"Since my childhood I adored weaving Berber rugs and I started learning the basics from my grandmother.
I used to watch my grandmother creating a rug throughout all stages of weaving Berber rugs. The process of drying wools, arranging lines on the hand-loom.
We are based in the heart of Algeria, in the deep south, in a city called Ghardaia, also known as the "Pearl of Oasis". The indigenous people are Berber, aka “M’ZAB”. In 1982, the city of Ghardaia was inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List as a cultural property.
We inherited weaving rugs from our Berber ancestors as it was and is still today, the main source of income for our families. My passion is to assist in providing job opportunities for many families in the city of Ghardaia and keeping my culture and legacy alive.
Since 2006, I started to learn that in workshops, I could improve some techniques that save efforts and time. Later in 2012, I had made my own work as an independent rug weaver. I participated in several local shows and in abroad and I participated many times in the Bazar of US Embassy since 2012.
Berber hand-woven rugs are made of pearl cotton fibers and sheep wool. The fibers as strong strings are woven in a vertical hand-loom.
My work helping lot of families to get rid of poverty by offering them source for living and this is in addition to keeping my culture and legacy alive is a motivation to work more and more, all those grew through me and encouraged me to save that heritage and save this noble art."
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We are unrelenting in our mission to make the world a little bit more like the place we dream of living in. We're looking for the community of people who want to join in on creating the world we dream of. So, are you with us?
]]>Online shopping has changed the world. The digital age has opened up human creative potential in a way never seen before. Now, we have an ability to customize our lives according to our style, lifestyle, and values has been enabled like never before.
However, along with accelerated growth of online retail, comes a steep environmental cost: mainly in single-use packaging materials and CO2 emissions from transportation.
Deep within our ethos is a belief in celebrating the world with a sense of awe and wonder. We see ourselves as stewards of this beautiful garden of life.
Thus, while entering the potentially environmentally harmful retail industry, it isn't a question for us whether to integrate sustainability into our shipping and packing processes -- it is mandatory.
What we've discovered is that making shipping sustainable isn't commonplace -- because most retailers care more than anything about maximizing their bottomline.
The reality is that sustainable shipping is slightly more expensive than conventional retail.
Our belief is that governments should provide regulations to promote what benefits us all -- that is, lower CO2 emissions, and integrating circularity into retail systems.
However, society isn't ready for that yet, not even in Europe where environmental regulations are taken quite seriously.
Home Geographic's commitment to our community is to do everything in our power to make shipping and packaging sustainable -- and we ask our community to do that same.
As such, our costs might be a little bit higher for shipping and packaging than conventional retail companies -- and we are willing to accept that risk.
We are unrelenting in our mission to make the world a little bit more like the place we dream of living in. We're looking for the community of people who want to join in on creating the world we dream of. So, are you with us?
Dotting the deserts of Jordan, even today, many Bedouin tribes live nomadically, moving camp with the seasons, and for grazing their animals.
Bedouins typically raise goats, camels and sheep, and use donkeys for work and transportation.
These animals provide milk, meat, and crucially, hair, which is spun into spools of yarn, and then handwoven on ground looms.
A phenomenal feature of Bedouin homes is the roof and walls itself; handwoven from water- and wind-resistant goat and camel hair, homes are typically black from the goat, cream-colored from camel hair.
Over time, weather and wear and tear on these tents lead to the fabric being repurposed. And here we meet: this beautiful pillow.
This pillow once was part of the walls of a family's tent. Where it went, and who lived under it, we don't know. But lean back on this pillow, and the world offers itself to your imagination.
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Five bags of clothing — and counting — are lined up in my bedroom, waiting for eviction. The past couple of days, I have enjoyed a newfound pride of my lovely drawers of folded triange clothing.
Yes, Marie Kondo, you got me. I watched your show and how could I help but seek to find better order in my own home? And I’m grateful for that.
But for those bags of clothing, things from our storage shed, silly novelty toys, old pillowcases and decorative pieces, old IKEA furniture…
Anyone else around here feel like a total jerk for having accumulated so much?
I am now realizing, the final resting place of my used items won’t likely be recycled, worn again by someone in need, or re-sold for value.
I hate to even write this in black and white, but my used household stuff is almost certainly going to be dumped in the oceans, or in a landfill. Sigh.
I feel like a total schmuck.
We have tried, though, to be very conscious consumers.
My boyfriend and I dedicated 2018 very intentionally to make our lives as sustainable as possible. We recycle diligently, we changed to a sustainable energy provider, we drive electric, we ride bikes, we are learning to grow our own food. I’m a vegetarian, he only eats the most sustainable meat he can find.
Yet, it’s not enough.
Seeing my bags of stuff destined to be garbage makes me angry, and it makes it hard to throw away because I feel incredibly guilty for my poor consumption choices I made when I was buying things.
I’m angry at myself for having spent so much money on things, that brought some temporary joy, but have long-term environmental consequences.
I’m angry that as soon as I left the store, these items have basically no value at all, and it’s money down the drain.
I’m angry I let myself be lured into buying this single-use stuff. The plastic gold medals I bought as a gag for a bachelorette party. The cheap colored pencils I bought that hardly work. The light blue H&M sweater I thought I would like, but it was too scratchy and I only wore it once.
And larger stuff too is heading out. The IKEA carpet I bought three years ago but doesn’t fit anywhere in our new house. It’s a little banged up, and a new version retails for about $150, and so I estimate the max I can sell it for online is about $15.
I Marie-Kondo’ed my house, and it is a huge effort to responsibly find the next stage for these items. And — all of this purging leads to the bigger question of how we buy in the first place.
And this is what I want to change.
I believe that fundamentally that there is a natural human cycle of seeking to constantly renew and renovate our lives. This is part of our cycle of personal growth, and we are wired somehow to improve ourselves and our lives. There will always be new consumption, and there will always be discarding of the old.
But how can we make that process less harmful to the environment, and more financially sustainable in our consumption patterns?
I am trying to do something about it through my dream company that I’m building, Home Geographic.
We’re working with tribal artisans in Africa, Asia and Latin America and connecting them to modern homes and spaces, via a curated online marketplace. Every item is traced to it’s original source and verified for authenticity and sustainable use of materials and processes.
I believe that we will solve a big part of our home consumption problem with this company: by working with timeless materials, designs, and craftsmanship, these pieces will hold value, retain quality, and have a long product life cycle.
Because these pieces hold value — and even become more beautiful with age — we are building a reseller function into our marketplace. So that when a person wants to change up decor at home, go through another Marie Kondo purge, the pieces bought via Home Geographic can be resold again on the same marketplace.
It also makes me feel good to know that due to the natural materials in these products, at the end of their useful product life, they will go back into the earth and will become earth again.
So, for now, Marie Kondo is helping us to purge our home. We will do our best to release all our items with care, and try to send them on to the most useful next life possible.
Going forward, I am hopeful that Home Geographic will be an offering that can help the world find its balance.
You can learn more about Home Geographic on Instgram @Homegeographic, Facebook, or on our website: www.homegeographic.com
We’re still building our online marketplace, but please let us know if you would like to stay in touch for updates.
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