Passengers push their bus up a slippery steep slope near Nalae in Luang Prabang Province Laos. The Namtha (River Tha) can be seen far below. Having made it through the greasy mud into the District Center, Nalae, Sack finds these young Khmu boys eager and proud to show a Nature Bag made by their family. That's Sack in Nalae talking with a local woman about bag crafting villages in nearby mountains. She knew where they were and how to contact them to help meet future global demand for Earth’s Greenest Bag™. Bokeo Province villager uses 2 Nature Bags. The heavy load of corn looks like a pain in the neck, but she's...
The traditional Khmu bag, known today as Nature Bag, Earth’s Greenest Bag™ is endangered. The craft of making it rapidly is disappearing from large areas in Laos’ north. A traditional bag can take days to make. In August 2012 Volunteer Sack spent 6 weeks tracking down villages in Bokeo and Luang Namtha provinces where the Khmu still can make the bag. If girls cannot learn the craft from their mother, it is unlikely they ever learn. Soon the craft could die. Saving this ancient craft that dates back perhaps 5,000 years has become a primary goal of the Nature Bag Khmu/Lao Poverty Reduction Project. It is as important as sharing Earth’s Greenest Bag™ with our global community....
'Teach them to love the insects' When the Dalai Lama was asked the most important thing to teach children, his response was (reportedly) "teach them to love the insects". It's not uncommon to fear or loathe insects and "creepy crawlies". It's not an instinctive thing; rather learned behavior in many cases. Just as beauty among humans is often perceived based on what society dictates rather than the eye of the beholder, so to is it in regard to other creatures on our planet. Our views may also be shaped through limited experiences with a species. I remember seeing an experiment many years ago where a harmless spider was placed in the presence of a mother and very young child....
Be careful that your cloth bags actually are eco-friendly. Cotton bags (unless they are organic) have a much larger carbon footprint than "disposable" plastic because of the intensive agriculture and manufacturing they require. Even hemp bags, because they are made from cultivated hemp and usually in factories, have significant carbon footprints. The Nature Bag Khmu/Lao Poverty Reduction Project, sharing Earth's Greenest Bag globally, is truly eco-friendly because of its hand-harvested naturally-growing fiber, in-home crafting, long life cycle & minimal weight allowing delivery anywhere with almost no consumption of fossil-sourced energy. It's socially sustainable, too, being a tool for thousands of years for the ancient culture that makes it today to provide income without wasteful commuting & allowing traditional child nurturing. ...
The organic fiber that the Khmu bag crafters use almost exclusively can now be purchased at www.NatureBag.ORG. “Over the years we’ve had requests from textile scholars as well as designers for samples of the fiber that is an important element in the amazing characteristics of the Nature Bag,” explained Volunteer & Primary Financial Project sponsor Bill Newbrough. “So we’ve decided to add samples of both the cord and the fabric as products for sale on our e-commerce website.” In addition to scholarly study, the samples can be used for novelty gifts or included in homemade clothing and other hand-stitched fabrics. One inquirer wanted to know how a piece of the fabric might work in a quilt. Now s/he can find...
