I am not a Eco Warrior..... I'm Just concerned!

What's It's All About

When I was a little girl (I'm in my early 50's) as children we didn't have much but had a loving home and all the essentials. I didn't have a lot of clothes and there were plenty of hand me downs and repairs done to existing clothing. When our feet grew my Dad used to cut the toes off the front so we could still use them for playing in. Bikes and toys too were handed down. After an article of clothing had finished its life as clothing it became used as dusters. We had a rag and bone man that came up the street with his horse and cart and took away old goods for scrap. Cars were worked on to repair at weekends and patched up for as long as possible. Tools, shoes and other household items were repaired and only thrown away when really no more life was left in the product. People grew more vegetables and were more connected to nature. I suppose we made do, shared and mended and things were built to last.

I'm not saying things were perfect but 40 years or more later have things got better?

We now have more choices but less time. We throw things away after one or two uses or wears and its goes into landfill. We buy cheap goods from far away countries and pollute our oceans with plastic and tanker fuel and kill and ruin wildlife and eco systems. We are too busy to be creative and can buy items cheaper from other places where the quality is poor and mass produced. We wash our clothes way too much and the synthetic fibres from clothing and bedding gets rinsed into the water systems and these fibres contain plastic. It saddens me to see the large and very high "bargain" lorries on the A303, full of cheap plastic unsustainable goods. Our children are dumbed down by computer games and become addicted to them

I worry about all this and can see that there has to be another way and if we make some changes we can make larger companies change the way they work and be more thoughtful and live for the future rather than today. I can already see this is happening to an extent and hopefully and eventually all shops will follow in the same vein.

My Values for Willow - Shaftesbury

I have been in retail most of my working life and have had my fair share of up an downs. 9 High Street, Shaftesbury is going to be my last retail project and I want to enjoy it and try to make a small difference. Formerly Turnbull's, 9  high Street is a beautiful shop and really good area for retail, has a stunning shop front and is a key premises within the town.

I believe quality is key and we will sell only quality, useful, sustainable products that can be recycled or have been recycled. Items will be made of natural fabrics (plant based and better for us because plants contribute oxygen) or have been made and crafted from wood. Items made or produced locally or in the UK with a lower carbon footprint and with thought and care. Good design which will last. 

Everything we sell won't scream or shout Eco, but we will endeavour not to do further harm to the environment and our products hopefully can be used or cherished for many years to come.

I'm a quiet person so I won't be an eco warrior but this my retail ethos and I hope that you will enjoy visiting us both in Shaftesbury and online.