Howie love them

Howies makes me want to cry, tears of joy and tears of pain.

Let's start with the joy. First, their clothing is great. Tons of style, and not just basics, but not trendy enough that you'd want to toss them a season later. They use lots of organic and recycled cotton, and buy accredited, sustainable wool. They also manufacture clothing in a way that is highly durable. Highly durable means longer life, which means less crap for the land fills.

As far as a company, they seem very socially responsible and honest. They are not claiming to be the perfect green company, they are smart enough to know there is always room for improvement, but that said, they seem amazing. They are using some of their own profits to do "Little Big Voice Lectures" where they are going to teach people how to promote their own causes in a way that is plausible for someone without a lot of money behind them. And as I said earlier they are using sustainable materials, making durable items.

Good people making good products doing good things for the environment, why the tears you ask? They are in the UK, that is why. I am not in the UK. That means there is a whole lot of carbon related guilt between myself and any piece of their clothing. Some of you might be saying, uh...Jenn, do you think your Levis Eco orginated in Providence Rhode Island? Right...no... not so much. But I honestly don't know if shipping one individually bought item from over seas is as efficiently shipped as a company shipping many items from overseas. Maybe it's exactly the same thing. It might be smart to do some research. Some research is definitely in order.

I also cried tears of pain when I read their David and Goliath battle with Levis. I would much rather support the little guy, whose whole business is trying to be ethical, than the big corporation that occasionally makes an effort to do the right thing. So, I am a little sad that I have some Levis Eco, but no Howies jeans to call my own. I still do believe that big corporations like Levis need to get on board with sustainability for our world to have a chance, but I'd like to see the smaller guy do well and get some credit, especially when they were doing it first.

Hopefully we'll see more small companies with the ideals of Howies cropping up here in the US. Places like Patagonia have been doing the right thing and leading the way for a long time, but they don't have the same indy-kid style that Howies has. They do have the same love of the planet, love of outdoor sports, and understanding from being outdoors how much the environment has been negatively impacted by poor choices by human beings.

So for the time being I will adore the clothes from afar, becauset I'm not sure I should purchase them yet. Is there a Terra Pass for shipping? Not yet, but maybe there should be.