<< I'm going out, see you tomorrow! >>
<< Put on something heavy. It's cold tonight. >>
Admit it: we have heard it said so many, many times by our worried mother, by our life partner, or by our inner voice.
And we immediately go to wear the down jacket, to feel a little more of the warmth of home, to face with greater courage and with appropriate equipment the military strategist of General Winter.
After all, how can one say no to the softness that envelops us, to the warmth that isolates from the outside world the moment we unzip the jacket, to the chemistry that arises when comfort is tied to elegance?
Well, my friend, I know the answer.
I can dismantle the sensations we wear with this winter garment – warmth, whiteness, and why not? Even tenderness – with two simple words:
“Intensive farming.”
A name and an adjective. A semantic pairing that hides a harsh reality of repeated torture inflicted on helpless goslings (the chicks of geese) stripped of their feathers, and that tells of cramped living spaces, where not even a square meter is granted to you.
<<Wait a moment, is something like this really allowed?>>
In Italy, the law is clear; it is article 19 of legislative decree 146/2001 that prohibits the plucking of live birds.
But it is a ban that can be easily circumvented in a larger legal system, Europe, where the acquisition process of this soft and precious material is not illegal, as long as the procedures and hygiene regulations to protect the animal are respected.
In fact, European regulations stipulate plucking as the only method to obtain feathers. The geese would not suffer either physical trauma or stress from treatment.
The rules, as we know, are for the honest and the naïve.
There are many countries in the union that do not properly enforce the rules, particularly Hungary, which has the highest number of goose farms for feathers in all of Europe, followed by Poland and Romania.
Places where cruelty towards animals is repeated not once but a hundred times a day for each worker, who tries to improve more and more in what they do, amidst the apathy and desensitization of those who are used to yielding to violence every day.
Because it's a piecework job and the more they pluck, the more they will be paid, so down they go into this loop of fear, pain, and blood.
After all, it's not theirs, and their conscience will be washed away with the next handwashing.
But I give you a chance: come with me, be part of what happens and what you are not aware of. This time, however, let's set aside the clothes of homo sapiens.
Let's dive without hesitation into a suffocating, dirty, and inhospitable place through the eyes of one of the victims. Let's see what it feels like to feel like 'a goose in a trap.'
How would you feel to find yourself on the other side of the bars?
Cold, an inhuman cold.
The dark air surrounding me and my unfortunate companions in this confined world hurts me: it's like a sharp blade against bare skin, now naked and covered only by exposed scars. The torturers are quick but not precise in what they do.
The real pain has at least passed for today, even though it is getting harder to resist. Today it was my cellmate's turn.
She screamed, thrashed, putting up a fierce resistance but they continued to tear her apart relentlessly, one area after another, the top layer of skin until she writhed in convulsions, screamed weakly and did not move again.
That macabre sight had triggered something. An ancient force had taken advantage of it to take possession of nerves and muscles, forcing me into inertia.
Even the tears no longer marched outward.
I was unable to make the slightest movement and continued to suffer, this time in silence.
Then a weak idea, tired but still such. By the time I formulated it, I had already closed my eyes and started to hope.
At the end of the nightmare, the end of terror.
The end of everything.
And so it was. It's over, for now.
This is my third time, and I barely remember the first; I was little. I had just started to move in the world, to live in what would turn out to be a dark and personal hell.
The cold continues to mutilate me inside, down to my soul. Is it worth resisting or would it be better to let go into the unknown? After all, both paths will lead to the same fate.
In fact, none has ever gone beyond the fourth periodic torture: we fade away, swallowed by the darkness that desires us even more than our executioners.
I will disappear too - I know - like the feathers I could never use to escape, to fly away.
Terrifying, isn't it?
Now you know.
Do you know what happens inside these places of death because of unfair brands, like Moncler: the Italian textile company ended up in a scandal between 2014 and 2015 due to a report service, precisely on this burning issue.
The company has paid and certainly suffered a hard impact on its image due to media scrutiny, but many other companies have remained unpunished, covered by the anonymity of not being exposed.
<<Quindi non possiamo più fidarci di nessun brand che tratta articoli del genere?!?>>
Hold on a second! I don't mean that...
I am making you part of a reality and capable of making the choice you deem right.
Because, if it's true that there are many, too many unfair brands that profit from the suffering of a defenseless animal, there are just as many that fight tooth and nail to convey a simple yet effective concept: fashion can also be made in an eco-sustainable way.
The example I propose to you is "Save the duck", the first Italian brand to have obtained the "B Corporation", embracing a 100% animal-free and cruelty-free policy.
<
Don't worry, I'll clarify your ideas.
A B Corporation – simplified as "B Corp" – is a certification that attests to a business's active commitment to raising awareness and promoting social and environmental activities.
You will understand that you don't hear every day about a fashion brand that can boast such an important title.
On the other hand, it is the school of thought and the merits that speak for themselves.
The company has indeed patented the "plumtech" technology, which consists of a lightweight padding made of a special polyester wadding that is breathable and reproduces the softness of goose down without neglecting thermal insulation capacity. Moreover, it allows for quick drying and is highly hygienic.
Save The Duck hasn't stopped here; it believes in nature and tries to respect it as much as possible. Based on these reflections, the patent "Plumtech Recycled" was born, whose polyester fibers come entirely from recycled materials, while maintaining the characteristics of the product mentioned earlier.
And if this doesn't seem illustrative enough, now I present to you the policy of “Womsh”, another Italian brand that cares about the fate of mother nature and her creatures.
The brand practices “sustainable fashion” - you will notice it if you visit the official website - and does so through the research and use of low environmental impact materials, which safeguard not only the ecosystem but also human health.
Like “Bianca”, a leather obtained through a particular tanning process that does not involve the use of heavy metals. More safety for humans, or rather the workers in the supply chain, more protection for the environment, since it does not involve the production of polluting, harmful, and toxic industrial waste.
Or like “Apple skin”, an innovative material, composed of 50% Polyurethane and the other 50% apple fiber.
<<What did you say?>>
You understood perfectly, apple-fiber!
Apple skin is a non-toxic, eco-friendly material because it is made from industrial waste – instead of disposing of it, isn't it more fun and creative to see how to recycle it? – but above all capable of withstanding the mechanical and physical stress that the final product will be subjected to.
If you're interested in learning more, the company that invented “Apple skin” is Frumat leather.
Well, now we can say that we are really “at the end of our rope”, my friend. Hahaha...
... jokes aside, we have seen together the pain of being exploited and it is always bad, for any living being, then we became aware that an alternative already exists, we just need to believe in change.
Giuseppe – “Pino” to friends – Daniele and the whole Ideal Moda team did it: they decided to believe, act, and choose these two brands for their assortment, which I now perceive as two true green movements.
Their cause is our cause, let's not show indifference to these issues that seem so distant to us: after all, don't we live in the same crumb of the universe?
The guys from Ideal Moda, as if that weren't enough, have done more.
They also handle padded items with the “incriminated” material but they are certified products, whose origin is confirmed in production chains that only perform the combing for obtaining the feathers.
The only, single consequence of these precautions is the slightly higher cost, as it takes much more time to obtain the necessary quantity for each item and because only a few can be produced.
How can I not buy from such ethically right, attentive people?
I already know my answer and I believe I can guess yours, having known each other a bit along this journey.
You won't think about it any longer, you will act wisely and participate in something more important: change.
You too can contribute to that undefined mosaic that dreamers still call “better future.”
