Please welcome my online buddy, Jan DiCintio of Daisy Janie today – the first interviewee for the Green Motive relaunch. I could not be happier. With a love for designing geometric patterns myself, her organic fabrics and surface designs are right up my alley. I can also confirm she is one lovely lady too.
Welcome. Tell us about yourself and your business
I am a freshly turned 40-year-old, who moonlights as a mom, wife, doggie owner and fitness nut. I am a self-taught fabric & surface designer, having segued over the past 10 years from other creative pursuits that involved building, painting and sewing (not all at once). I produce my own line of fabrics as well as offer custom surface design services to clients.
What makes your business green?
The retail fabrics I currently design and sell in my etsy shop are primarily what make Daisy Janie green. They are printed on 2 types of organic base goods: one is an organic cotton sateen made with 100% cotton fibers certified by Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS); the other is an organic cotton/hemp blend canvas that is certified organic by the USDA’s Nat’l Organic Program (NOP). These are professionally printed in a digital format, using water-based, low VOC pigments. This method of printing also minimizes water consumption and fabric waste. Further, heat & pressure calendaring are used to finish the fabric rather than harsh chemicals.
I also have a collection of organic fabrics (Geo Grand) that will be offered at wholesale and will be available in early March. These organic fabrics, made from GOTS-certified cotton fiber, will also be self-produced. I am soooo excited about this line as it will allow Daisy Janie to make a more significant contribution to an industry (cotton fabric) that’s in desperate need of an overhaul. Conventionally grown cotton crops and fabrics produced from these crops are some of the worst offenders on the planet in terms of pesticide usage and toxic processing. Read “Cotton and the Environment” for more information.
Why is it important for you to offer products that are eco-friendly?
I offer eco-friendly products so I can sleep at night knowing I’ve done my part. I cannot remember a time in my adult life when I wasn’t a freakazoid about recycling, repurposing, clean living and protecting earth’s creatures. Choosing to offer green products is simply an extension of these ideals and a logical expression of my personal philosophies.
Have you found it easy to run an eco-friendly business? What difficulties (if any) have your encountered?
When I started my first solo venture in 1998 (JH Originals), it was much more challenging to procure green raw materials and market green products than it is for me today. The confluence of powerful and dynamic variables like Etsy, indie culture, internet as a mainstay for biz, green awareness and consumer acceptance has created a business segment that manufacturers can’t ignore & consumers can’t get enough of. Given that, I have definitely seen a nice shift in ‘what it takes’ to run an eco-friendly business.
The main difficulty in producing & selling a thoughtful product like organic fabric is price point. In general, organic cotton farming and processing requires more care and overall tending, so it costs *me* more to have it produced…which means it will cost my customer more as well. Not all customers understand this, and it has been a hurdle to effectively market and educate. (Interviews like this are a huge boost to that end – thank you Adele!)
What plans do you have to further your green initiatives?
On a smaller scale: I have planted seeds for additional eco-friendly product offerings using my surface designs. Haven’t gotten very far, but my research notebook is filling up! I also continue to find ways to package my products with a smaller carbon footprint.
On a larger scale: Daisy Janie is run out of my home (for as long as I can manage), and I’m very proud that we just made the switch to purchase wind energy for our electricity. There’s no way to know for certain if the electricity that makes it to the grid to power your individual house is that exact electricity you purchased. However, when you make this selection, you are casting a vote that dictates demand for this product. You are supporting the wind energy producers, and thereby taking a piece of the “electricity pie” away from coal/fossil fuel energy producers….much like choosing organic fabrics over non-organics!
Lastly, anything else you would like to add?
Eighteen years ago, I read this quote in a shop offering Native American art: “We did not inherit the Earth from our ancestors. We are borrowing it from our grandchildren.” It hit me hard and solidified my desire to do what I could on an individual level to lessen my impact on the earth…a defining moment in my life to be sure.
DAISY JANE ELSEWHERE
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Image showing chair covered in Daisy Janie fabric is courtesy of Storefront.
