A warm hello to all of you! I started DharmaCrafts as a way to pass on the gifts I received from my teacher, Zen Master Seung Sahn. He taught me the practice of meditation, gave me a Great Question—What am I?—And, he gave me the aspiration to attain my true self and help others. For over 27 years, the mission of DharmaCrafts has been to provide the dharma community with teaching and products to support spiritual practice and inspire everyday life.

The DharmaCrafts Story

DharmaCrafts began as a fantasy of right livelihood on a long solo meditation retreat on an island off the coast of Maine. I was a young student of Zen Master Seung Sahn's and I had gone off to look deeply into some of the fundamental questions that human beings ask themselves. Upon returning home to the Cambridge Zen Center, I spent $10 for fabric and stitched up some meditation pants to sell. Never did I imagine, as I nailed the first DharmaCrafts flyer to a pole in Harvard Square, that I would spend the next two decades reluctantly scrambling to acquire the necessary business skills and savvy required of a catalog executive.

So much has changed since the early years when I stuffed each zafu myself and faithfully recorded every sale by hand in a red ledger. The dharma has proliferated throughout America. Meditation has now become a household word. And DharmaCrafts has grown from a tiny mind seed into a thriving business. But the original vision of DharmaCrafts has remained the same. We are dedicated to serving as a vehicle for the transmission of the dharma by offering the very best teaching materials related to Buddhist practice.

Left: Dyan once stuffed all of the kapok  zafus — outside — even in the winter! (c.1979).

Right: The cover of our first brochure.  We started out making drawstring pants (and shorts) for meditation (1979).

Our Commitment to the Environment — Revised, April 11, 2007

DharmaCrafts is committed to being a responsible retailer and a conscious steward of the earth. And, we make every attempt to work with vendors and artisans who share our values. Although, we're just a small company of 12-14 people, we feel strongly that we can (and must!!) be the difference that we want to make in the world. Read about our "common sense" approach to saving resources and recycling in the office.

We continually look for new ways to recycle, to save energy, and to use environmentally safe products to protect the earth and the health of our employees. For example:

Paper

• DharmaCrafts Spring 2007 catalog was printed on:
  • Body of catalog: NovaPress gloss, 38 lb, 10% post consumer
  • Cover: Orion gloss 60 lb, 10% post consumer
• Further learning:
  • View a graph of the environmental impact of printing on 10% post consumer paper versus a non-recycled stock as calculated from Environmental Defense's paper calculator
  • Read about the ink used in our catalog (use of renewable oils, disposal methods, etc.)
• In our offices we use 30% recycled copy and inkjet paper.
• We recycle all paper and corrugated materials (including shipping materials).
• We make an effort to use double-sided copies whenever possible.

Packaging

• Your orders are packed using recycled brown craft paper and biodegradable cornstarch "peanuts."
• We reuse packing materials (including boxes) that we receive. So, you may find Styrofoam peanuts mixed in with our biodegradable cornstarch "peanuts."
• We use the necessary amount of packing for each order to insure that it arrives to you in perfect condition, without wasting resources.

Production

• We donate fabric remnants to local organizations - most recently a technical high school in Lawrence, MA.
• We recycle (via our supplier) the wire, burlap packaging, and scraps from the bales of cotton batting that are used to make your zabutons.

Products

• We offer a constantly growing line of products made from sustainable materials like bamboo.
• We use organic buckwheat in our buckwheat zafus and support cushions
• We will (very) soon offer hemp and/or organic cotton covered cushions and mats. We may even offer mats made with organic cotton batting — stay tuned!

Our Office Environment
We take a common sense approach by:

• using natural lighting in our offices when possible; use energy efficient light-bulbs when artificial lighting is needed
• setting the heat and a/c to perform at maximum efficiency
• caulking our windows
• using the sun's heat through our windows to warm us whenever possible
• turning off or using the auto-off function on printers, copiers, monitors
• recycling toner cartridges
• auditing janitorial cleaning agents (in process) for toxic ingredients.
  For further information: Janitorial Products Pollution Prevention Project

Small Steps Add Up (DharmaCrafts Employees Pitch In)

• I cut scrap paper into fours to use instead of notepads. --Lori (Customer Service)
• We reuse small boxes we get in as organizing bins on our warehouse shelves. --Chris (Warehouse and Shipping)
• Dyan, President and CEO of DharmaCrafts, replaced her SUV with an electric hybrid.
• It may seem obvious, but I encourage people to set their thermostats at a reasonable, regulated temperature, so our heating and cooling systems don't have to "catch up" in the morning when we arrive. --John (Warehouse and Shipping)

Learn More About Recycling at the Workplace
http://www.epa.gov/epahome/atwork.htm

Other Resources
A World Without Waste, The Boston Globe
Do Just One Thing, Body & Soul Magazine