My guest today is Patrick Clark, creator of Lucky Sheep, the world’s first lightweight wool sleeping bag. We’ll be talking about how wool can improve the quality of your sleep and his new wool sleeping bag that can be used indoors or outdoors. Patrick graduated from University of Kansas with a major in Outdoor Recreation. He spent a few years in Wilderness Leadership work and then moved into the Organic Bedding industry. He loved to invent and he saw a wide open field of opportunity. He also saw a huge riff in principles in the Outdoor Industry. People are going outside to enjoy nature but they are bringing their plastic with them. Patrick wanted to make a dent in the burgeoning plastic burden that was afflicting the planet. He then proceeded to research, invent and blog until he created a mini-revolution in the Paleo Diet and Lifestyle movement. His article Sweet Dreams on a Hard Surface went viral to become the landmark work on the subject of minimalist sleeping. Eventually Mr. Clark decided to combine his work in outdoor leadership with his work in the organic bedding industry to come up with the world’s first lightweight wool sleeping bag. www.woolsleepingbag.com

 

 

My guest today is Melanie Ellison a young entrepreneur who established Life-giving Linen to provide affordable GOTS certified organic linen bedding and garments to individuals seeking better health. Today we’ll be talking about how different types of fibers can affect your health for better or for worse, and what you can do to incorporate the health benefits of natural fibers into your everyday life. Melanie has researched natural remedies all her life, so starting a business was a natural next step after learning about the linen frequency study. Based in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, Life-giving Linen has happy customers in 50 states and 10 countries. Testimonies of improved quality of life are the heart throb motivation of the business. www.lifegivinglinen.com

 

 

Today my guest is Deborah Brenton, owner of DIY Natural Bedding.  We’ll be talking about how you can make your own custom mattress with the materials she provides, and why you should. Deborah is a foodie, a forager, and strongly believes in living a natural life.  In 2010 she began looking for mattresses for her children, but the only type available contained a whole host of chemicals.  Her Do It Yourself attitude kicked in and she gathered resources to create her own mattresses from scratch.  She soon realized that other people share her natural living convictions but lack resources in the bedding market.  DIY Natural Bedding was started with this goal in mind: to provide affordable, natural and chemical free bedding products.  Deborah now offers natural components that customers can use to build their own mattresses, toppers and pillows.  Her products include wool from local farms, 100% natural latex, and GOTS certified organic fabric.  She also offers sewing patterns for those who would like to save a dime by sewing their own mattress ticking and custom latex cuts for any DIY furniture project. www.diynaturalbedding.com

 

 

My guest today is Randi Farina, the National Sales Director of Living Fresh Collection, a new direct selling organization that focuses on sustainable bed linens. We’ll be talking about how natural bed linens enhance your sleep experience and how the Living Fresh Collection fabrics are made in a sustainable way. In 2013, Randi joined Living Fresh Collection to launch a company that would not only provide linens made with Tencel+Plus™ Lyocell (fibers from the eucalyptus tree) to enhance one’s sleep, but an opportunity to empower women by giving them the tools to own and operate their own business. After receiving her Bachelor of Art at the State University of New York, Randi started her career in 1994 with The Pampered Chef. As her business grew, the importance of providing support and mentorship to women became apparent in the success of her own organization. Her values of teamwork, personal development and achievement followed her throughout her career as her work continued with the United States Olympic Committee. Working as a licensee of the USOC, she created the first national fundraiser for the Vancouver Games. The US Olympic Team Rings Wristbands wore worn by Olympic athletes as well as fans all over the country. In 2010 Randi returned her focus to working with women as an Associate Producer for Lifetime Television’s morning show. She thrived on creating direct brand messaging to consumers, while being able to motivate women to find the very delicate balancing act between work and home life. In 2011 and 2012, Randi traveled with the Show on 10 City tours throughout the country meeting thousands of women and providing brands products & support so they could achieve their work/life balance. Returning to the direct sales industry, Randi feels as if her career has come full circle. By being able to provide support to entrepreneurial women as they grow their own businesses. Randi has found her work/life balance. Randi resides in Boca Raton, Florida with her husband and four children. www.LivingFreshCollection.com

 

 

My guests today are Klaus Wallner and Thammarath “Touch” Jamikorn, cofounders of Rawganique. When I first wrote about Rawganique many years ago, I called it “organic fiber paradise,” and it still is. Since 1999, the co-founders, with the help of a team of artisans, manufacture unique sweatshop-free organic clothing, footwear, bed, bath, and home products from start to finish. All done in-house with 50 artisans with many lifetimes of experience and passion. State of the art modern equipment. Ancient traditional practices. Grow – weave – knit – sew, they do it all. Small scale but full scale comprehensive. If it can be made with organic fibers, they can make it. Designed for and by chemically-sensitive and -averse folks. www.rawganique.com

 

 

Today my guest is Greta Eagan, eco ambassador, writer, stylist, conscious living expert, and author of Wear No Evil: How to Change the World with Your Wardrobe. We’re going to be talking about toxics in textiles and how to have “style + sustainability without sacrifice.” Shortly after graduating from the London College of Fashion, Greta founded fashionmegreen.com, a sustainable fashion awareness project- now a popular blog. Both the author and her blog have become leading sources for information on sustainable style, green beauty, and eco-chic decor. Greta has contributed to publications in print and online, including Glamour, Lucky and the Huffington Post, and has collaborated with brands such as Kate Spade, Eileen Fisher, The Outnet, Refinery29, and many more. She has made TV appearances for eco-fashion and beauty segments, hosted Aspen Fashion Week for Outdoor Television, and been both a panel and keynote speaker at conferences around the world including SXSW Eco. www.fashionmegreen.com | www.gretaeagan.com

 

 

My guest today is Eric Henry, president and half-owner of TS Designs, a company that prints t-shirts using toxic-free and sustainable methods. We’ll be talking about toxic chemicals in printed t-shirts and how to choose t-shirts that are toxic-free. Alongside his business partner, Eric has been in the screen printing and apparel business for over 30 years. Eric’s duties at TSD range from sales to R&D to marketing. He is the foremost public face of TSD, attending numerous trade shows, giving speeches to groups and universities and hosting tours of the TSD facility. Outside of TS Designs, Eric devotes much of his time to furthering the sustainable agenda in various community organizations. He founded the Burlington Biodiesel Co-op in 2001 and has run his car on biodiesel (or straight vegetable oil) that now has over 250k miles on it. He co-founded Company Shops Market, a co-op grocery in downtown Burlington that reconnects local agriculture to Alamance County; and now, he serves the co-op board. He also serves on the Burlington Downtown Corporation board, which works to create an environment for development that enhances Downtown Burlington as the cultural, historic, social and economic center of the community. He also serves on the board of NC GreenPower, an organization that purchases and resells renewable energy, andGreen America. Eric is also applying his knowledge of Permaculture to a 12-acre farm outside of Burlington. Eric won the Sustainability Champion award from Sustainable North Carolina in 2009. www.tsdesigns.com | www.cottonofthecarolinas.com | www.debralynndadd.com/debras-list/cotton-of-the-carolinas-ts-designs

My guest today is Tricia Rose, Founder of Rough Linen, where she makes hand sewn bedding and other household items from exceptional linen fabrics. We’ll be talking about linen as a natural fiber, making things by hand, and living with elegant simplicity. “I didn’t find linen,” Tricia told me, “It came to me. I found this homespun, hand sewn linen pillow slip while I was clearing my grandmother’s cottage in Scotland. It was made by her great-grandmother, in 1840, and was in regular use for three generations. When it came to me I used it to store lavender. Years later, by good fortune, I found a natural linen with the same wonderful texture and feel, and I decided to make bedding in this simple, elemental tradition. I wanted the feeling of connection, appreciation of good materials and handiwork which is part of my heritage as part of my everyday life.” www.roughlinen.com

 

 

My guest today is Eva Power, Founder of The Ethical Silk Company in Dublin, Ireland. We’ll be talking about the benefits of silk as an alternative to synthetic fibers, and silk production. Eva uses only silk that is produced in a way that is toxic-free, animal friendly, and fair trade. “The Ethical Silk Company produces 100% eco-friendly & ethically made mulberry silk products, where no silkworms are harmed or killed in the production process, resulting in beautiful natural mulberry silk. All tailoring is done in the Nano Nagle Tailoring Unit in Theni, India. This tailoring unit is run by the Presentation Sisters, where they teach women various crafts including tailoring as part of the local Women’s Federation. This Women’s Federation aims to empower the women through self-help groups.” www.theethicalsilkco.com