Hemp Times Magazine July/August 1997

Hemp directory
Retail

Washington Hemp Mercantile
Allison Bigelow is a Deadhead turned ecoactivist, and like so many
others concerned with the state of the Earth's resources, her path has
led her straight to hemp. Bigelow is the owner of Washington Hemp
Mercantile which opened its doors in November of '95 in Mount Vernon,
just north of Seattle on Puget Sound.
Bigelow carries everything hemp from clothes to cosmetics, but her
store is an information center as well; at least as many customers leave
her store carring pamphlets and flyers as hemp goods. She also works
with Washington's Media Awareness Project, a group that responds to
media coverage of hemp via the Internet, to provide journalists and the
general public with scrupulously balanced information.
Prior to her involvement in the hemp scene, Bigelow helped form a group
which supported recycling in opposition to solidwaste incineration. She
says she has since come to realize that the gravest threat to the
environment comes from the materials with which things are made, not
just what is done with them after they have been discarded. "Recycling
is like a bandage on this huge wound," she says. "Hemp is really the
answer."
While Bigelow obviously recognizes the importance of political
activism, she stresses that economics are at least as important: "Most
hempstore owners aren't greedy capitalists out to make a killing, but
they do need financial support." Bigelow would like to remind everyone
that one of the best ways to help the movement is by buying hemp.
(360)3360661.