Hoy la revista ECOLOGIST en su sitio web publica una nota sobre los sombreros de paja toquilla que -equivocadamente- el mundo conoce como "Panamá Hats". Por cierto, la nota, de Laura Sevier, si menciona la procedencia ecuatoriana de la materia prima y la mano de obra.
"...The hats are woven from ‘Paja Toquilla' straw, from the leaves of the Carludovica Palmata plant indigenous to several elevated areas in the Ecuadorian regions of Guayas and Manabi.
The palms are cut by hand and transported out of the area by donkey. They're then soaked in water and the palm is stripped down so that they're soft and supple enough to weave.
There is a bleaching process towards the end. But even this is low impact says Somers. ‘They've got water recycling so they can filter off the bleach and keep reusing the water so it's very environmentally. There's certainly no harmful chemicals used.'
When she met the weavers back in the 90's they were making the classic 'fedora' style of hat. She's since encouraged them to incorporate different weaves and colours into that style as well as other styles of hat too.
'The weavers love it. For them it's much more exciting doing an orange or lilac hat - it keeps them stimulated too.'
The process is very labour intensive with every hat woven, trimmed, beaten and blocked by hand. Historically the straw harvesters and weavers were the lowest links in the Panama hat supply chain and receive a very low price for their skills - yet some hats can be sold for £600 or more in excusive shops ..."
Todo el artículo en http://www.theecologist.org/green_green_living/clothing/298572/could_this_be_the_most_ethical_hat_in_the_world.html
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