Giving Tuesday 2015

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Hi Friends!

Today is “Giving Tuesday” and I know it can be overwhelming for everyone to research and try to find ways to help so I came up with a list of ideas just for you! 🙂

5 ways you can contribute to #givingtuesday!

  1. Donate to a cause you care about-this is the simplest way to give back on this Tuesday. Haven’t thought about which one?! Check out a few of my favorite organizations (WIN, International Rescue Committee, CARE, Charity: Water, She’s the First, Pencils of Promise)
  2. Shop at Lord&Taylor because they are matching all purchases ( up to 25,000) and donating it to Habitat for Humanity.
  3. Have you heard of the Good Shop? Every time you shop through the Good Shop-a donation will be made to a charity of your choice (they are affiliated with over 100,000 organizations). You can shop and save with their coupons to stores ranging from Amazon to Best Buy!
  4. If you can’t afford to give then take the day to learn about what brands are doing to have a social impact. A personal favorite of mine is Eileen Fisher-they are A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!! Go take a look at all there great initiatives. 🙂
  5. Go volunteer at a local shelter or soup kitchen. Taking the day to give back and help those less fortunate is always a great idea.

			

Every Drop Matters, Every Second Counts

We often forget that there are many people less fortunate than us. This isn’t something you need to feel guilty about – it’s in human nature to allow our minds to be preoccupied with everyday troubles like our jobs, home chores and our social life. However, some global issues can’t wait for us to have time but instead need to be dealt with right now. Let me tell you how this watch (yes, watch…as in the thing you wear around your wrist that tells the time) is saving lives!!

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Fight for Basic Humans Rights

Just try to imagine how you would feel if you were thirsty all the time and you couldn’t take a refreshing shower or pour yourself a cup of delicious coffee. It’s even hard to imagine, isn’t it? Well, developing countries deal with such problems on daily basis – every day mothers send their thirsty children to schools that don’t have safe drinking water. Water is a basic human right, and not a single being on our planet should be left without it.

Running Out of Time & Water

Unsafe water and unhygienic living conditions are the cause of over 90% of the 30,000 deaths that happen every week – and that number only covers children under the age of five. If we act on this horrifying fact and help distribute clean water and improve hygiene conditions, together we can prevent over 3.6% of the world’s disease problem.

Potters for Peace

Side by side with NGO, RDIC.org, Local Cambodian Ceramic Factory and Reputable Chinese Manufacturers through Alibaba, TUK wants to put an end to this. A brilliant solution that’s beneficial in many different areas has appeared – according to a UNICEF study in Cambodia, ceramic filters made for pots are light, relatively inexpensive, easily portable, chemical free and highly efficient.

For $15 we have managed to fit in a ceramic filter, 11 liter filter pot, 35 liter water storage and a cleaning kit. The whole pot and everything included can last up to around 5 years, and filters should be changed after up to two years. The pots are manufactured locally, so the Cambodians themselves are working on their production – Marc Hall is the one responsible for providing safe working conditions, great pay and health benefits for his employees.

 

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Sophistication, Simplified

Did you know that TUK is actually a Cambodian world for water? Our story actually begins with Kelsey Braun who founded TUK Watches with Shelby Bissen in 2015. After spending time in developing countries, she personally experienced what it’s like to be out of drinking water. This experience changed her and allowed her to get a better perspective on life.

After she met Shelby Bissan, they found a way to bring a sense of urgency closer to the minds of people in first world countries. By creating a simple, but sophisticated watch design, made out of leather bands and stainless steel clasps, the TUK team combined serious global problems with fashion – because every second counts.

Join their cause on Kickstarter from October 15th to November 24th and help them collect $22,000, so they can run their first production. Help make the world a better place.

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Stella McCartney: Fashion Leader and Activist

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Creating a role model for young women to be inspired with is a great responsibility. That kind of exposure needs to be taken seriously – as a trendsetter, it’s necessary to set the right standards and fight for noble causes. Of course, you need to look stylish while doing it.

This level of multitasking is hard to achieve, but women worldwide should look up to Stella McCartney, an experienced designer that doesn’t have problems with inspiration when it comes to creating brilliant new collections, while she fights for the environment. So, how does she manage to achieve all of this simultaneously?

Expressive, Feminine & Natural

A lot of artists seek for some sort of divine inspiration to move them and help with their artwork. If you’d ask Stella, she’d tell you that the most important things that should serve as the greatest source of motivation can be found in the smallest everyday moments.

Things that make us happy day after day are often those which we take so lightly. A modern women, according to Stella, needs to be natural, first and foremost. When you get in touch with your true nature, you’ll have no problem drawing confidence from that inexhaustible source. Getting to know your real self isn’t an easy journey, but once you find out everything there is to know, your soft femininity and subtle sex appeal will come to the surface.

This kind of newfound reliability will help you grow into a strong powerful women, with strictly defined priorities, spontaneous hunger for hedonism and a positive mentality.

It’s about Being Fashionably Mindful

When you get to know your true self, then and only then will you be able to experience everything around you in the right way. This is the only world we have – it’s filled with amazing wonders, tiny and huge, and we shouldn’t let our hectic lives prevent us from seeing that.

However, now is the time to protect it. Being a lifelong vegetarian, Stella McCartney and her fashion house strongly advocate against environmental pollution and take a stand for animal protection. During her years in the fashion industry, she worked with many different organizations like Peta, Animals Asia, Million Trees Miami and Meat Free Monday, but also with Women’s Cancer Research Fund, War Child and the Kering Foundation.

Like her fragrance, Stella’s design pieces are so much more than just clothes and accessories. Considering the fact she was brought up on the English countryside, her memories are rather simple, but strong and powerful at the same time. Each new collection of handbags she releases reaches a new level of practicality and elegance. The amount of attention she dedicates to details is quite impressive – everything from materials to stitching is combined together to represent a sort of balance between femininity and a strong fashion statement.

Once you go “au naturale”, there’s no going back. With Stella, her fashion house, her designs and her attitude, you’ll be able to achieve a high level of style and a firm system of healthy priorities – it doesn’t get much better than that, does it?

Change the World One Lotion at a Time

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Founded by Mark Constantine and Liz Weir, Lush has a long and storied history of trying to hit the market with unique handmade and natural cosmetics. After their campaign succeeded and they raised awareness of the benefits of using organic products, Lush started various charity campaigns and isn’t planning on stopping.

Their cosmetics include lotions, soaps, shower gels, shampoos, cleansers, moisturizer, etc. All of these products are perfect for every skin type, and because of their natural formula they are perfectly healthy for you. All the ingredients used come from organic fruit and vegetables, essential oils, and safe synthetic compounds. Moreover, Lush makes makeup and perfumes, which are made according to the highest standards, and they make it a point to ensure customers that none of their products were tested on animals, and that all of the products are made from organic ingredients.

These healthy and luxurious products are famous all over the world, however, Lush is not only famous for their organic products, but also because they believe in protecting people, animals and the planet.

Charity pots changing the world

Lush came up with Charity Pots in 2007, and decided that 100% of the each purchase would go towards funding one mission. These missions include supporting animal and human rights, as well as various save the planet causes from all over the world. Their hand and body lotions have a picture on the packaging, with the description of their mission. This way you know exactly where your money goes and what cause it supports.

Saving the environment and protecting the planet

Many solid products, such as massage bars are sold “naked”, which means without being wrapped and without any packaging at all. This way, they decrease the amount of materials sent to landfills, and if the packaging is needed, they use recycled materials, as their aim is to raise the awareness of using biodegradable, recyclable and compostable materials. They are trying to encourage customers and other companies to stop using plastic bags and start caring about the planet we live on that we depend on for resources.

Fighting animal testing

Long before Lush was even formed, the founders were fighting for animal rights and fighting to stop people testing products on animals in labs. Today, they are buying raw materials and ingredients that weren’t tested on animals, and, as they always say, they are encouraging others to purchase from these suppliers, because the first step to stopping the immoral and inhuman testing is preventing the cash flow to those companies.

Lush is one of the rare companies that are making organic products to keep its customers healthy and happy, and, at the same time, supporting many causes in order to make our world a better place. They have been involved in many charities, projects and causes, which is the reason people find Lush inspirational and see them as a family, one which shares love all around the world.

Written by: Vladimir Zivanovic

 

 

Bobbi Brown + GirlRising

Hi Friends!

I want to apologize for deserting you for a week. Things got really busy but I’m back with some exciting new posts! 🙂

Today we will talk about how Bobbi Brown is using her company to empower girls around the world. Before I go into the details of her campaign, I want to give you some alarming statistics.

  • 65 million girls around the world don’t attend school.
  • Two-thirds of the 792 million illiterate adults are females.
  • 14 million girls under 18 will be married this year.

Crying yet? Yup…this is really happening.  So now you understand why I jumped with joy when I heard that Bobbi Brown was joining the GirlRising movement and launching her own campaign called: The Pretty Powerful Campaign for Women and Girls. Bobbi Brown is giving us the opportunity to all make a difference and empower women and girls through this initiative. Bobbi Brown will give 100% of the proceeds of every Pot Rouge sold to one of these organizations :

US & UK: Dress for Success, an international non-profit organization that promotes the economic independence of disadvantaged women by providing professional attire, a network of support and the career development tools to help women thrive in work and in life.

Hong Kong: HER FUND, a charity that promotes human rights and gender equality for women and girls.

Korea: Open Closet, an organization that supports job seekers with limited resources by providing access to professional attire, as well as other career development tools.

South Africa: HeartBeat, a charity that cares for the emotional well-being of orphaned and vulnerable young women and girls suffering from the impact of HIV.

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