Recycled Canvas Bags and Hats by PAZ Apparel | Fashion Peace.

Happy Holidays!!

TIme to reflect on the past year and all of the hard work we have accomplished in bringing our recycled canvas bags and hats to market. Thank you to everyone that has given us support these past months. Dan and I really appreciate everyone's good wishes and wonderful encouragement. We can't thank you all enough.

I'll be taking a few days off to enjoy a little peace on earth....but I'll continue posting after the holidays. Until next year....

Wiki-Monday: Justice (Merry Christmas Eve!)

From Wikipedia: Justice

According to most theories of justice, it is overwhelmingly important: John Rawls, for instance, claims that "Justice is the first virtue of social institutions, as truth is of systems of thought."[3]: Justice can be thought of as distinct from and more fundamental than benevolence, charity, mercy, generosity or compassion. Research conducted in 2003 at Emory University, Georgia, involving Capuchin Monkeys demonstrated that other cooperative animals also possess such a sense and that "inequality aversion may not be uniquely human."[4] indicating that ideas of fairness and justice are of an instinctual nature.

Earth Friendly Jewelry

I'm not necessarily a person who wears jewelry but I have to say that I immediately fell in love with Tarma Earth Friendly Jewelry and I think you will too.

And dare I say I think some of Owners Stephanie and Sky George' pieces would look great with my recylced canvas bags and hats.

From the Tarma site, "Tarma is a company that designs, manufactures and sells unique, high quality, personal art that celebrates the spirit of adventure and a love of the outdoors."

Biodegradable in 180 days

Thanks to jollygreengirl.org for tipping us off to disposable cutlery that won't stick around for a millenia. Made from corn and potato starch and cassava starch 'vegware' has knives, forks, spoons, plates and just about everything else you need for a meal on the go.

They even have compost-able cellophane bags made from a sustainable source of wood pulp. Wow that's cool! (They're located in the UK but I'm sure something closer to home will pop up eventually.)

Gift Wrapping Tips

Oh the madness!! I personally haven't bought into holiday hype for several years running but once in a while you can't help but feel a little overwhelmed this time of year. There is just so much to do and only so much time.

So let's see if we can ease the pain just a bit with a gift wrapping tip that will put less stress on the environment and give your packages a little extra flare.

To begin with, instead of wrapping gifts with paper try simply tying on a beautiful fabric ribbon instead. Ribbons come in all textures and colors and can be used over and over again and they give any gift extra appeal.

For smaller gifts in ugly boxes simply wrap them with kitchen towels and tie it all up with ribbon.

I honestly don't know the last time I bought paper for gift wrapping. I'm no Martha but I do keep extra ribbon around just for quick gifting. 

And remember, don't stress.

Gift Giving Ideas

Here's an excerpt from The Nature Conservancy website and a great gift idea!! ...."How Can You Help to Save the Osa Peninsula? When you give today to the Adopt an Acre® program, you will help the Conservancy protect and restore what remains of one of the world’s most extraordinary yet highly threatened regions.

With your $50 donation per acre to the Adopt an Acre® program, you will receive: Personalized certificate with signature photo of the Osa Peninsula commemorating your generosity; Colorful fact sheet about the Osa rainforests; Nature Conservancy Magazine subscription to keep you informed all year long about this project and the many other places the Conservancy is working to protect around the world.

(Plus, we'll rush the current magazine issue along with your personalized certificate!) An invitation to create a personalized nature homepage on nature.org; and Great Places E-Newsletter subscription to our monthly e-communication with local conservation updates, enviro-tips you can use and stunning nature photography downloads."

Wiki-Monday: Truth

From Wikipedia: Truth Friedrich Nietzsche believed the search for truth or 'the will to truth' was a consequence of the will to power of philosophers.

He thought that truth should be used as long as it promoted life and the will to power, and he thought untruth was better than truth if it had this life enhancement as a consequence.

As he wrote in Beyond Good and Evil, "The falseness of a judgment is to us not necessarily an objection to a judgment... The question is to what extent it is life-advancing, life-preserving, species-preserving, perhaps even species-breeding..." (aphorism 4).

He proposed the will to power as a truth only because according to him it was the most life affirming and sincere perspective one could have. Robert Wicks discusses Nietzsche's basic view of truth as follows: Some scholars regard Nietzsche's 1873 unpublished essay, "On Truth and Lies in a Nonmoral Sense" ("Über Wahrheit und Lüge im außermoralischen Sinn") as a keystone in his thought.

In this essay, Nietzsche rejects the idea of universal constants, and claims that what we call "truth" is only "a mobile army of metaphors, metonyms, and anthropomorphisms."

His view at this time is that arbitrariness completely prevails within human experience: concepts originate via the very artistic transference of nerve stimuli into images; "truth" is nothing more than the invention of fixed conventions for merely practical purposes, especially those of repose, security and consistence.

The Beauty of Insects

Take a moment to appreciate the amazing beauty in the smallest of creatures.

TED Ideas worth spreading

When you have some spare time and are looking to be inspired I encourage you to view a lecture or two on any number of subjects that consider ways in which we can positively impact our world. A good place to start is a talk by Jane Goodall on what separates us from apes. (Not all that much it turns out.)

And in the interest of spreading some 'good' here's an excerpt from the TED website:

"The goal of the TED foundation is to foster the spread of great ideas.

It aims to provide a platform for the world's smartest thinkers, greatest visionaries and most-inspiring teachers, so that millions of people can gain a better understanding of the biggest issues faced by the world, and a desire to help create a better future.

Core to this goal is a belief that there is no greater force for changing the world than a powerful idea.

Consider:

• An idea can be created out of nothing except an inspired imagination.
• An idea weighs nothing.
• It can be transferred across the world at the speed of light for virtually zero cost.
• And yet an idea, when received by a prepared mind, can have extraordinary impact.
• It can reshape that mind's view of the world.
• It can dramatically alter the behavior of the mind's owner.
• It can cause the mind to pass on the idea to others.

The Encyclopedia of Life

Keep your eyes tuned to The Encyclopedia of Life (EOL) site which plans to launch in 2008 and promises to catalog 1.8 million species within 10 years time. Wow what an important project!