Wonderful Wool~Part Two
Like any other animal product you might buy, the very real potential for inhumane harvesting practices requires thoughtful sourcing when substituting wool for polyester. When you make the extra effort to buy wool toys, blankets and yarn from cruelty-free processors you are rewarding their commitment to ethical practices. When the folks raising the animals and harvesting their wool with compassion are the same ones making the toy, blanket or yarn, your purchase of that value-added product increases the profitability of what is likely to be a family-owned business.
Compare this to the profit taken by the multi-national corporation poisoning entire communities with its monstrous, pollution-belching plastic factory and the choice becomes clear.
Merino, cashmere and angora are three types of wool commonly used in products for children.
The foolproof way to purchase cruelty-free merino is to buy it from New Zealand producers who are subject to an animal welfare act that prohibits mutilation, tail docking and a practice called mulesing, a method of slicing skin from the sheep’s backside while shearing it that subjects the animal to a great deal of pain. ZQ Merino and Responsible Wool Standard are two certifications that guarantee the merino wool that went into the product you are buying was harvested in a humane way.
Cashmere is harvested from goats and the most common source for this wool is Mongolia. The unethical practices tied to this industry include the degradation of the country’s natural environment and worker exploitation. Cashmere producers that aspire to earn any of these certifications are worth supporting: Good Cashmere Standard, Sustainable Fibre Alliance, Kering Standard on Cashmere, and Cashmere Standard.
Plush toys made from angora, a wool plucked from rabbits, are hard to resist, but much of what you find on the market comes from China where there are no animal cruelty regulations in place and tearing fur from live animals is a common practice. An ethically sourced, hand-crafted angora toy is going to cost you a lot of money. The alternative is picking up some knitting needles yourself, which could lead to a whole other experience for you and your loved ones to share. Orkney Angora is a U.K. based cooperative of family-run ethical rabbit farms that produces yarn.