Published by Green by Design under Stores

Working from home, doing what you love, and getting paid for it. Is this the new American Dream?

We have heard the term cottage industry; but does it apply to our modern life? Prior to the Industrial Revolution, the term cottage industry was coined as a literal description for low volume manufacturing taking place in the home.

Back then, farmers’ wives might earn a few extra dollars during the slow winter months by spinning yarn and weaving cloth, which they sold to a local retailer. Two centuries later, manufacturing is overwhelmingly the province of huge factories, eliminating the need for individuals to make any goods at home.

But some things come full circle…with a twist. Nowadays, the desire to remain at home yet still make money has re-energized the notion of cottage industry. People who wish to work at home—often parents with young children—are typically knowledge workers who need only a computer and an internet connection to produce their work product. But homeworkers in increasing numbers are manufacturing real goods and finding sales channels through that very same computer and internet browser.

My interest comes from the fact that working from home also aligns with many tenets of the green movement. Reducing the cost of transportation, office supplies, and other work-related expenses helps the triple bottom line for people, planet, and profit. This is true despite the fact that most who work from home are self-employed freelancers who generally pay their own expenses. Net-net, it’s good for everyone.

Etsy is a prime example of a website that facilitates 100,000+ crafters, working in today’s cottage industries, in using the internet to market unique handmade items. Like Etsy, the enormously popular eBay hosts a vast number of vendors who sell handmade goods from soap to nutcrackers. While most eBay sellers simply source excess inventory or hit garage sales and then post their finds, some are craftspeople who use this forum as a central site, like Etsy, for selling handmade goods.

There’s a creative urge in all of us. Etsy may resurrect a deep longing to take out your sewing machine, soldering gun, knitting needles, paint brushes, rubber stamps, hammer—or your tool of choice.

Who doesn’t love that feeling you get after creating something tangible and hearing this reaction from someone who sees it: “Wow, that’s cool—where did you get that?”

Here are a few examples from Etsy to inspire you or tide you over until you can shift the workload in your currently time-starved world:

reclaim2fame.etsy.com – Reclaim2Famed artist Will Wagenaar is committed to creating beautiful and fun new objects using at least 80% recycled materials. “There is so much more work to do… the discards keep coming,” he says.

lolaandemilin.etsy.com – Based in Ithaca, New York, Lola and Emilín offer a variety of recycled items, including this gray wallet made from eco-felt, created from post-consumer recycled plastic bottles.

SeaFindDesigns.etsy.com – Sea Find Designs creates jewelry from genuine sea glass found on local beaches by designer Tracy and her family.

bodhicitta.etsy.com – These glasses are made from orphaned bottles discarded behind local restaurants and bars. They are cut in half and the rims are fire-polished smooth on a glass lathe. Bodhicitta’s mission is to “rescue bottles, make them into something useful again, then find good loving homes for them.”

smockpaper.etsy.com – Technically bigger than a cottage industry, though sharing the philosophy of handmade products, Smock Paper is a letterpress print shop based in Syracuse, New York. Smock is passionate about green practices; their artisans print sustainably on a pesticide-free bamboo paper and they’re a prime example of triple bottom line thinkers and doers. Can you tell we’re big fans? Here’s our profile of the company.