There are many duvets out there, all to differing budgets but one chooses eiderdown when they want to truly spoil themselves with what is frankly the best of the best. Another scenario could see efforts to stop polar bears from hunting the eggs. And with the bears already critically endangered, human interference could lead to further population declines. Eiderdown demand The wonderful soft duvet slides close to the body without loosing its form. The filling stays regular inside the cover and does not move to the sides. This is an important criterion too.

As I held a clump of eiderdown in my hand, however, one Icelander told me something that seemed to offer an alternative to this unsettling relationship between humans and birds. He said that the eider it once belonged to is probably still alive. Not in some dark barn, or even in an open-air enclosure, but in the wilds of the Arctic Circle. On average, standard down duvets have a lifespan of 8-10 years. Duvets filled with eiderdown can last four times longer, up to 40 years. To make the most of this extreme longevity, proper maintenance is necessary.

Follow

That melting ice is allowing eiders to access more food sooner. That means they are growing bigger and can produce more eggs. But that’s not necessarily a benefit. One is a veterinary certificate guaranteeing the origin of the eiderdown and stating that the eiderdown is collected from healthy birds. Posnett noted that Iceland’s eiderdown industry shows signs of changing, especially as tourists descend on the country and people are leaving the rural areas for cities. Younger harvesters are abandoning the trade because of the weather and the isolation. I have slept under white goose down my entire life, and recently upgraded to eiderdown. It is distinctly fluffier and lighter with no shortage of warmth. I am delighted with my Icelandic Down duvet. Some brands are reusing down by sterilizing and recycling the feathers. Sustainable outdoor gear giant Patagonia has committed to using 80 percent recycled down. Eiderdown’s future

We recommend buyers to compare the quantity of eiderdown filling and prices before taking purchasing decision. Having been to Iceland and touched by the beauty of the land and the people, I knew I wanted to buy a duvet crafted there. Deciding to spend a boatload of money on a blanket wasn't easy, but deciding to buy from Icelandic Down was. Price, quality and customer service were all excellent. In 2012, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals released a video of the practice. Shot in China, which produces 80 per cent of the world's down, it's ghastly and disturbing. A new standard And once we know your size and the color you want, it will take four to six months due to the short supply of eiderdown," she adds. Because as it turns out, Iceland produces a grand total of just three to four tons of eiderdown a year. In the middle ages, pelicans were thought to pierce their own breast to draw blood to feed their young. The mythical act was known as vulning, a Christ-like act of self-sacrifice. On the pastor’s land, the eider, too, makes herself vulnerable for her offspring, although it is down, not blood, that she draws from her breast. From this down she builds a nest for her eggs; her own bare skin, freshly revealed, covers them with warmth. She sits on her eggs for some 28 days, during which she may lose a third of her body weight; some mothers starve to death.

Protect migrations & the natural rhythm of things.

And fourthly, the means they go to to collect the eiderdown & its sustainability - you definitely come to understand this is something Ragna and her team genuinely appreciate doing. Like many Lutheran parishes, the pastor’s land is among the most prized in the Westfjords. In the shadow of a steep glacial wall, his family home and church overlook a floodplain that leads to the shoreline. It was hard to conceive of a more peaceful spot for a family, yet there was an air of abandonment to the pastor’s home. Children’s toys lay scattered around on the floor and a layer of dust covered the work surfaces. The previous winter, he explained, the weather had got so bad that he and his family had to leave the parish and take an apartment in Ísafjörður. He now rarely spends any time in the house. “We were trapped here for 36 hours with no electricity, no phone,” he said. “I can’t be responsible for that.”