When we grabbed the mail yesterday, we were pleasantly surprised to see the August 2007 Pottery Barn catalog. It always provides some inspiration and at least an hour of mindless page flipping. But, the coolest thing about this new catalog? The emphasis on green.
1. We just noticed that the Pottery Barn catalog is printed on FSC-certified paper (nice!);
2. And, Pottery Barn is now carrying a line of organic-cotton textiles;
3. Including a variety of bamboo throws.
And thank goodness for the bamboo throws: They are the only item in Pottery Barn's New Naturals line that offers a selection of colors.
We like organic, we really do! And we're really thrilled that Pottery Barn is using organic cotton, but we're also eager for some color to be added to the mix.
Any thoughts out there on why so many "green" things are actually bone, heather, and off-white?
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Two reasons, and I'm not sure which is most important:
(a) Dyes. The range of colors you can dye something with "natural" dyes is not so great as the range you can get with synthetic dyes, and most natural dye colors are more muted. There was a big jump in vividness of fabrics in the 1860s, when aniline dyes came into use -- but synthetic dyes of various sorts aren't necessarily classified as "green."
(b) Marketing. Remember how recycled paper had little flecks long after the technology was there to make it indistinguishable from non-recycled paper? People didn't believe it was recycled unless it had the flecks. Similarly, there's probably a marketing assumption that people buying organic cotton want colors that remind them of roots and berries. (Presumably, the roots and berries used to dye the cotton, though I'd love to see the actual info on that.)
view wende in phoenix's profile
Wende's point about marketing cracked me up--because it's so true!
I have a set of black modal sheets, modal being a natural fiber made from beech trees. They're softer than jersey, and seem to come in a range of granola-free colors.
view Hillary Johnson's profile
There was also something on the back cover of the catalog near the top about contacting them to recycle the catalog (maybe it was a link, or a phone number). I can't remember now and I saw it just before going to sleep, but I'll check it out when I get home if nobody beats me to it! I thought that was pretty cool.
view bluestar's profile