Tag Archives: Sustainability

Blog, Products With a Purpose, Sustainability

[Review] Be More Green With Sustainable, Reusable Water Bottles and Coffee Cups

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I am trying to do my part to live a greener life. I am in no way an expert in living a more sustainable lifestyle, but I am doing little things that make a difference. I am already a stickler when it comes to recycling. My family and I no longer buy water in plastic bottles. Instead we filter our tap water and when we go out we take filtered water in glass containers. And we have nearly cut all meat out of our diets.

One of the things I have wanted to do for awhile now is use more sustainable containers for my tea and coffee because that is one area that I am not working hard enough to change until now.

I received two Fressko products to use and review and I love them! One is a flask that can be used to infuse tea or you can use it to make fruit water and smoothies. So far, it’s been great for tea. The other is a reusable coffee cup.

FRESSKO TOUR FLASK ($34.95)

The Fressko Tour is a 13 oz, BPA-free glass canister. It has double walled glass and a leak-proof bamboo lid. It also has a food grade stainless steel influser for tea. The Tour stays cold for six hours and hot for four hours.

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Blog, Charity, conservation, Environment and Climate, Sustainability

Jewelry That Gives Back to Oceans

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I have been a bit obsessed lately with two Instagram accounts that I absolutely love: @paulnicklen and @Mitty. Paul Nicklen and Cristina Mittermeier respectively are prolific underwater photographers and founders of Seal Legacy, an organization committed to creating healthy and abundant oceans for us and the planet. Some of my favorite Instagram posts of theirs are:

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It's hard to imagine that some people get to call this their backyard. Our @SeaLegacy expedition to beautiful Monterey Bay, California earlier this fall marked a pivotal moment in our work. These whales are relaxed, their enormous bodies bending above the water as they reach over one another to feast on the abundance of anchovies. But it's not all beauty, danger lurks under the surface. Ghost fishing gear, left behind by the local crab fisheries, threaten to entangle these magnificent animals as they travel through the bay in search of food. On another day during this expedition, @Mitty and I and our @sealegacy expedition team encountered a whale entangled in a plastic line from an abandoned crab pot. @SeaLegacy released a new short series that tells the story of what happened and shows solutions to this problem. Please, go to the link in my bio to learn more and find out how you can support solutions to whale entanglements by joining #TheTide. With @nathangarofalos, @jonmccormackphoto, @kyle.roepke, @mitty, @siren_excursions

A post shared by Paul Nicklen (@paulnicklen) on

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The first time I witnessed the complex collaboration that takes place underwater when a family of orcas works together to corral a school of herring, I was blown away. Working in the dark waters of a fjord in northern Norway, I slipped into the water, thinking I would be shielded from the cold in my drysuit, and I was shocked to get a rush of freezing water running down my belly and into my right leg. Inadvertently, I had left a tiny bit of the zipper open and I was immediately soaked. I would love to tell you I was able to close the zipper, but holding a camera with one hand and working with heavy neoprene gloves, it was almost impossible. Instead, I decided to focus on the amazing spectacle in front of me. As I watched the orcas work together, herding the school of little silver fish underwater in a beautifully-coordinated ballet in which every member of the pod helped in the effort and they all took turns to eat, I barely noticed how cold I was.

A post shared by Cristina Mittermeier (@mitty) on

It’s funny: As much as I love the oceans I don’t really visit them often. Sure, I fly over them often and at long stretches and I take photos of the ocean from a distance like the one above that I took in the Philippines, but I never get up close and personal to the ocean. I would like to change that one day. In the meantime I live vicariously through Nicklen and Mittermeier. Also, as I sat looking at their work I wondered how I can help the oceans in my own little way and you can, too. Here are jewelry companies that have beautiful bling while also giving back to oceans, ocean clean-ups, reefs, and ocean life.

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Blog, Environment and Climate, Products With a Purpose, Sustainability

5 Shoe Brands That Help Save the Environment

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It’s nice to live in an era when innovations that help save our planet are rolling out faster than ever. We are able to pick and choose the best products that ring true to our thoughts and ideas about the issues we care most about. That includes having more consumer options even down to the shoes on our feet.

Here are five forward-thinking shoe brands that give back to the environment while still designing hip footwear for the masses. Do you know of others?

All Birds creates footwear with Trino (their proprietary blend of ZQ Merino wool and eucalyptus tree fiber. They also use materials including recycled cardboard and plastic bottles as well as castor bean oil. www.allbirds.com

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Africa, Blog, featured, social travel, Sustainability, Sustainable Development Goals

Maximize Traveling for Good While Minimizing Your Footprint

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There is a lot of need in the world and it takes a special person who willingly gets on a plane to aid communities that can use a helping hand from added resources (monetary and otherwise) to expertise, to volunteering. While traveling for good is on the proverbial bucket list for many, more thought should go into how simply being present in indigenous communities sometimes leaves unintentional impressions, ecological footprints, as well as unfair travel practices.

Luckily, there are more NGOs, social enterprises, and businesses that are taking better tourism practices into consideration and incorporating them into their volunteering and travel opportunities. One such NGO that is doing this is United for Hope that works in India. United for Hope is an NGO with the mission to transform rural India into a place of opportunity and prosperity through a Smart Village approach.

United for Hope launched their model Smart Village in Tirmasahun, in the District of Kushinagar, in Eastern Uttar Pradesh, and are currently running several projects in the areas of education, social enterprises (including social tourism) and community services.


One of the latest additions to their education projects is menstrual hygiene awareness and gender sensitivity workshops, targeting both girls and boys in 100 Government Schools in the area where they operate.

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Blog, Products With a Purpose, Sustainability

5 Wines That Give Back to the Environment #EarthMonth

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Through the end of the month products with a purpose will be highlighted that give back to the environment from the oceans to the forests to the wetlands. If you are a wine drinker, here are five wine companies whose charitable giving goes to bettering the earth and help you drink for great causes.

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