise Mountain”, a line designed around Afghanistan’s native raw gems. All TM’s products are hand-crafted in TM’s Kabul studios by master artisans using materials indigenous to Afghanistan.

Turquoise Mountain has restored many of Murad Khane’s historic buildings, employing many talented wood carvers and bringing life back to the arts center; has created the Institute for Traditional Afghan Arts to pass along the skills, create employment and preserve these arts; has created primary schools for children many of whom had never been to school before; and has created a girls’ school.Solitaire Rings 200x235

There could be no better match than that of Turquoise Mountain and ElegantRoots.com. TM’s vision is to revive and restore Afghanistan’s traditional arts and thereby revive Kabul’s art center. ElegRoo’s is to open the US market to artisan products made by applying traditional techniques to new designs to help preserve traditional lifestyles.

Ruby Double Drop on white iFan 500x702This year, Turquoise Mountain and ElegRoo have teamed up to bring the compelling jewelry designs of Pippa Small for Turquoise Mountain to the wide American market.

Wearing this hot designer jewelry with cool raw emeralds, rubies, amethysts or lapis promotes fair trade. Join Prince Charles, Pippa Small, Rory Stewart and the international community in remaking Afghanistan. And support our troops’ efforts to bring stability and security through economic development and opportunity.

TM has moved mountains in pursuit of these ends. Now you can help and wear the hottest pieces. Visit ElegantRoots.com and open the American market to Turquoise Mountain’s jewelry and silk.

Social Biz Meets Social Media

Friday, July 30th, 2010

This is a BIG DAY for Elegant Roots. Maybe even a profound day.

Milyoni, Inc., (said like “million eye”), the leader in Social Commerce, announces a new social merchandising tool within its popular Conversational Commerce™ solution. Its new Instant Showcase allows users to conveniently purchase select products right on the Facebook wall.

Elegant Roots is about connections. Connections between an artisan and a customer. Connections between cultures. Connections between a customer’s green values and a customer’s purchases.

And Facebook is maybe the biggest way to connect, person-to-person, that has come along since the telephone. Facebook enables communities. Though they exist only on line, they are communities with interactions no less personal than the telephone. And remember the Six Degrees of Separation?

Well, a study by Microsoft based on 30 billion instant messages among 180 million people worldwide in one month concluded that “it takes just under seven steps to link every one in the world…on average, any two people are linked by fewer than seven acquaintances” (actually 6.6). Redorbit.com.

Facebook is a vehicle for unlimited connections and community creation.

Why is this so big for ElegantRoots.com? Because that’s where we connect.

Elegant Roots exists only online — in a dotcom store and in a facebook iFan shop. And ElegRoo exists only because of the “long tail” of the internet — that enough people browse to make it practical to offer products that only a slim percentage of people might want.

A little background is in order.

Elegant Roots, as an online boutique, exists to:

  • Bring hot, design-forward items that use artisan, traditional techniques on designs that appeal to the American market;
  • SurGen-2 TN

  • Promote eco-consciousness and social justice by carrying only “green” products (eco-friendly and fair trade/fair labor);
  • Promote traditional arts and preserve traditional lifestyles by creating a market for jewelry, accessories and home decor;
  • Foster connections — making Personal through Story a direct connection between artisan and consumer, throughout the world, eliminating “middlemen” whenever possible; and
  • Promote transparency, so consumers will increasingly ask Who made this, Where it was made; of What it is made and under what conditions; and Why, beyond its beauty and function it aligns with the consumer’s values.
  • Converge-1 Relapse 155x138 copy cleaned

    ElegRoo currently has somewhere over 4000 Facebook fans (or “likes”) from all around the world, (though we can presently ship only within the US). That’s 4000 people who connect with us nearly every day. And the growth is astonishing.

    Now, through Milyoni’s Instant Showcase, we can highlight to our facebook community a few of our wonderful, meaningful, artisan-made products. Our fans need not leave the Wall to buy. Connection remains intact.

    First up on ElegRoo’s Showcase are a few pieces of jewelry from [wired] designer Melissa Kolbusz – Hot earrings from repurposed Effen Vodka labels, Cool cuffs of repurposed rubber washers, and Design-Forward earrings of repurposed neoprene. Neodrop1 iFan 500x662

    Check out our Facebook community. “Like” us. You’re invited. Bring a friend.

    Five Fantastic Eco-Friendly Gifts for Dad

    Tuesday, June 8th, 2010

    Father’s Day is just around the corner and we know it’s sometimes tough to find a high-quality gift that he will really love. So Elegant Roots has rounded up some fantastic, unique green gifts that will appeal to a variety of Dads of all ages. Check it out:

    RetreadWallet_XRecycled Rubber Eco-Wallet by English Retreads — Dad’s always digging out his wallet for something — he might as well have a cool, dynamic and incredibly durable wallet like this! Made from the recycled rubber of inner tubes, this English Retreads wallet is a practical gift with a punch.

    Prosperity_A_385x315Thai Silver “Prosperity” Dog Tag by Pineapple Seed — If you’re shopping for a young or young-at-heart dad with style and a sense of purpose, this rugged dog tag with the Thai word for “prosperity” is a one-of-a-kind Father’s Day gift he’ll wear every day. (The sterling-silver luster looks great against a summer tan!)

    Estelle_Cuffs_XArtisan Labradorite & Sterling Silver Cufflinks by Stephen Estelle — Maybe he has a special event coming up, or maybe great cufflinks are part of his regular attire. Either way, these striking cufflinks, hand-crafted under fair-labor conditions by Nepali artisans, are exquisite reminders of what a fabulous Dad he really is.

    EtcetraMedia_XSustainable Wool Laptop/Messenger Bag by Etcetera Media — Handmade from sustainable Blackstone Wool, this durable eco-bag in the classic messenger style can carry laptops, documents, office supplies, or anything else that goes in a “man bag.”  Quality is the name of the game here.

    Handcrafted Zulu “Iquamba” Beer Basket by Nozipho — This water-tight basket, hand-woven by an African artisan, is designed to store Zulu beer. Sure, Dad can use it for that — or he can use it as a high-quality storage solution for home or office. Men who like organization and who care about their surroundings would appreciate this gorgeous, yet practical, museum-quality piece.Picture 2

    Wood You Support Sustainable Harvesting?

    Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010

    Wood is one of the most practical, useful and beautiful elements on earth, suitable for everything from building construction to high-fashion jewelry. But as with any natural resource, exploitative harvesting of wood can exact too great a price.

    Rain forests around the world are being destroyed at an alarming rate, and two of the biggest culprits are timber logging and farming. The solution? Create financial incentives for locals to preserve the rain forest. Luckily, there is growing awareness and a bigger market for sustainably harvested wood. That means wood that’s collected on a small scale by responsible harvesters, or recycled from other products.

    When you look for artisan items made from sustainable wood, you support a market for alternative and responsible uses of this land. This also puts talented artists to work, doing what they love.

    Here are a few awesome items we found that prove our point: Sustainable wood is fabulous!

    Olivewood “S” Bowl and Service Set by Dwelling — No two pieces are alike, as the dramatic and gorgeous swirls of the olivewood are unique to each one. Hand-carved by artisans in Kenya, these sustainable Dwelling pieces make great gifts for weddings, bridal showers, cooks, foodies, domestic divas and anyone who appreciates beautiful wood pieces.

    Rainforest Wood & Seed Jewelry by Rainforest Native — This versatile 3-strand bracelet and earrings set can be worn every day and is perfect for women who want to look effortlessly chic. Rainforest Native uses only organic, sustainably harvested South American materials and donates a portion of its profits to charities dedicated to conservation and reforestation.

    Sterling Silver & Sathorn Wood Cufflinks by Pineapple Seed — Putting Thai artisans to work in fair-trade conditions, Pineapple Seed combines modern design concepts with traditional Thai artistry. These cufflinks are made from brushed silver and reclaimed sathorn wood in a powerful, masculine design.

    Is It Just Me, Or … Is Glenn Beck’s New Political Correctness Pernicious?

    Tuesday, May 18th, 2010


    Transcript of video blog:

    Social justice has become a controversial notion. Glenn Beck instructs his viewers to run from churches that call for social justice. He also warns of other telltale phrases: “shared community”, and “collective responsibility” — all totalitarian tells, according to Mr. Beck.

    And that’s the subject of today’s Is It Just Me . . .?

    Is it just me, or is Mr. Beck pushing a pernicious new political correctness movement — trying to rid our society of the notions of social justice, community, and the common good?

    Glenn Beck’s neo-political correctness would stigmatize as Nazis and communist totalitarians anyone who uses “social justice”, “shared community” and the like to describe a vision.

    If we’re going to throw out “social justice” and “shared community”, we’d have to eliminate “common good” — it screams of communism under Mr. Beck’s “reasoning”.

    And we’d have to eliminate “common goals”. No more “common decency”. No more common sense.

    But let’s not eliminate any words simply because of their fraudulent use by Nazis or anyone. Their Big Lie about “social justice” can’t change the true and positive meaning of the term. Just like the fraudulent use of “fair and balanced” can’t change its real meaning.

    ElegantRoots.com continues to promote social justice by offering wonderful gift items on a fair trade basis. We’ll continue to say it. And we’ll continue to resist this new, pernicious political correctness.

    That’s it for today’s Is It Just Me…? from Elegant Roots. (check our new shop on Facebook/ElegantRoots)

    Can Buying a Purse Really Change the Planet?

    Tuesday, May 4th, 2010

    We can think of at least five big reasons to answer YES to that question. While a purse (or necklace, or blanket) by itself wouldn’t do it, they’re an important part of the cycle.

    How you spend your money is one of the most powerful ways you can make a statement or express your opinion. When you “buy with intent,” you support businesses working hard to pave the way for the environmentally and socially responsible world commerce we need, right now and for the future. And you send a signal to exploitative businesses that you, and your money, support better alternatives.

    Let’s break it down:

    1. Liberty and Social Justice for All. Let’s say you’re buying a basket woven by a master Zulu artisan, or a tote bag hand-crafted in Ethopia — you’re holding a bit of history. These pieces are contemporary items but made with traditional craftsmanship and practices that go back many generations. Nozipho Putting these exquisite pieces on the global market at fair-market prices keeps artisans all over the world busy, working under joyful conditions, and able to earn a good income. All that strengthens families and communities — and keeps these cultural arts alive.

    2. Takin’ Care of (Eco-Friendly) Business. By supporting companies that use responsibly harvested products and practices; clean energy; non-toxic and organic materials; recycled packing materials; green buildings and vehicles, and other sustainable methods, you make it possible for ecologically responsible businesspeople to compete with mass-market competitors. And the more pressure is put on companies worldwide to “go green,” the better off we all are.

    3. Love Your Mother (Earth) And All The Critters. Companies that work with cruelty-free products, non-toxic dyes, humanely harvested materials, recycled ingredients, and other low- or no-impact elements … need your love! As more demand is created for products like this, more companies will respond — until cruelty-free and non-toxic becomes the standard. We can live beautifully with recycled, sustainable products that don’t harm animals or our planet. Want proof? Just check out our elegant jewelry or luxury travel sets, or feather-light, cashmere-soft scarves. BeSweet_Shawl_A_385x376

    4. Joy, Baby, Joy — The very nature of artisan and hand-crafted items demands that they are made with care, by someone involved and engaged in what they are crafting. If it’s too hippie-trippy to say that items made with love are imbued with a very cool and special energy — than I guess we’re a bunch of raging hippies over here, because they really are. Whether it’s a necklace you wear or a glass ornament you display — if love went into an item, it is always apparent. This is something that simply can’t be found in a mass-produced gift. orbs in bowl 287x357 at 72

    5. A Healthier You, Too — Buying organic, sustainable, responsibly harvested and non-toxic products doesn’t just benefit Mother Earth … it makes you healthier, too. There’s too much evidence to name here that points to the fact that industrial dyes, pesticides, hormones, and other chemicals are harmful to human health and wellness (but this is a good site on the subject). A fully healthy lifestyle requires us to use products that don’t compromise our health or sag our energy.

    RetreadsPurse_A_385x364 You and your dollars are key to the process of saving the planet — one purse at a time.

    Kiva.org’s Green Loans

    Tuesday, March 9th, 2010

    Kiva.org announced that it’s going green in Mongolia. (from Beth Ritchey http://bit.ly/9G3zKC). This means that you can (soon) make a Kiva loan for an eco-conscious project. [

    By the way — making a $25 loan on Kiva.org is really easy, fun and connects you to the world, one person at a time. ElegRoo just loaned $25 to Fady, a carpenter in Beirut, Lebanon known for fine work. Fady carpenter 500054

    Anyway, Ms. Ritchey reports that most of the people living in Ulaanbaatar (the capital of Mongolia) live in gers (a yurt-type abode) heated by a central stove burning coal and/or wood. Pollution is especially horrific in winter (check out the image from Kiva.org) when temperatures are frigid and extra coal and wood are burned to keep the gers warm. According to the World Bank, 60% of Ulaanbaatar’s pollution in winter arises from coal burning in ger stoves.
    Mongolia pollution -1

    In winter, most families have to cut food spending in order to heat their gers. The Eco Products Team at XacBank in Mongolia, a Kiva lending affiliate, addresses both the poverty and pollution issues at once by offering three new types of personal consumption “green loans”:

    * Energy Efficient Stoves
    * Ger (yurt) covers
    * Energy efficient fuel
    Cleaner burning stove -2
    
GTZ, a German government run sustainable development enterprise, developed and tested the energy efficient stoves, which are lined with kiln-type bricks that circulate and retain heat more efficiently. That reduces fuel consumption by more than 60%, reduces fuel costs, and reduces air pollution.

    Ger covers, designed by the United Nations Development Program and produced locally in Mongolia, are insulating blankets that cover the entire ger. Specialized insulation retains heat within the ger, reducing fuel use by 50%.
    Ger cover -3

    Last but not least, XacBank makes Eco loans for energy efficient fuel created from compacted sawdust and gasified coal. While the efficient fuels are more expensive, the price difference is offset by the need to burn less fuel. The impact on the environment is striking.
    sawdust-brickette-1

    XacBank has so far posted 22 green loans on Kiva and plans to do more. I was out on Kiva.org yesterday and none were posted, but keep checking back — new eco-loans are coming soon!

    Visit Kiva and get in on the good work that the good people of Kiva.org are doing. And Kiva makes a great gift — allowing your gift recipient to choose to help fill the loan request of a particular person somewhere in the world.

    This story was originally posted on “Kiva Stories from the Field” on February 23, 2010. All images from Kiva.org.

    Later.

    Tuesday Tracts: Fair Trade Textiles in Africa and Afghanistan

    Monday, September 28th, 2009

    Here’s another of our weekly features on people who promote social justice through enterprise.

    Today we applaud Ellen Dorsch, founder of Creative Women.creativewomen_dorze-market-721

    Some people are blessed with a bounty of energy and intellectual verve. Ellen Dorsch is clearly one of the lucky. At 60, Ellen changed careers from the non-profit public health sector to starting her own international business. She tackled a steep learning curve and overcame some interesting bumps along the way. Now, Ellen’s Creative Women, a member of the Fair Trade Federation sells wonderful Ethiopian, Swazi and Afghan textiles throughout the USA and Canada.creativew_blankets_a_72

    Click here to see Creative Women’s fabulous totes on our Facebook iFanstore.

    Ellen has a Masters in public health, planning and developing. Her work with a non-profit public health organization took Ellen to Africa. In Ethiopia she found an economy wracked by years of instability. She quickly recognized that the wonderful people she met needed medical support but also a better means of earning a living. Ellen saw that many talented women were economically marginalized and that Ethiopia’s exquisite hand-embroidered textiles were under-marketed internationally.

    Ellen’s business and humanitarian idea sprang to full life when she met Menbere Alemayehu, a fashion designer who owned an established dress-making business, Menby’s Designs. Both women knew that they could make a positive difference if they were able to create more employment opportunities for Ethiopian women. To meet that goal, Ellen partnered with Menbere to launch Creative Women. ” I founded Creative Women because I love beautiful things; I want to make a real difference in women’s lives; and I’m fascinated by travel. Creative Women allows me to do all three…by buying directly from women-owned businesses, by expanding markets for hand-woven textiles, and by paying fair prices for our goods.”

    The heart of Creative Women remains Ellen’s well-founded conviction that long-lasting improvement in people’s lives results from commerce—job creation through viable business. Since its beginning, Ellen, with the support of her husband Bill, has used that humanitarian principle to grow Creative Women and its positive impact on the economic lives of African and now Afghan, women by forming additional partnerships in Ethiopia, Swaziland, and Kabul.creativew_bags_a_72

    As an example, Ellen works closely with Kathy Marshall, of Sabahar, to obtain top quality silk. Kathy previously worked in Ethiopia through Oxfam Canada and shares Ellen’s belief in the benefits of commerce. As part of her business, Kathy provides training and jobs for otherwise unemployable Ethiopian women. Eschewing imported commercial silk, Kathy employs more than 60 women under excellent pay and working conditions to tend cocoons and spin raw silk into wonderful cloth.

    Click here to see Creative Women’s offerings on ElegantRoots.com

    Ellen found yet another partner in Swaziland. Murrae Stephens operates a family-run mohair business (named Coral Stephens), employing 60 women weavers who are given excellent pay and working conditions, including daycare and other benefits. And Ellen has added and hopes to continue adding new, socially responsible African partners as Creative Women expands.

    Providing wonderful new jobs for economically-needy African women is but half the Creative Women success equation. Ellen knows that economic gains cannot be sustained unless Creative Women is producing commercially viable products. So Ellen and her partners work hard to design fresh and beautiful textiles handcrafted with the highest quality, eco-friendly materials. The result is nothing short of fantastic. Creative Women has become known for its hand-woven, vibrantly-colored mohair and hand-spun silk, all made with natural dyes from flowers, roots, berries and bark.

    Ellen Dorsch “founded Creative Women as a way to create jobs in Ethiopia and sustain an ancient art form by introducing the West to the beauty of Ethiopian textiles.” Every day she proves that everyone from producer to consumer benefits from commercial viability conducted within a “respectful relationship” that is fostered by “a socially responsible link”.cwomen_scarf_a_72

    Ellen’s success stories abound. We particularly liked the story of an artisan who used her Sabahar income to have long-needed dental work. Her joy and pride is plainly visible in her “success smile.”

    We salute Ellen and her Creative Women partners for their humanitarian work and extraordinarily beautiful Ethiopian, Swazi and Afghan textiles! Creative Women’s hand work, high fashion designs and natural and sustainable materials combine to produce unsurpassed quality with a certain soulful, personal touch.

    Hasta martes!

    Elegant Roots partner Artecnica Wins Award!

    Thursday, May 21st, 2009

    Artecnica, one of the designer companies on ElegantRoots.com, has won the Aid to Artisans’ 2009 Innovation & Visionary Design Award!

    Artecnica was founded by Tahmineh Javanbakht, an Iranian-born painter and Enrico Bressan, an Italian born architect.  In its Design With Conscience line, the Los Angeles based design group enlists some of the world’s most acclaimed designers, like renowned Dutch designer Hella Jongerius, to team with artisans located with the help of Aid to Artisans to create thoughtful, meaningful works of household art that enrich and inspire everyday life.

    Every Design With Conscience piece not only meets standards of design, beauty and ingenuity, but also adheres to environmental  guidelines in the materials used, the human resources contracted, the cost of transport and sustainability while ensuring the most qualified and worthy artisans are enlisted to produce inspired limited-edition objects for the home.

    By working closely with local artisan communities, the Design With Conscience team encourages the survival of indigenous crafts while avoiding the mechanization of the artisan.

    Elegant Roots is proud to carry Design With Conscience’s Beads & Pieces bowls, conceived by Hella Jongerius and handcrafted in Peru, providing talented artisans an alternative economic viability in a dangerous area of the world. The purchase of these unique works of art supports fair trade and the future of sustainable craft, including shared work and profit across borders, cultures, races and religions.

    We offer our Congratulations to Tahmineh, Enrico and the Artecnica team for the 2009 Innovation & Visionary Design Award and for their leadership.

    Find out more about Artecnica and its Beads & Pieces bowls here www.elegantroots.com/Artecnica-mid-5-p-1.html

    Hasta,

    Rob