craig k harris
department of sociology
michigan state university
429b berkey hall
east lansing michigan 48824-1111
tel: 517-355-5048
fax: 517-432-2856
> ----------
> From: Michael Straus[SMTP:info@beyondorganic.com]
> Reply To: info@beyondorganic.com
> Sent: Monday 18 October 1999 6:23 PM
> To: CTBull@aol.com; sanet-mg-digest@ces.ncsu.edu
> Subject: RE: Organic cotton and environemental organizations
>
> I would say that organizations and businesses should be regarded
> differently.
>
> Environmental (and other) organizations would benefit from a cotton
> t-shirt
> broker, who would collect orders from multiple groups, place one large
> order
> with the manufacturer, qualify for volume discounts, and thereby minimize
> the cost differential. The same would generally hold true for printing
> cost.
>
> Retail businesses (such as gift shops) are in a different boat, and would
> be
> hard-pressed to offer the customer a choice, as Nathan suggests. There is
> simply not enough incentive to justify the added work. Two reasons why a
> business would invest the time and energy in merchandising organic cotton
> products: philosophical and return.
>
> One of our jobs has to be to continue developing the distribution channels
> which will help mainstream organic products.
>
> - Michael
>
> ++++++++++++++
> Michael Straus
> Beyond Organic - Innovative Marketing for Progressive Agriculture
> 22890 Highway 1, Marshall, CA 94940 USA
> voice mail: 415-289-6958; fax: 415-663-8079
> www.beyondorganic.com; info@beyondorganic.com
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu [mailto:owner-sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu]On
> Behalf Of CTBull@aol.com
> Sent: Monday, October 18, 1999 12:29 PM
> To: sanet-mg-digest@ces.ncsu.edu
> Subject: Organic cotton and environemental organizations
>
>
> Does anyone feel like I do? I am upset with environmental organizations
> who
> still use conventional cotton T-Shirts in marketing even though their
> mission
> is to protect the environment. Here is a letter I received from one such
> organization and I would like to know what you think of their excuse not
> to
> use organic cotton.
> SBreheney@mbayaq.org Is the return email address if you would also like
> to
> send your comments to them.
>
> %%%%%%%%%%%%%%
> Thank you for your interest in the Monterey Bay Aquarium Gift & Bookstore.
>
> We appreciate the time you have taken to share your comments with us.
>
>
> We also appreciate your comments regarding the need to carry organic
> cotton
>
> T-shirts in our Gift & Bookstores. We regret that we have not yet been
> able
>
> to add quite as ambitious an assortment of organic cotton merchandise as
> we
>
> had planned when last we wrote you earlier this year, but we remain
> hopeful
>
> that our plans will come to fruition in the coming months.
>
>
> Again, as we stated in our letter of February 19, our Retail Buyers share
>
> your environmental concerns regarding non-organic cotton, and we continue
> to
>
> be frustrated in our efforts to offer more environmentally responsible
>
> apparel because of the continuing cost difference between non-organic and
>
> organic cotton. This higher cost necessitates a higher retail price for
> the
>
> finished product, which limits its appeal to our visitors. Because the
> Gift
>
> & Bookstore contributes a significant amount of the Aquarium's operating
>
> revenue, we have had to balance revenue and environmental concerns.
>
> However, we are pleased to be able to offer to our visitors at least some
>
> eco-friendly apparel at this time, and we still plan to expand our
> selection
>
> in the foreseeable future.
>
>
> As a side note, we are still pleased to tell you that we do make a point
> of
>
> ordering the majority of our shirts from vendors who use water-based inks
>
> and who are aware of the Aquarium's environmental concerns.
>
>
> Thank you again for your comments. We are constantly striving to make the
>
> Aquarium the best it can be and our visitor comments help us in reaching
>
> this goal.
>
>
>
>
>
>
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