If buying clothing with compassion is your preferred way to shop, then you’re going to love the collaboration between Bloomingdale’s and UNIFORM.

You may have missed the launch party, but you’re just in time to shop the collection with compassion. Designed with men and women in mind, UNIFORM has stylish separates for both sexes, with many gender-neutral pieces that could be worn by anyone. What’s equally as awesome is what and who these clothes stand for. But before we get to the aesthetics, let’s talk about the heart of the business.

Founded by entrepreneur and serial do-gooder, Chid Liberty, UNIFORM’s clothing line has deep roots in Africa. According to the Wall Street Journal, Liberty was born in Liberia. He would leave as a toddler, not to return until 2009. Although many years had passed, his objective was clear: create jobs for women who were out of work due to the ebola outbreak, and do something about the low school enrollment rates in Liberia.

Prior to his 2009 excursion, Liberty worked in Silicon Valley, but what he really wanted was to make a difference. Liberty went on to co-found the business, Liberty & Justice, which is known as “Africa’s first Fair Trade certified apparel manufacturer, with a factory in Liberia and partnerships with others in Morocco, Kenya, and Ghana.” Once established, Liberty set out to solve other problems in the community. He noticed that many children were missing school in Liberia, having one of “the lowest school enrollment rates in Africa,” and that many women had suffered job losses due to the ebola outbreak.

His next venture, UNIFORM, was ultimately spurred by these two factors, morphing into a clothing company with compassion. It is Liberian-produced, the materials, like the organic Benin cotton, are locally sourced, and it makes sure to integrate the community into its day-to-day operations. Plus, for every article of clothing sold, the business will donate a free uniform to a Liberian child.

Furthermore, this company now boasts a 90 percent female workforce, a five-star GIIRS rating (read more about that here), and won the 2011 SVN Social Innovation Award. Liberty told the Wall Street Journal, “Through our factory, I’ve seen women open their first bank accounts, build houses, even leave terrible marriages. Witnessing that impact has been powerful.”     

Earlier this month, the Los Angeles Bloomingdale’s department store and UNIFORM celebrated their collaboration by holding a launch party. But don’t worry, you still have time to sign up for the web exclusive (www.shopuniform.com) that’s been extended to October 14th, so you’d better hurry! The retailer hosted the co-founder, Chid Liberty, as well as a big name from the music industry, Young Paris, who performed live at the event.  

The clothing line is being sold at Bloomingdale’s and features “elevated essentials” for men and women, like reversible bomber jackets, African organic cotton tees, shirt dresses, sweatshirts, joggers, and banded collar button downs. The best part, aside from all the good this company is doing, is that every piece retails for under $100!

We have a little sneak peak of the menswear, which looks ridiculously good, and has a price point to match. And with rumors circulating that this is the softest t-shirt anyone has ever tried, or the one they’ve been looking for all their lives, then it’s safe to say that we’d really like to get our hands on one…or ten. Which, remember, also means ten uniforms donated to children in need!

Ok, ladies, whether you get this for the man in your life or not, this bomber jacket is not only great for him, but a great piece to snag for yourself! Sporty, utilitarian, and chic, this jacket, currently retailing for $85, would look awesome with distressed jeans, sneakers, and your favorite baseball cap.

Don’t know about you, but I love a good sweatshirt, and this heather gray colorblocked version is right up my alley. Retailing for $60, I would absolutely wear this, whether labeled “mens” or not. Great with jeans, leggings, athleisure, and more, this would be a fall/winter staple for sure.

And last but not least, is the organic cotton #worldsoftesttee. For a mere $35, you better believe I’ll be giving this t-shirt a go in my wardrobe. The crewneck top is perfect for fall layering, regardless of gender. Pair it with a flannel, distressed jeans, and combat boots for a trendy and edgy look for fall.

Clothing with compassion is where it’s at for us. What did you think of the Bloomingdale’s X UNIFORM launch? Are you eager to see the women’s line? Would you wear that bomber jacket? Share your thoughts with us on the EcoSalon Facebook page!

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Image of T-Shirts via UNIFORM

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What is consciousness anyway? Should it make us more compassionate than we are?

News that the universe we live in may actually be just a simulation “Star Trek” Holodeck style brings into question, well, pretty much everything. It’s certainly an argument for agnosticism. But it’s also fodder for discussing our behavior, and specifically, how we define compassion. And whether or not it even matters.

The New York Times reports that in one possibility, we live in a computer simulation that’s based on the laws of mathematics, “According to this theory, some highly advanced computer programmer of the future has devised this simulation, and we are unknowingly part of it. Thus when we discover a mathematical truth, we are simply discovering aspects of the code that the programmer used.”

If it sounds like all the talk about circular time that’s in HBO’s “True Detective,” that’s kind of the point. “If such simulations are possible in theory,” notes the Times, “in time there will be many more simulated worlds than nonsimulated ones. Statistically speaking, therefore, we are more likely to be living in a simulated world than the real one.” Statistically speaking, of course. And what is the real world, anyway?

So, are we the result of the singularity Ray Kurzweil said we’re heading for? Has it already happened somewhere in the future and we’re being reverse engineered from a computerized point somewhere else in time? Could we be unreal in the most real sense? If we’re just living in a mathematical computer program, should that change how we think and feel?

That brings up the pretty big question about consciousness and compassion. And whether or not we have any obligations to “it” as it’s expressed through all life–and those seemingly inanimate things–here on earth. Because if consciousness is in essence, being manufactured from another point in time, it doesn’t just impact humans. It’s affecting everything on earth right now. One of the Buddhist Four Noble Truths states that all life is suffering. That would seem to be the case regardless of whether or not we’re “real.” Regardless of where we originate from or where we go. To live is to suffer. And that’s cause for compassion.

Christof Koch writes about this, specifically panpsychism, in the article “Is Consciousness Universal?” in Scientific American:

All species—bees, octopuses, ravens, crows, magpies, parrots, tuna, mice, whales, dogs, cats and monkeys—are capable of sophisticated, learned, nonstereotyped behaviors that would be associated with consciousness if a human were to carry out such actions. Precursors of behaviors thought to be unique to people are found in many species. For instance, bees are capable of recognizing specific faces from photographs, can communicate the location and quality of food sources to their sisters via the waggle dance, and can navigate complex mazes with the help of cues they store in short-term memory (for instance, “after arriving at a fork, take the exit marked by the color at the entrance”). Bees can fly several kilometers and return to their hive, a remarkable navigational performance. And a scent blown into the hive can trigger a return to the site where the bees previously encountered this odor. This type of associative memory was famously described by Marcel Proust in “À la Recherche du Temps Perdu.” Other animals can recognize themselves, know when their conspecifics observe them, and can lie and cheat.

But for most humans on earth, the animal kingdom is still seen as something at our disposal. We view consciousness from seated atop an illusory pyramid, when it appears it’s more likely that we’re actually just a blip along a straight line of (infinite) options. We have dominion, presently, because we’re the bully in the ecological schoolyard who thinks lunch money gives us eternal power.

Of course, making the case for unilateral compassion is daunting if reality isn’t what we think it is. If we live only because a mathematical digitized equation says we do, keeping giant whales in captivity or pigs in cramped cages for bacon doesn’t really matter in the big picture.

Except that it does.

“Whether it is a brain, a tree, a rock or an electron,” writes Koch, “Everything that is physical also possesses an interior mental aspect. One is objective—accessible to everybody—and the other phenomenal—accessible only to the subject.”

I defer to the film-making genius (seriously) of Seth Rogan and Evan Goldberg in “This is the End” – where making an ethical and compassionate choice instantly elevates you to the eternal party in the sky. It’s just that simple: kindness trumps callousness, regardless of where we end up when we’re through with our human bodies.

But what about lions and sharks and Nile crocodiles, you say. They must kill in violent manners to survive. And what about defending ourselves, even against the ruthless attack of mosquitoes or wasps or fire ants? Certainly killing in the name of survival or self-defense appears to be justified. Even when it’s to prevent a mosquito from biting you on your ass. Still though, a “lack of awareness of the basic unity of organism and environment is a serious and dangerous hallucination,” said philosopher and author Alan Watts. “For in a civilization equipped with immense technological power, the sense of alienation between man and nature leads to the use of technology in a hostile spirit—-to the “conquest” of nature instead of intelligent co-operation with nature.”

We’re becoming desensitized to nature, and therefore, behaving unnaturally. But isn’t that natural, too?

In further explaining panpsychism, Koch writes that any system “that possesses some nonzero amount of integrated information experiences something. Let me repeat: any system that has even one bit of integrated information has a very minute conscious experience.”

To say a rock doesn’t feel isn’t as factual as simply saying that we can’t ever really know if that’s the case because we’re limited. We’re limited by our definitions of consciousness and our perception of reality. Because we can’t know what it’s like to be a rock. Really. The same can be said for the computer I type on. It’s clearly smarter than I am in most every logical way and yet I deem it a tool, a prop that’s unintelligent until I give it direction. (But  judging by how uncooperative it’s been ever since my daughter was born, I could go as far as to suggest that’s not the case, and that it’s even experiencing a bit of sibling rivalry. But I digress.)

Where consciousness begins, so does the quest to understand where it comes from. Perhaps we’re part of the future after it happens. Perhaps we’re all just seemingly separate points of consciousness experiencing every single possible viewpoint. Perhaps we’re the result of the Christian or Jewish or Muslim or Mormon or Hindu or Scientology or—insert your religious preference here—creation story. Perhaps we’re all something simply too impossible to understand.

But there is one truth in all of these scenarios: that we are all part of something. We’re all experiencing some form of consensus reality, and compassion would seem to be the most vital tool in our survival. Because we’re not lions. We’re not sharks. We’re not (apparent) characters in computer games. We’re humans who deeply understand the consequences of our actions. We can choose not to acknowledge the deep suffering a cow or a chicken or a mink experiences for our benefit, but we know it’s still happening. A true sign of consciousness is being aware of things we cannot or choose not to see directly at the present moment. Where we are, or how we got here, don’t matter in this equation–and it certainly doesn’t matter to those creatures we choose to have (or not have) compassion for.

Find Jill on Twitter @jillettinger

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