Category: Sustainability

Products With a Purpose, Reproductive Health, Sustainability, Women and Girls

Company Launches Kickstarter to Reduce Feminine Hygiene Waste

Did you know that 19 billion single-use feminine hygiene products will be thrown out this year in the United States alone? Most will end up in our oceans and landfills. We can definitely do something about this. A Danish company, LastObject, is launching a Kickstarter tomorrow September 1 to help fund a brand-new reusable pad that will contribute to a more waste-free world. Funders will … Continue reading Company Launches Kickstarter to Reduce Feminine Hygiene Waste

Jennifer James2 Comments
Blog, Products With a Purpose, Sustainability

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

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, Products With a Purpose, Sustainability

Jewelry That Gives Back to Oceans

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.

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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Jennifer James2 Comments
Blog, Environment and Climate, Products With a Purpose, Sustainability

5 Shoe Brands That Help Save the Environment

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, Environment and Climate, Sustainability, Sustainable Development Goals

To Combat Climate Change Ethiopia Plants Over 350 Million Trees in 12 Hours

The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now. Chinese Proverb One of my favorite countries in the world is Ethiopia. I have had the pleasure of visiting four times traversing the north and south and find it gorgeous in so many regions. I cannot wait to go back one day to see all of its rapid changes. Yesterday, … Continue reading To Combat Climate Change Ethiopia Plants Over 350 Million Trees in 12 Hours

Jennifer James1 Comment
Blog, Gender Equality, Sustainability, Sustainable Development Goals, Women, Women and Girls, Women's Rights

Gender Equality Is Imperative to Reach Sustainable Development Goals

In 1994, governments, advocates, health organizations, women’s and youth activists gathered in Cairo for the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD). There, women’s reproductive health and rights took center stage in national and global development efforts.  This year marks the 25th anniversary of the ICPD and a renewed emphasis on reproductive health, women’s empowerment and equality will be discussed later this year in Nairobi as it pertains to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

At the recent High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development Secretary General António Guterres  said that there needs to be a ratcheting up of empowerment and gender equality in order to reach the 17 sustainable development goals. And, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohamed said, ” A recent report found that no country is on track to fully achieve Goal 5 of the Sustainable Development Goals on gender equality by 2030.  And despite some important progress, we are far short of attaining the elusive “gender balance” goal in leadership established in the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action.

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

Maximize Traveling for Good While Minimizing Your Footprint

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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Jennifer James3 Comments
Blog, Products With a Purpose, Sustainability

5 Wines That Give Back to the Environment #EarthMonth

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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Africa, Blog, kenya, solar power, Sustainability, Sustainable Development Goals

BioLite Brightens East Africa One Home at a Time

I have visited enough traditional family huts and homes in rural Africa to know that light and power are precious commodities. When the last bit of sun streams through the windows and doors in the evenings, the only recourse for light again is when the sun shines brightly in the morning. That is a long time to read, write, cook, and get ready for the next day by mere firelight. When not fixed on an electrical grid (which aren’t very reliable themselves), the only real, viable opportunity for light and energy is through solar power.

A newly released short film by BioLite Run Home shows how powerful their products are to light households in the absence of electricity.  In fact, BioLite is on a mission to “bring energy everywhere”. In the film, BioLite features professional Kenyan marathon runner and mother Jane Kibii. Through her race earnings, Kibii has earned enough money to purchase a family home. Unfortunately, the home she built for her parents is far from the electrical grid.

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Africa, Blog, featured, Products With a Purpose, Reproductive Health, Sustainability, United States, Women and Girls, Women's Rights

8 Simple Ways to Provide Free Menstrual Products to Girls and Women in Need (Updated)

Every 28 days, millions of girls and women in developing countries miss school or work – up to 50 days per year – because they lack access to affordable menstrual products. And, it’s not just a problem in poor countries. Right here in the United States, women and girls who lack means often need both menstrual health education and reusable menstrual products.

The eight companies and organizations provide menstrual products in the United States and in Africa. Here are ways you can help them on their missions to provide women and girls with products that simply make their lives easier.

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Asia, Blog, Environment and Climate, Food Security, Nepal, Nepal, Nepal Reporting Trip, Philippines, Sustainability, Women, Women's Rights

2 Innovative Uses of PET Bottles in Low-Income Countries That Benefit Women

PET bottles, one of the most widely used materials in the world, are used to package foods and drinks from soda and juices to salad dressings and cooking oils. It is also completely recyclable. In the United States alone, 1.5 billion pounds of PET bottles are recycled annually.

Throughout my travels to low and middle-income countries I see PET bottles thrown haphazardly in fields and streams clogging waterways and dirtying sidewalks and walking paths. In countries such as Nepal (where I visited last year with Coca-Cola), there are concerted educational efforts by environmentally focused NGOs to change behaviors around discarding PET bottles. There are recycling centers in Nepal, but not enough to completely clean its streets and countryside. It seems to be a sisyphean battle to combat PET bottle waste, but there are some who are using the bottles in innovative ways.

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Blog, Maternal Health, newborn health, newborns, Poverty, Reproductive Health, Sustainability, Sustainable Development Goals, Women, Women and Girls, Women's Rights

Midwives and The Right of Women to Give Birth the Way They Want

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Lydia Mwanzia, Moi University

Giving birth is a significant life event that should aim for a healthy baby and mother. There are growing calls for women to give birth in their preferred birth positions. But this requires midwives to be trained in a way that enables them to respect the choices that women make. The Conversation Africa’s health editor Joy Wanja Muraya asked Lydia Mwanzia to explain why women have the right to make choices, and the important role played by midwives.

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Blog, Clean Water and Sanitation, Environment and Climate, Insight Trips, Reporting, Sustainability, United States, Unites States, Water

How and Why Coca-Cola is Restoring Water to Our National Forests

When I stepped out of the U.S. Forest Service SUV after nearly a two-hour scenic autumn drive from Taos, New Mexico to the Carson National Forest, we were standing in an expansive valley so big that huge cows below us looked like mere dots in the distance. We had finally arrived at Valle Vidal, a massive grassy meadow with vistas as far as the eye could see and elevations reaching close to 13,000 feet in Carson National Forest. Even though Valle Vidal is overwhelmingly beautiful to take in its environmental impact is being increasingly hampered by major stream and groundwater degradation that needs immediate remedying in order to protect fish and wildlife as well as to store more ground water for communities downstream.

I was in New Mexico visiting the Carson National Forest with Coca-Cola North America’s sustainability team last week to learn about their water restoration efforts in northern New Mexico as well as the company’s overarching nationwide partnership with the U.S. Forest Service and National Forest Foundation that replenished 1 billion liters of water to nature and communities reaching 60 million people in the United States. Coca-Cola also recently announced that it has successfully reached one of its principle global sustainability milestones ahead of schedule to effectively balance its water usage in its beverages and production. Coca-Cola has reached its goal five years ahead by replenishing 191.9 billion liters of water across the globe in 71 countries. In the United States, Coca-Cola North America has pledged to double the 1 billion liters of water that it has already replenished by 2018.

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