Look how well Tracy's bags and my hats go together. Made for each other!
This post is all about sustainabillity. Over to Tracy...
As well as asking where I get my leather from, my lovely customers are interested in topics like sustainability of materials. Sustainability is about balanced energy consumption. A truly sustainable product provides/harnesses as much energy as is used to create it, so consumer items can never truly be sustainable, but we can work towards that goal by designing a product life cycle that reduces energy consumption. Every 'made' item has a life cycle: a birth, a life, and a death. It's often the processes to make/manufacture these products that cause the damage, so if we as makers can reduce the amount of energy used in the entire life cycle of our products, we are on the responsible track towards sustainability.
I use a material that is really a by-product of one industry (meat), also a by-product of a second industry (furniture). I use a material that would often otherwise go to waste. All of my leather goods are created from upholstery scrap and my designs are inspired by the notion of 'no waste'.
Those oddly shaped or very small scraps I do end up with find a place in patchworked pieces or as key pull details etc. Only slithers of leather and thread trimmings find their way into the bin! I also up-cycle, (use a material that has previously had another life e.g. as a sofa) But it's not as simple as only using recycled or re-using materials, we also need to think about the original manufacture of our materials (energy efficient/eco friendly manufacturing processes), the transport of our materials (locally made, long shipping routes require fuel), our efficiency in using our materials (reducing scrap), and the end of life for our product materials (reuse materials, donation or Landfill).
This thinking has led me to focus on the leather I use which I know has been responsibly manufactured, i.e not from India where they often pour the waste from tanning the leather straight into the rivers. So I create a unique, locally supplied, well-crafted, durable product that will have a long life. I use biodegradable materials, (though leather may have a lifespan of over a hundred years it will completely degrade) which amazingly can be composted (when it's completely worn out).
I focus on creating 'precious' items, that is items you still wouldn't want to throw away when you are done using them. I recently had a lovely comment from someone who'd found one of my bags in a vintage shop and was delighted with their find!
At the end of the working day I feel like I've accomplished something meaningful that I've found my design niche. I can create and experiment and sell and every day feel good.
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