Boulder Magazine Fall 2007 :: feature articles :: business profile

Momentum To Inspire
By Mary Jarrett
Photos by Greg Lefcourt

Fair-trade boutique aims to spread goals of social and environmental responsibility

Jenny and Kevin Natapow, owners of the Pearl Street shop Momentum, sell handcrafted fair-trade items from cooperatives around the world. Carlos Steybe, a woodworker in Eldorado Springs, made the jewelry counter of wood from Boulder ash trees.

Jenny and Kevin Natapow have a lot in common, perhaps a bit more than most young couples. Both Asian Studies majors in college, both holders of advanced degrees from the School for International Training in Brattleboro, Vt., both passionate about fair trade, they became engaged while trekking in Nepal. In Kathmandu, Jenny worked for the Asia Foundation’s sex-trafficking prevention program, and Kevin worked for the United Nations as a translator for Tibetan refugees. So it’s not too surprising that when they moved to Boulder three years ago, it was to lay the groundwork for their fair-trade shop, Momentum.

The business, which opened in July, “exists to create and inspire social change by providing socially responsible choices to everyday purchases.” As a fair-trade organization, it pays artisans a living wage up front, uses no child or sweatshop labor, and supports equal pay and leadership opportunities for women. It fosters long-term relationships with the far-flung groups of workers that supply the shop, like Guatemalan and Armenian weavers; a cooperative of “untouchable” people from Nepal; homeless women in Denver who have learned to paint greeting cards; and people in Wisconsin who turn discarded bottles into colorful goblets and vases. Women make up about 70 percent of fair-trade artisans, and are often the only wage earners in their homes.

“People often confuse fair trade with free trade,” Kevin says. “Free trade sounds good, and it’s a phrase you hear on TV and read in the news.” However, he considers it a chaotic free-for-all in which cheapness reigns and most countries are forced to import nearly everything they use. The Natapows have packed Momentum’s website with commentary on these opposing economic philosophies. In Boulder, however, they’re getting an even more enthusiastic reception than they expected. Other like-minded businesses, and even tourists who walk in the door, are eager to help spread the good news about the fair-trade movement.

“I’ve worked in fair-trade stores in Massachusetts and Seattle, and I’ve been amazed that people here know about fair trade and can tell that products are fair trade,” says Jenny. “I attribute it to Boulder’s social and environmental consciousness.”

These South African baskets perpetuate traditional patterns, even though they’re woven of plastic-coated telephone wire.

Innovative Solutions to Serious Problems

Two of Jenny’s favorite items are the sari quilts made by women who have escaped the sex trade; and the simple, traditionally costumed dolls made by Karen refugees, who live in refugee settlements along the Thailand-Burma border. The Karen ethnic group, Jenny explains, has suffered tremendously because of the military takeover of Burma, and many children have no parents. Every time the cooperative sells one of the dolls, it donates another to a Karen orphan.

“Just from an aesthetic point of view, I love the Zulu wire baskets,” Kevin says, looking up at three shelves of bold, bright South African baskets made of tightly woven plastic-coated copper telephone wire. “They’re modern folk art based on traditional weaving patterns.” The baskets’ nontraditional material is par for the course at Momentum, which also sells papier-mâché bowls made with sardine-can wrappers, totes sewn from recycled grain sacks, and perfectly nice-smelling linen-textured paper salvaged from elephant dung, to name just a few. “It’s all so innovative—visitors really get a kick out of it,” Kevin adds.

Back in Sri Lanka, the elephant project (dubbed “Mr. Ellie Pooh”) has helped save wild Asian elephants by proving to farmers that the animals don’t just trample fields; they have unexpected monetary value.

Saving Children

Another favorite tumbles out of Jenny’s mouth. “I love all of the products made by Batsiranai, a women’s cooperative in Zimbabwe, like the bibs and children’s aprons,” she says. But once again, it’s the story behind these products that moves her. “Close to 25 percent of the people in Zimbabwe are infected with HIV/AIDS. In their religion—a combination of Christianity and animism—a woman with a severely disabled child is considered sinful. It’s customary that if the mother abandons the sick child, everything is forgiven and forgotten. If not, she loses her husband, her job, her social standing. What is so inspiring,” she goes on, “is that these 26 women have refused to give up their children and are supporting themselves through their cooperative.”

New Life for Old T-Shirts

As they remodeled the space, the Natapows honored another aspect of their business model by using all sustainable materials. The walls are insulated with recycled jeans and T-shirts; the floor is 100 percent bamboo; and the granite countertops in the kitchen come from the old Rocky Mountain News building in Denver. The shop is wind powered and is strongly affiliated with the Boulder Independent Business Alliance (BIBA) as well as the Fair Trade Federation and Co-Op America.

The shop aims to teach visitors about the people who made the products they are looking at, as well as about the benefits of fair trade.

Momentum holds a special event the third Saturday of each month from 1 to 4 p.m. to focus on the work of one of its artisan groups, and the group gets 100 percent of the proceeds from its sales that day. The August event introduced the Ladies’ Sewing Circle, a cooperative of low-income Denver women who make huge animal-print cushions out of donated fabric. Visitors got to hear some of their stories, and pillow sales that day raised $500 for the Ladies. On Sept. 15, a Boulder woman who works with Burmese refugees in Thailand talks about the relevant issues and the Karen orphanage.

Along with their new shop, the Natapows have established the Momentum Fund, which receives 10 percent of their pre-tax profits and gives to local nonprofits that advance environmental and social-justice causes. “Businesses should give back, because it’s the community that supports them,” Kevin says. “It’s part of being a socially responsible business. It’s always about what can you do?”

Mary Jarrett is the editor of Boulder Magazine.