BREATHE
"We breathe thanks to Nature's lungs, the trees and the seas"
Bands of Courage
Breathing is the first and last thing we do in our lives, we do it every 10 seconds throughout our lives, and as an activity it burns up more energy than anything else we do.
We need oxygen to breathe and for that we rely on the trees and the seas, Nature's two lungs which recycle the Carbon Dioxide we exhale when we breathe.
Our every breath is a reminder of Nature, its trees and seas, on whom we rely for life. Our response has been to wage war on her, with almost half the trees and half the Phytoplankton in the seas now gone, we've halved Nature's lung capacity!
So when you wear a band saying BREATHE, you are showing your gratitude to Nature by planting 10 to help her to breathe - recycling 480 pounds or 220 kgs of CO2 a year, so you too can breathe, Carbon-free for a lifetime.
Size & Fitting
The organic fabric band measures 33cm / 13 inches in length. To fit to size, the length can be trimmed with scissors. Always cut at an angle to minimise fraying of the cotton.
Worn on the wrist or ankles, it is double tied at the back to hold the band in place. The band can be sown onto clothes or onto soft furnishings or used as a decoration.
The Fabric and Yarns
The processes for making the yarns and dyes for our Bands of Courage date back over a thousand years using authentic processes and ingredients which are not just natural, but highly medicinal.
The fabrics and yarns are certified organic cotton used in the manufacture of clothing and our bands begin as greige or unfinished fabric which pass through 5 stages before recycling:-
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De-sizing, washing the greige cloth with natural mineral-rich water and sea salts to remove sizing, gums and oils.
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Bleaching, using direct sunlight, and a combination of natural grass and animal manure.
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Mordanting, to make colours bright, they are impregnated with mordants such as myraballam, rhubarb leaves, oils, minerals, alum, iron (no heavy metal mordants are used).
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Dyeing, using rich herbs to dye the fabric by immersing the plants themselves directly into the dye bath - the dyes are listed below.
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Finishing, by sprinkling the fabric with water and aloe-vera and stretched using hand-rolls; and, finally . . .
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Recycling all the solid and liquid wastes, which are used for farming, water the fields and manure.
The dyes used are:-
Haritaki - natural green in colour, it is only grown in parts of the Himalayas and is known as the King of the Herbs. It is a highly potent herb for treating many serious diseases;
Turmeric - a yellow dye, also called 'Indian saffron', it comes from the ginger family and is great for skin complaints;
Indigo - a blue dye from the leaves of the Indigo tincoria, and cures gout amongst other things!
Madder - a red dye known as the 'king of dyes' as it contains alizarin, it is also used as a treatment for pain;
Pomegranate - an ocher-yellow dye which improves colourfastness and as a medicinal herb is great for the heart!
Onion - is used to produce dye colours in shades of orange, yellow, rust and brown, and it's especially good for treating serious skin diseases like Leprosy.
Hand Embroidered Finishes
There are two hand embroidered finished used to create the inscriptions on our fabric bands are Japanese Glass Beads;
Every band is lovingly made by hand with each bead individually sown into the fabric creating unique little differences so no two bands are exactly the same.
Shipping
Your order will be processed within 48 hours of receipt. Shipments are tracked and your tracking number will be sent by email confirming posting of your order.
The shipments details for the delivery service you choose are shown on checkout.
