Designed to Do Good: Discover the Charitable Impact of Handmade Crocheted Toys from Pebble Toys
The sheer smile and amusement expressed when a baby or toddler holds an attractive and cute is the purest joy in this world. When choosing a toy, parents or grandparents consider a lot of factors such as if the toys are well-made, if their child or grandchild is physically ready for the toy, if the toy is the right size and weight and last but not least if the toy is safe and non-toxic.
A beautiful toy with all these qualities are available from several top brands and can be purchased from anywhere these days, but would that define special? Or would special be something that will bring happiness on your child’s face and at the same time also help a family a long way away?
Pebble toys that was launched in January 2010 in the UK and Australia produce contemporary handmade cuddly and cool crocheted toys that are truly special and sure to grab one's attention. All Pebble products are made by Hathay Bunano a non-profit fair trade organization in Bangladesh whose mission is to create fairly paid, good quality, flexible and local employment for rural women who are poor and often disadvantaged. Translated into handmade or hand knitted in Bangla, Hathay Bunano aims to employ in rural areas to prevent economic migration to the cities. By employing a village setting close to their homes, it aims to keep families together, where mothers can be together with their babies and children. Above all, it aims to address woman employment where she can support herself as well as her family.
Pebble partnered with USAID’s CREL initiative and Winrock International in collaboration to connect disadvantaged and resource-dependent people to the private sector. Through teaching women to knit in these very remote areas, avoids the difficulty of going to the forests and depleting the natural resources for their livelihoods. All in all, it’s all about working together to reduce climate change effects and allow climate resilience.
The wide range of toys which includes rattles, teethers, bonnets, hats, blankets, and booties are knitted using organic cotton. The main benefit of organic cotton is that unlike conventional cotton it is grown without pesticides, insecticides, herbicides, and GMOs which is harmful to our ecosystem. Organic cotton is prepared from natural, untreated GMO-free seeds. These seeds are planted in healthy soil through crop rotation which retains moisture in the soil from increased organic matter. The crop is then harvested via natural defoliation mainly through the use of water management. After the production where warp fibers are stabilized using double-plying or nontoxic cornstarch, the whitening is done by using safe peroxide and dying through low-impact fiber-reactive or natural dyes with low metal and sulfur content. The making of organic cotton is also done through the process of fair trade where safety, health, non-abusive and non-discriminatory environment with living wages are ensured.
As far as the colorful finished products are concerned, Pookipoiga offers a variety of fun and adorable Pebble toys that are tactile, machine washable and 100% safe. Along with a mixture of popular fairy tale characters such as Hansel and Gretel toys, Humpty Dumpty toy or Humpty Dumpty rattle and cute animals including Horse toy, Giraffe toy, Elephant toy or Panda toy, there is also a set of soft fruit and vegetable rattles to gently sooth the babies. The knitted vegetables have been made since Hathay Bunano began in 2004.
So cheer up your little one through purchasing these ethically crafted beautiful crocheted toys made with hand and heart that will bring big smiles and good feelings in supporting a dream. After all, underprivileged people need fair trade and economic justice much more than charity.