It’s that feeling of Spring that pulls us all out into the open air. Here at hessnatur headquarters, the Fresh Air Fans among us are in the habit of hanging out in a corner near the shipping building. The spot is blessed with a roof for those less than pleasant days during the rest of the year, and has a view of the splendid garden surrounding the showroom just a stone’s throw away. Birds settle in there, and aren’t bothered by the occasional gray cloud rising on the horizon. This year, a pair of blackbirds is making a nest in under the roof-line of our little hang-out corner.

Watching them just a couple of weeks ago, I couldn’t believe the sort of balancing act these birds were willing to go through for the sake of their offspring. The beam they were building on was just too narrow, giving the nest a dangerous tilt. I’ve often had the opportunity to watch blackbird chicks grow up. The species is not very particular about nesting places, and they sometimes like to build their nests near enough to windows that they can be easily admired. By the time the two or three nestlings are grown, though, the nest will have been trampled and pushed quite a bit, and this precarious one on the beam just didn’t look up to the task.

But we have a bunch of real nature fans among us, including Regine, a very engaged animal rights activist. Although she specializes in hedgehogs, I thought that she’d be the right one to pose my question to: “Regine, how can we prop that nest a bit better without scaring off the birds?”

One ladder later, armed with clamps and a triangular cut-out of layout cardboard, we made our way to our impromptu refuge early in the morning. We were, of course, worried about what our feathered parents-to-be would have to say about our efforts. Would they continue to brood? Or would they take the disturbance as a signal to escape and never come back?

We worked quickly. We had the cardboard mounted within just a few minutes. Improvisational, but effective – and not much work, to boot. And it’s payed off so far: the blackbird mom was back on her eggs in the afternoon. We could just make out her beak and tail feathers in the darkness of the corner, but she was definitely there. Yippee! And what should I say: the sound of tiny tweets soon tinkled out of the nest – the chicks have hatched! The parents are diligently flying in with food; the cardboard functions as a take off and landing platform. And when the chicks become fledglings, they can put the platform to good use training their wings. I’d say so far, so good!

My colleague Katrin Backhaus wants to turn the whole thing into a project for apprentices here. They’ll have until next Spring to develop a sensible and sustainable construction for all roof-line corners, giving more birds better nesting places in the future at hessnatur.

Cool, don’t you think?

But what should I wear? On a daily basis, we hover in front of our crowded closets, without a clue, and ask ourselves that question. It sure feels like it, anyway. I’d like to share a few tips that I’ve come across during my online travels through the ether that might help put that clueless feeling to rest.

We sleep through a third of our lives, which is healthy and generally a good thing, after all. But the fact that we each burn up an average of 287 days in our lifetimes standing in front of our closets and staring just blows my mind! Sure, fashion is brilliant, and we like to own a lot of nice clothes. But often the myriad of our own choices becomes an agony all its own, especially when it comes to that goblin that lurks within the depths of our fashion consciousness – color combinations.

Dress according to who you are, and how you feel, independently of trends and ‘third party’ opinions. Jeans or shoes that squeeze the life out of you won’t do you any good at all. The secret to a stylish selection of clothing lies in color choices and combinations! Never underestimate the Power of Color, as it lends expression to you and your disposition. It tells something about you.

Let’s just take a few examples to help clarify. Red is passionate, emotional, and full of energy. Blue embodies integrity and sincerity. Black is elegant and refined. Yellow projects strength and optimism. Orange for courage and trust. Green for health and hope.

An now for the hard part – putting it all together. What harmonizes well together? What harmonizes with you, yourself? Can you wear it? It’s unbelievable how many faux pas are walking around on the streets. But for those of us who are not sure what works there is now a wonderful tool at our fingertips!

Elvan Online has created an admirable contrivance which makes color schemes a breeze. You submit a basic color and out comes a palette of shades and variations which harmonize well with your base color. Experimentation is fun and rewarding – give it a try at www.colorschemegenerator.com.

Have fun, and all the best! Yours, David.

Fostering new talent in green fashion: the International University of Art for Fashion in Berlin (ESMOD) has begun a Masters program with 12 students under the title of “Sustainability in Fashion”, which is supported by hessnatur. In addition to a full scholarship awarded to Anna Johannsen from Hamburg, we’ve sent Rolf Heiman, our own director of hessnatur’s Innovation and Ecology department, to teach sustainability in textile production.

“If a designer wants to create “green fashion”, creative potential is not enough,” explains Heimann. “He or she must first define “green”: Which fabrics may be applied? Which criteria should be followed for dying and finishing? What are the working conditions under which the clothing is sewn? How can the entire collection be produced in an sustainable fashion?”

Heimann wants to open the eyes of up-and-coming talent to quality criteria in “Ethical Fashion” by encouraging the development of their own concepts of what sustainable fashion is or could be. Particular attention is drawn to topics such as the “cradle-to-cradle” principle – a holistic framework which seeks to create efficient, waste free systems. Courses are available in English, and applicants are accepted internationally! Green fashion from new talent in Berlin! We’re excited to see the first results of the course, and we’ll keep you posted!

The first time I tried to wrap my head around the various methods of cloth diapering, I sort of stared at the pictures with this blank look of confusion on my face. Which insert goes under what layer? And where do you fasten what over which part? And which method is this one, anyway? Folding or fitted?

That’s why I’m going to attempt a short summary of all the cloth diapering variations that I’ve researched so far. And considering that my personal “experience” in diapering has yet to grow beyond theory, if you have anything to add or improve, then please feel free to do so.

I think folding is the most complicated method, and must require a lot of practice, patience, and dexterity. Each diaper must be folded individually. New designs have provided several improvements, though. As far as the technique is concerned, the diaper is folded into form. Then you place an insert (bourette silk is nice) into the folds and bind the construction around Baby. I would think that safety pins are a common order of the day.

Diapering with fitted diapers comes highly recommended, as the anatomical form and binding materials streamline the process as well as create a great fit which grows along with your baby.

Then at last there’s the virgin wool diapering pant, cocooning any sort of diaper. Moisture is absorbed to help keep Baby’s outfit dry, and she stays warm as well, no matter if she’s wet or dry underneath. You don’t even have to wash the wool pant as often as you’d think, as wool has a natural tendency to “shrug off” odors well.

As a member of the Fair Wear Foundation, hessnatur has a commitment to summarize the company’s approach to social standards in all areas of productivity, as well as project proposals and goals, in the form of an annual report to the FWF. This report is now available on our corporate website: How do we view social standards, and what do they encompass? Why do we produce in this country or the other? These questions and many more are addressed in the report, which has been given a new layout for this year.

We hope that our report further supports our efforts for transparency along our textile chain, as well as encourages a consciousness for the real value of a piece of clothing – with better knowledge of the kind of work that goes into a T-shirt, a pair of jeans, or a sweater.