creativity abounds

A grateful thanks from Eco-TAV

Yesterday was launch day! – YAY

While I did leave with some stock – I think it went very well for the first exposure of the Eco-TAV products to the public!  And that means I am not going crazy today in a panic for next weekend.  Time to order fabric and supplies in a semi-leisurely fashion!

 Even total strangers bought some!

That leads to my need to say thank you publicly to the many people who helped in the development stages of the Eco-TAV line!

My eco-survey respondants – I won’t list you all, but you can click back through my posts to see everyone who took the time to post their responses in my comments area – thanks so much!  And thanks to those who tried to reply but were thwarted by the “submit” button 🙂

Official Testers: Jess, Treena, Katheryne, Gailene, Julia, Dar, Susi,Pia, Angelique, and Mireille willingly took time out of their days to connect with me, learn the folding technique, and tested my napkins and pouches and sent me feedback!  

Secondary Testers: Dana and Cynthia – who spent some time playing with the products and gave me some of their feedback!

Sewing: Dana, again – Thanks for helping get those stacks of napkins sewn!

Website: Sara who was indispensable in helping me brainstorm the marketing ideas, designing the site, and helping me get my butt in gear to get it going! Tom too – but his thanks comes later…

Katheryne – special thanks for being a willing model that chilly morning!

First Customers: Andrew – first Ipod Touch case and Pouch!  Susan – First custom ordered Ipod Touch case – not doing those often, but glad it worked out so well!  Her pic is on the Eco-TAV Facebook page. The unknown person at the RA Centre who bought the first Eco-TAV Napkin/Pouch set and Diane – who was the first friend to buy the set!

Cynthia, who got up early to help me all day at the RA Centre! and has offered to do it again next weekend! And Linda, who was planning to help, but was struck down by the bug that has been hitting people – feel better, chicky!

And last but NEVER LEAST, Tom [ aka WTL].  

He is beyond amazing when I get an idea in my head.  He supports me, encourages me, and then does a lot of work to help me make it happen.  We were up until 2 a.m. to get the site up on Saturday night/Sunday morning, and he did a phenomenal job getting our [ Sara’s, mine and his] ideas worked out as a functioning and beautiful website! He does the product photography for the site, all the nitty gritty stuff, and coming soon video work!  What a guy – I am very lucky!  he also makes the wonderful veggie soup that we live on most of the time – healthy and easy gets us through!

Thanks also to those who have commented on my Facebook Wall, sending their good energy and support!

I hope the minimum of this product line is to get us all thinking about our daily choices.  The sky is the limit after that!

creativity abounds

Introducing Eco-Tav

INTRODUCING: Eco-TAV: 
my new, environmentally friendly/aware product line of Take-out Textiles Products and Tech-oriented Textile Products.

As you may know, I have been sewing for most of my life, and still enjoy the creative aspect of custom work with in the bridal and dance-wear realm.  I continue to welcome new and exciting projects in my custom work, and wanted to give myself an outlet where I could simply do what came to mind of my own volition.  

Over the summer, I began seeing possibilities and potentials for creating a small line of goods that would help reduce the garbage I myself was producing with my own visits to my local coffee shop, as well as when I was “brown-bagging” it. I have been intrigued by sustainable textiles for a while as well, and sought ways to encourage their use. I have also been unable to toss out textile scraps left over from my custom sewing and found that I could create some lovely pieces with these reclaimed textiles! 

After some test marketing and textile research, I am ready to go!  I have, with the help of friends, colleagues and family, my first run of Eco-TAV goods ready to introduce to the marketplace online and in person this Sunday, November 16th.

I have booked myself in the Ottawa RA Centre Christmas Craft Sale for the next two Sundays:
November 16 and 23rd. If you happen to be in Ottawa, either this week or next, I invite you to come check things out in person!

We will have an online launch as well on Sunday, November 16th at  http://www.Eco-TAV.com . The site is in early development and I will be taking online orders via email and Paypal payments until my shopping cart system is set up – soon!

We have placed some teaser info online as well at the following sites, which you are welcome to check out today – in anticipation of tomorrow’s launch!



Thanks for your time, and even if this only gets you thinking about your environmental choices, then a good thing has been done!

Tracey 
creativity abounds

Eco Tav soft launch

Just a teaser – Eco-TAV will feature new products from TAV Creations that involve looking at our daily choices in regards to our environment!

 

 

Join me at the RA Centre
Join me at the RA Centre

 

Who doesn’t look at their daily choices these days?

Who isn’t going green?

And that’s great!  Everyone does need to take a moment and find the easy ways to make their choices as consumers, creators, teachers, parents and citizens of the planet reflect their own level of concern!

Eco-Tav will provide you with ways for reducing take-out garbage, replacing the disposable with the reusable, and finding some joy in beautiful and creative one of a kind accessories for the technologically inclined!

Join me at the RA Centre Christmas Craft Sale as I bring these goodies to light!

FREE PARKING and FREE ADMISSION !

Creative journeys

Read through my eco tav survey…

…and help save the planet!  Well, start to think about being a small contributing part of the solution at least!

{ I am updating this post as I feel the questions are still wroth reading, even if I have moved onto the next stage of my study and am presently not taking any more testers!  But I think it helps people to think about the choices we make!}

The view almost every day!
The view almost every day!

Thanks for taking a moment to read this through.  I am in the early stages of developing a new product line for my TAV Creations: Eco-Sewing.  I have tested the concept myself, and am now ready to find out if what I think is a great idea may have a place in the “real world”.  The first step is to get an idea of how many people out there might fit the criteria of someone who would use this product.  I have to be vague for now, and the questions will simply help me establish a more accurate picture of how people think and follow through in this area of their lives.

The questions relate to how people approach take out food establishments and the how we use them. [shortened]

Thanks again for taking the time to help me out in this exciting new endeavor!

 I will be making announcements about the new product line within the next few months as I go through a bit further development and testing.  If anyone has piles of cash to make it a huge endeavor and want to be an Angel investor – let me know!

The questions:

1. How concerned are you with the environment and what we as humans are doing to destroy or protect it? 

a – extremely
b – somewhat
c- not very
d-not at all

2. Do you feel your daily actions reflect how you feel about the environment?

a – Definitely
b – somewhat
c- not very
d-not at all

3. Do you carry a reuseable tote bag with you, even if you are not planning any shopping.

a. no
b. yes, about 1/4 of the time
c. yes, about 1/2 of the time
d. yes, about 3/4 of the time
e. yes,always with only the rare exception

4.Do you eat take-out/pick up food? This would include any time that disposable serving plates, cups, cutlery are used. 

a. no [ at this point, you are probably done with the survey, thanks for your time! ]
b. yes,1 to 6 times per year
c. yes, 6- 12 times per year
d. yes, 1-4 times pre month
e. yes, pretty much daily

5.  Do you use your own travel mug/thermos or similar re-usable drinking container when you frequent take-out establishments? 

a. no
b. yes, about 1/4 of the time
c. yes, about 1/2 of the time
d. yes, about 3/4 of the time
e. yes, always with only the rare exception

6. Do you take back the disposable serving container, if you frequent a favorite take-out place? example: some Thai food take out restaurants use plastic containers that are sturdy enough that they can be washed and re-used at home as well as returned to be re-filled at the restaurant.

a. no
b. yes, about 1/4 of the time
c. yes, about 1/2 of the time
d. yes, about 3/4 of the time
e. yes,always with only the rare exception

7. Please order the following according to your personal value system:

      1 being the most important and 6 being the least important :
a. Reducing all waste/ landfill
b. Recycling following the guidelines of your city’s definitions and services offered
c. Recycling more than the city suggests
d. Saving money
e. Reducing the use of plastics
f. Buying organic

8.How important is it for your actions, in regards to environmental awareness, to be easy?

a – extremely [ I am a busy person, I recycle my paper and plastic as much as I can]
b – somewhat [ I take my travel mug and tote bag when I can, and recycle faithfully within the city guidelines]
c- not very [ I have my travel cup, tote bag and reduce my personal waste contribution when I can]
d-not at all [ it is more important to do what I can to help the planet, and I make the time and energy to do it.]

Thanks for your time!  I’ll be contacting the random winners of protoypes, who may choose to continue into the next level of participation in September. 

Tracey/ Halyma

PS. Boing says thanks too!

....in judgement
….in judgement