quality vs. quantity: why we carry KOOSHOO hair ties
When I first heard about KOOSHOO plastic-free hair ties, I was excited — I hadn’t even realized hair ties were plastic! Another step on the path to see past the function an item fulfills in my life (e.g. the thing that holds my hair) and become aware of its material makeup and lifecycle (e.g. polyester and synthetic rubber that will stay in the environment forever). KOOSHOO’s hair ties are made of organic cotton and natural rubber and decompose completely. But then I saw the price… $15 for 5 hair ties. That’s waaay more than I’m used to paying. And I got cynical about “green” brands being shi-shi and exclusive. And I got similar feedback from our community — why are they so expensive?
So I asked. I emailed Jack, the co-founder who provided me with wholesale information, and told him my concerns about stocking KOOSHOO. We don’t carry unjustifiably expensive products at Cleenland because it sends the (incorrect) signal that the shop is only for people with a lot of money. I found his explanation for the pricing model credible — I’ve summarized it in bold, with my commentary after:
“...we want to send a message that they shouldn’t be treated as a disposable, throwaway object that most other hair ties are.”
KOOSHOO hair ties are made with natural rubber, Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) cotton, as well as GOTS and OEKO-Tex certified (certifies no toxic chemicals) dyes. These non-synthetic, non-toxic, and organic ingredients are more expensive than their conventional counterparts. Fair — this is a major reason products made with materials healthier for humans and the environment are more expensive.
The production facility where the hair ties are made and the cotton used are Fairtrade-certified. Yup, paying people a fair wage and treating them well costs more than using a sweatshop and slave labor.
The last reason I’m just going to copy/paste his email: “Aside from the cost factor, a reason we only include five hair ties on our packs is because we want to send a message that they shouldn't be treated as a disposable, throwaway object that most other hair ties are. As a consumer, looking at a pack of 27 hair ties, or at the packs of 50-100 synthetic hair ties often seen in the pharmacy, one is not given a lot of confidence that they will be durable and well made! We don't believe that people should need to own THAT many hair ties, and instead should place a little more value in caring for them and feel confident that they will have a long lifespan.” This part really, really resonated with me. Even though these hair ties are biodegradable, it’s a waste of resources to treat them without care. Cotton is maaad water-intensive to grow — let’s act like it! This is not to say you should beat yourself up for losing one hair tie, but it’s my and KOOSHOO’s hope that the small pack size will encourage us to keep track of these little guys!
I tried to jam as much of this info onto the sign in the shop as possible (and included Cleenland’s first QR code lol) but wanted to put together this post as well because I didn’t make the decision lightly.
Please give me your feedback!! If they don’t last, it’s all for naught. (So far, the feedback has been very good, but we gotta give it some time, too.)
All that said: economic realities being what they are, I also ordered hair ties from the other plastic-free hair tie company I found and tested, Terra Ties, which offer 27 hair ties for $15. These ties are also made with organic cotton and natural rubber, but are more similar in style to standard hair ties than KOOSHOO are. The company provides very little insight into their supply chain or practices so I’m not sure what their standards are. Look forward to hearing your experience with these ones too.
References are here if you’re interested and, as always, would love to hear from you on this topic!
References:
KOOSHOO’s own blog post about their supply chain
Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) website
The False Promise of Certification, a report from industry watchdog Changing Markets I consulted to try to figure out if these certifications KOOSHOO mentioned are worth anything in this era of bullsheet. Turns out GOTS is legit and OEKO-Tex is pretty good too.