For Eco brand Conscients‘ founders Carole Piette and Hélène Long, green is the new black and slow wear is the future of fashion. With the strong belief that we need a better planet for our children, they worked around the idea of planting a tree in Amazonia for each person buying one of their tee-shirts. That turned into a great story (called Tree-Shirt) as people can actually see where their tree is planted and follow it growth through Google Earth.

How does it work? You receive a unique and personal certificate with the GPS data and a google earth application to see where you’re planting. Fun, interactive, rewarding, encouraging.

It all started with Carole, a member of the founding team at Alter Eco (today’s France’s leading company on fair trade groceries). After the birth of her first child, Carole worked with the same team on the creation of Pur Projet, a collective acting against global warming through reforestation programs.

Talking with Carole is like opening an nature encyclopaedia and a travel guide at the same time. She takes you deep into the Amazonian forest, she explains how reforestation works. You can talk for hours as it is truly fascinating to understand how we can to contribute fighting against global warming. Passionate about the subject, Carole will also recommend great books about trees, to read with children (see below).

But let’s come back to Conscients. Hélène Long was working with Carole at Alter Eco. She was fond of sewing and joined the project with enthusiasm.  Conscients  products are made of organic pima cotton, with ec0-friendly dyed and furnitures from Peru.

“Kids are conscious. This is what we believe in. Kids are looking at the world with brand new eyes and focusing on solutions rather than problems. This is what we want to do. Kids are looking for fun and so do we“, say Carole and Hélène”. We created Conscients as a slow wear project for our conscious kids. We design clothes that let our babies move. We choose organic pima cotton and eco-friendly dyeing and furnitures. Our clothes are planting trees in Amazonia, and you can also plant with us.”

Looking at our kids growing with their trees is more than a romantic image to us. Planting trees is a concrete project. This project is part of Conscients’ DNA. Being conscious means looking at the world with brand new eyes just as kids do. Being conscious means focusing on the solutions rather than the problems. Being conscious means acting with pleasure.

Planting a tree is an efficient way to act against global warming as deforestation is responsible for 20% of the greenhouse gas emissions. Planting a tree for a new baby is a happy birth gift. It’s also a way to encourage kids to focus on the solutions rather than to being stressed by climates issues.

The reforestation project is held by a fair and organic cocoa cooperative in the peruvian Amazonia. Trees are planted following agroforestry systems improving the yield whilst preserving the biodiversity, soil and water quality.

My children have their tree. I planted mine through www.treez.fr and I love following its growth.

Great reads around trees, with children :

– The Giving Tree, Shel Silvertsein 

– L’Arbre en Bois, Philippe Corentin

A wonderful story that takes place in Amazonia (adults):

– The Old Man Who Read Love Stories, Luis Sepulveda