Holiday Open House

Birch is hosting our annual Holiday Open House at our Minneapolis store on Wednesday evening December 2, from 5 to 7 pm. If you live in the area, please stop by to say hello.
We will have refreshments, special prices on merchandise, drawings for prizes and offer a free gift with purchase. We’ve brought in a lot of new gift items this year to make your holiday shopping easier.
Plus, some of our neighbors at Penn and 50th will be holding their own Open Houses the same evening. Stop by Broder’s, LuLuLemon and Nu Look on the same evening to enjoy their special offers.
Happy Holidays.

Happy Thanksgiving

What a perfect holiday we have created where we spend time with family and friends and eat good food (organic and locally grown of course!) and appreciate each other. Now that’s sustainable! Best wishes for a holiday of renewal and connecting with loved ones.

And, if you decide to follow the post-Thanksgiving custom of doing some holiday shopping this weekend, please consider keeping it local, fair trade and sustainable. Birch is doing our part to make that easier for you by hosting a three day SALE on the web and in our Minneapolis store. If you do stop by the store, we’d be thankful if you bring a non-perishable food donation to Second Harvest Heartland because we are running a food drive this month.

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Sustainable Fashion – Think Trans-Seasonal

One of my favorite terms in the eco-fashion realm is “Trans-Seasonal”. Trans-Seasonal or Seasonless fashion refers to garments that can be worn in more than one and ideally all seasons. These pieces put much more flexibility into your wardrobe. They stretch your fashion dollar and add space to your closet. Think mid-weight breathable fabrics in colors that don’t scream “Autumn” or some other season at you.
A favorite trans-seasonal piece I have been wearing since last winter is Icebreaker’s merino wool Henley in bark. The fabulously soft and non-itchy merino warms me in autumn/winter and cools me in spring/summer. Its light weight works well on its own when it is warm and as a layering piece with a vest or jacket in the cooler temps. And the soft brown color works beautifully in all seasons. I turn to this piece regularly except during the hottest days of summer when I do not want to wear long sleeves.

Green Gifts Fair This Saturday

Join us at Do It Green!-- Minnesota’s free 4th Annual Green Gifts Fair on Saturday, November 21st from 10am-5pm at the Midtown Global Market on Lake St. and 10th Ave. in Minneapolis.

Birch will be there with 70+ other local, eco-friendly artists and businesses. We will have unique, beautiful, green and fair trade gifts for sale at our table. Please stop by to say hello.

Activities at the Green Gifts Fair include…

* 70 + local green retailers
* Launch of the 2010 Do It Green! Magazine
* Taste test at the Low Carbon Cook Off with local chefs
* Sew your own reusable cloth gift bag
* Kids can make a recycled origami decorative ornament
* International Food Market vendors
* Eco Fashion Show
* Local holiday foods cooking tips, demos and recipes
* Keeping a non-toxic and clean house during the holidays
* Low Waste Oasis on hosting green holiday gatherings
* Eco holiday tree displays

Sustainable Fashion – It’s a Time Saver

Slow fashion encompasses buying ethically and sustainably produced, organic and natural garments. But it also means being very intentional in choosing your garments.
If you buy your wardrobe intentionally and deliberately you will end up with fewer pieces, each of which will work better for you. And you will end up with more space in your closet and drawers. Then to top it off you will have more time in your day to pet the cat, read a good book, play or relax, because when you go to get dressed each day you will know exactly what to wear. No clutter in the closet means no fumbling about trying to figure out what to put with what to make an outfit. The right outfit is right there. Whew! What are you waiting for?
Here is a great basic bamboo jacket that will take you many places and work with other pieces in your wardrobe easily.

Beyond Recycling: UPCYCLING

We love our organic cotton, hemp, bamboo, merino wool and tencel garments. They are sustainably made, ethically manufactured, natural, soft and beautiful. But our recycled items hold the added charm of using existing materials, thus saving them from taking up space in a landfill. So, when we found some on-trend clothing and some funky accessory pieces that were made from UPCYCLED materials we had to learn more.
Upcycling turns unwanted fabric materials into new items for you to wear and love. It moves the conversation one more step in the right direction.
Upcycling takes an industrial material (cloth) and creates something of greater value. Here are two examples of upcycling.
XOB reworks used garments into new, modern and unique pieces. It re-uses garment materials (gently used wool sweaters) creating no production waste. The result is colorful, fun outerwear that our customers can’t get enough of.


Looptworks takes a different approach to upcycling. They use excess material from the garment industry to make their clothing pieces. Here’s a fact that is sure to shock: The average textile manufacturer discards 60,000 tons of excess textile and trim waste per week. Looptworks takes some of this pre-consumer excess and creates something of greater value. If you don’t believe me, check out this great fall piece.

Autumn Bike Ride in Fabulous Merino

Icebreaker’s merino wool tops are great Slow Fashion pieces for your wardrobe. They have classic styling and perform beautifully for almost any activity.
Today I threw on an Icebreaker merino wool Tech Top to do some Slow bike riding but it turns out I did a bit too much of it. It was 60 plus degrees in Minneapolis and sunny (on November 7!) and so I stretched my planned one hour ride into a three hour tour.
It was the kind of day where you feel hot, cool, warm and cold by turns depending on where the sun is in relation to your body, whether you are going up or down hill and what is happening with the wind. Perfect day to wear my new favorite Tech Top. It breathed, kept me warm or cool depending on my body’s needs and did not smell one bit after a three hour ride. Good thing because I have no energy to do laundry tonight!

Sustainable Fashion: Alabama Chanin

Slow Fashion is about durability- clothes made from recycled or organic materials, and made by people paid a fair wage for their labor. It can also be defined by what it isn't. Slow Fashion is the opposite of "Fast Fashion" – producing large quantities of cheaply made clothing under extreme time pressure with new lines several times a year made by underpaid workers.
Alabama Chanin embraces and maybe even epitomizes the Slow Fashion philosophy.
Alabama Chanin, created by Natalie Chanin, is a lifestyle company that creates an array of products through focusing on slow design and sustainability. Alabama Chanin products are made by hand using a combination of new, organic and recycled materials. Each piece is made by talented artisans who live and work in and around Florence, Alabama.
The clothing pieces are exquisite.