A company called Reware is selling a beach bag called the "Juice Tote – Solar Beach Bag" (see picture to the left).  The idea is that you can re-charge your phone, camera, PDA, etc. while baking on the beach, or at the pool.  While I was reading about the bag on their site I came across this little bit of verbiage:

Reware is a firm believer that globalization can have very positive
effects for people around the world by connecting people through
international trade, creating jobs and lifting economies. It can also
have crushing effects on local economies and the environment. So the
goal around here is to try and figure out how to use the benefits of
globalization positively, while remembering that local production
matters.

Oh yeah, and we want to make high quality products that bring attention
to environmentalism while reducing environmental impact.

It’s all a complex and fascinating challenge. The reality is that most
Virgin fabrics are coming out of China, which is good news when doing
business in Japan, Korea, or into the Chinese market. When that
happens, our Carbon Footprint is astoundingly reduced.

At the same time, we love the recycled fabrics we use because many of
them are produced in the US. We then manufacture those bags in Texas or
North Carolina, we reduce our carbon footprint further and help local
economies.

When it comes to the environment, we all need to think about the most
efficient way to make and distribute our goods. That’s why we like the
concept of localization, the idea that when you can, you buy materials
and use factories as close to your customers as possible, when
possible.

We don’t have it all figured out yet (no one really does), but these
issues matter, and we’re having a good time doing our part to do things
outside the box.

Have you seen a localized production process that works, or have
thoughts on this concept? Get in touch: info (AT) rewarestore (DOT) com

Who says the textile industry is dead in North Carolina? And who knew we’d be in bed with a bunch of tree huggers?  Seriously though, if we can get more efforts like this going there might be a future for one of the Tarheel states venerable industries.