Meet Luce Beaulieu

I met the newest Indyish artist in person yesterday when we met at Romolo’s on Bernard for lunch. This is the kind of mood I was in by the end of it. She has a great big laugh and fabulous style, and we traded Wordpress tips and tricks and blogger contacts like the fashionable girl geeks we are. (Come on! check out my new hat in that pic linked to above and try and tell me I’m not fashionable.. in my own ridiculous way. sigh.) So we had a good time, trading ideas for future collaboration and interconnection and all the different ways we can pool ideas and networks and ressources for future Indyish projects oriented toward sustainable design and all things “eco-chic”. We came up with some doozies, so watchout.

The most poignant and compelling aspect of what she is trying to do with her POSCH bags for me initially was the awareness she’s trying to raise about the Piping Plover’s endangered status (hence the little bird graphic on all her bags); but the most important part of her project may have something more to do with taking on the false eco-branding employed by the big grocery chains.

As you’ll have noticed, most grocery stores in Montreal have begun selling cheap plastic reusable shopping bags. In some cases, a penny or 5 from every bag purchased goes to an environmental cause, and in every case the bags are graphically designed to evoke craft and/or lush and healthy ecosystems. But in reality, these do not represent a complete green shift.

Fabric dipped in plastic, like these “reusable bags” sold at Provigo and Loblaws and others, is essentially mummified. As Luce says, it’s a kind of Frankenstein product, sealed off from any chance of bio-degrading in a non-recylcable combo, and made so cheaply that they cannot, will not, last long enough to justify the rest of their dump-doomed lifecycle. Also, sold for .99$ it’s tough to believe they are being made with care by people who are well paid for their labour. Maybe that’s just us speculating… but I doubt it.

The POSCH bags, on the other hand, actively take fabrics out of their dump-wards trajectory and give them a whole new lease on life, including an explicitly protective and progressive purpose: 2% of her proceeds go to a local NGO called Equiterre that is trying hard to save the last remaining Plovers. Also- they’re stylin! And available right now on Indyish.com! Click Here!

We can picture the whole Green party wearing Luce’s I Heart Kyoto tshirts and bags as they head into the next election. She wants to slap one on any great environmentally conscious band. Luce asked me if I knew anyone in the media spotlight who she might give one to - at this point she’s more interested in getting them on the right public people to make a statement that she really believes in then in making a profit. So if you heart Kyoto or Piping Plovers and can think of a way to help out with this, give us a hollar! risa @ indyish.com And watch Indyish for more POSCH products, including the I Heart Kyoto t’s, to go on sale soon…like later today. Ok?
Cheers to new artists and new connections and big ideas!