Posted by Veronica Whitaker on May 14, 2013 0 Comments
I have read many stories of the collapse of the building in
Bangladesh and I’ve wanted to comment on it but needed to wait for the wild mix
of emotions to calm in order to make
sense of my feelings. I recently read a
post by Kathleen Fasanella of Fashion-Incubator(www.fashion-incubator.com). She does a wonderful job of expressing how I
feel. She writes…
”Everyone is angry and outraged,
using the incident to blame their target du jour. Many consumers blame manufacturers for
putting profit before people. In the
trade, conversation at the water cooler blames consumers for being so cheap
that outsourcing has become a necessary evil.
Among independent designers, many show a perverse glee in the fallout of
larger firms. Those who produce domestically feel vindicated because they’re
not to blame. Regardless of where you
lie in the spectrum, you share the shame.
It affects all of us.”
This is an issue full of moral and ethical issues of which I
don’t have the answer. If I advocate for
making our products in the USA then where does that leave third world countries
like Bangladesh who because of industries, like the ones occupying the Rana
Plaza, are helping to improve nutrition, health, education and life expectancy
in these countries. And, accidents and
negligence happen everywhere, not just third world countries, wasn’t there just
an explosion in a fertilizer plant in Waco, TX?
Kathleen goes on to say that we need to be
“proactive and
caring enough to take what responsibility that lies within our means to limit
tragedy within our reach.”
On this I fully agree.
We need to be very mindful of our own behavior, our choices and
decisions. We need to think before
acting about how the decision I am about to make affects others. I will continue to have Rowve bags
manufactured in the United States, this is important to me. I will also continue to visit the
manufacturers to make sure, to the best of my ability, that the working
conditions are safe and clean. This is
how I can take responsibility for my “small corner of the world”.
I want to applaud the companies who have signed an agreement
that will require them to conduct independent safety inspections in Bangladesh,
and make their reports public. They are
H&M of Sweden, C&A of the Netherlands, British retailers Tesco and
Primark and Zara of Spain. Unfortunately
WalMart and Gap have yet to sign this agreement.
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Posted by Veronica Whitaker on May 04, 2013 0 Comments
Meet Talulah. She is 4 years old and she loves to dance.
She also loves her Rowve medium Carry All bag her mom bought for her. Talulah’s
mom is an environmentally conscious, hard- working single woman, who has
mastered the art of multitasking and organization; juggling the needs of her
daughter, dance, day care, and work. She
purchased the Carry All bag because it’s large enough to hold Talulah’s hair
brush, hair clips, dancing slippers, leotard and even her tutu, all the things
Talulah needs for class or recitals.
There are far fewer hassles getting ready in the morning now that all of
Talulah’s things are in one bag. And the pretty bright pink bag makes it easy
for Talulah to find when it’s time for her to leave day care for her dance
class. Talulah’s mom loves the Rowve Carry All bag not only because it helps
keep her organized but she also loves the fact the bag is made of laminate on the
inside as well as the outside. If
anything is spilled on the bag it won’t hurt the clean clothes inside, and when
the bag gets dirty all she has to do is wipe it clean with warm soapy water,
making her life just a little bit easier.
All comments can be sent to veronica@rowve.com.
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Posted by Veronica Whitaker on April 24, 2013 0 Comments
As I stated in my previous post, Rowve is supporting Amy
Clover and the 30x30 project. Rowve is
donating 25% of the profit from all bags sold during her tour and we are
donating a dollar for every new like we receive on Facebook. We are not donating the money to Amy,
although she is an inspiration to all of us at Rowve; however, we are donating
the money to the organization she is supporting with her tour, To Write Love On Her Arm, TWLOHA. And with
several more weeks to go in the tour there is still time to like us and/or buy
a bag and support this great cause.
In my previous posts
I included a link to both Amy and her 30x30 project and to TWLOHA. If you didn’t check them out I’ll share a few
things I have learned about TWLOHA. First and foremost community is essential to
TWLOHA. Treatment is important but
community is essential. People need to
know they are not alone, relationships are important. So they direct most of their work through the
building of community. The Storyteller
program is a high school program in which a student(s) and their advisors work
together to raise awareness of mental health issues in high school. They
do this through activities and fundraisers. For the college level they have
Uchapters, working to raise awareness and be a community for those who may be
struggling with mental health issues. And, Street Teams are for those of you who
want to support TWLOHA and to be part of the solutions, conversations, and
events happening in your area. This is
an online program. So there you have it,
a short version of the great things TWLOHA is doing and why it is so important
for you to find your way of supporting them.
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Posted by Veronica Whitaker on March 25, 2013 0 Comments
Amy Clover, personal trainer, author, Make This Your
Moment, and blogger of Strong Inside Out, is passionate about changing the
way we see, feel and think about depression.
She wants to break down the stigma attached to it and make it okay to
“not be okay”. And to do this she has begun a movement to inspire hope to
people, all people facing obstacles, whether the obstacle is depression,
addiction or something else
As a young teen Amy
was diagnosed with clinical depression.
Initially she dealt with her depression through drugs and anger. In her early twenties she reached a point when
she was close to committing suicide.
Fortunately she got help and entered a program that provided the support
and information she had not received before.
Upon finishing the program she was ready to turn her life around. Strong Inside Out is her way of spreading the
message to really get healthy, to get beyond the obstacles in your life in
order to be healthy, inside and out.
Inspired to go “Big” in spreading her message, she began the
30x30 project. 30x30 is Amy’s dream to
teach 30 donation based bootcamps in 30 cities before she turns 30. The money raised from this will go to the
non-profit movement, To Write Love On Her Arms, (TWLOHA).
TWLOHA is an organization which offers hope and help for people struggling with depression,
addiction, self-injury, and suicide. It
encourages, informs, inspires, and invests directly into treatment and
recovery.
The neat thing about Amy’s message is that it is for
everyone, not just those who live with depression. It touches everyone who holds on to anything,
any fear, insecurity, any obstacle, that keeps you from being as great as you
can be.
Below is a list of some of the places Amy will be
visiting. For more information be sure
to check out her website Strong Inside Out.
PHOENIX 3-25
lululemon athletica Biltmore
2502 Camelback Road
Phoenix, Arizona 85016
Movement Meetup:
True Food Kitchen
2502 East Camelback Road
Phoenix, AZ 85016
7:30 pm
BOULDER 3-28
lululemon athletica Boulder
1750 29th Street #1046
Boulder, CO 80301
8:00 am
Movement Meetup:
Evening of 3-28 (location TBD)
DENVER 3-30
iLiv Yoga
2780 East 6th Avenue
Denver, CO 80206
12 noon
Movement Meetup:
1:00 pm (same location as bootcamp)
MINNEAPOLIS 4-1
lululemon athletica West End
1639 West End Blvd
Minneapolis Minnesota 55416
6:30 am
Movement Meetup:
Bull Run Coffee
3346 Lyndale Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55408
7:00 pm
We at Rowve share in
Amy’s passion and want to support her 30x30 project. We will donate 25% of all sales made during
Amy’s tour to TWLOHA.
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Posted by Veronica Whitaker on March 09, 2013 0 Comments
Lately I have noticed on my facebook page several postings
with the same general theme, not giving up.
This really strikes a chord with me as I’m finding it very difficult to
accomplish some of the goals I had set for myself this year. One of which is being more consistent with
this blog.
Writing a blog is much harder than I thought. I admire the bloggers who are consistent and produce blogs with something great to say. This particular site doesn’t have a place for a blog list, but some of my favorites are: Alive in the Fire; Spoiled Yogi; Curvy Yoga; It’s all Yoga Baby;, Yogi Muse; and Tiny Buddha.. These are but a few with my list continually growing.
I want to thank Erica from Spoiled Yogi again for her review
of our Carry All Bag. Time is running
out on the sale of the bags so if you were thinking of buying one, now is the
time.
Hang in there with me, things will get better!
Veronica
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