Are you concerned about doing your bit to help salvage the planet? I mean, are you willing to pay a little bit more for something that has been made in a way that is less polluting to the environment and the planet? Do you support organizations that sell items made in far off lands in traditional ways that are ecologically friendly?

These are the minimum measures that people in the West ought to be prepared to take in order to support those who are trying to reduce our impact on the environment and distribute some of the West’s affluence to the poorest peoples of the world.

There are lots of organizations which say they do this. There are probably also a couple that say they do, but do not. An Internet check should weed these rogues out.

One of the simplest methods to help reduce your impact on the planet and help poor peoples living in isolated places abroad is to take more care where you buy your fabric from. Nowadays the only fabric that people buy in large quantities is clothes and bedding, so you should try to buy materials that are natural, not man-manufactured, which requires the use of a lot more chemicals.

Whilst it is a fact that bleach has always been used a lot in making material, it is not absolutely necessary to have pure white sheets or duvet covers, even if tradition does demand that you put on a pure white shirt to go to the office or a pure white gown to walk down the aisle.

Purchasing bedding manufactured from 100% cotton is a splendid way to lessen your effect on the environment. In fact, 100% cotton sheets and 100% woollen blankets make a perfect combination for any bed in any season and your impact on the environment would be minimal. Cotton is cool and wool warm, but actually acts as insulation, so can be warm in the winter and cool in the summer.

Another excellent natural fibre is silk. Alright, it is a lot more expensive than cotton, but it is also a great deal tougher, so you will find that silk sheets last a lot longer than cotton ones. This means that silk sheets are not as expensive in the long run as they first appear. Silk has a lavish feel on the skin, but it is not as warm as cotton. Perfect for the summer months and 100% non-chemical as it is produced by silk worms and spun like wool.

Other fibres that you can obtain from the Far East, Africa and South America are flax, hemp and coconut fibre materials. If you make a point of checking out the stores that sell objects such as these you really can make quite a difference and help poor trades people in far off lands for just a few dollars more.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on a number of subjects, but is now concerned with Personalized Throw Blankets. If you would like to know more, please visit our web site at Woollen Blankets.