Hearth & Horn

I am intrigued by this, although it leads me into more and more questions. For instance, how far down in production must one go before a product is "clean"? Moreover, what does one do if the area you are in lacks shelter, or friends, or opportunity to grow things, let alone make them?

In the area I live in currently, for instance, there is no clay and no opportunity to locate fibers. In fact, there is no clay for shaping in the entire state, although there is plenty of clay soil. The lack of fibers is because the entire county has been shaped around the tourist and medical industries, and the people who work in them. The entire county relies on other people having power and money and the desire to come here. For all that the county has a large amount of medical centers, its disability and trans coverage is bad enough that most people have moved to the next county over, if not further.

I have a pet snake, a lovely little fellow. But, like all snakes, he requires heat throughout his day to keep him healthy. His current glass tank I got second or third hand, but since the top half has fallen apart, I have gotten a plastic tub for him. It'll save power long-term, but it's still made of plastic, isn't it?

The wand I work with, Belief, I bought at a Renaissance Fair from a craftsperson. They collected the sticks from around their home, burned in the runes, but the clay and quartz they added, I do not know where it came from. It's entirely possible that some of my quartz and jasper comes from my state (as we have a thriving trade of semiprecious stone collection), but just as possible that it's from faraway and unethical sources. Some of it I found from my mother's collection of stones, and I have no idea where they came from before she got them forty years ago.

I don't know if this is justification or explanation or sharing my experience. But I will tell you this. If it wasn't for my using the Internet, I wouldn't have met you, and I wouldn't like that. I know that doesn't really mean anything one way or other, but I think you should know, all the same.