One of the greatest gifts yoga has given me is awareness and perspective. While I don't deserve an A+ all the time when its time to buy something new I tend to look for an eco-friendly option first.
The reasons are simple. I love supporting companies doing the right thing with a financial contribution and at the reality is eco-products can be stylish, price comparable, and always consider the impact of the product in every stage of its life cycle.
Its a win/win for my style, my health, and for the planet's health.
Here are a few of my favorite recent buys:
- Zeal Sunglasses: the frames and lenses are all made out of "castor bean, an efficient, fast-growing perennial that is easy to grow, withstands drought, and thrives on marginal lands. Z-Resin doesn't compete with food crops and also significantly reduces the amount of CO2 released during manufacturing."
- Reusable Paper Towel Sponge: growing up in Israel we never had paper towels and always used these reusable European sponges. Each one is equivalent to 15 paper towel rolls, it dries quickly so bacteria will form on it, and it will biodegrade within 5 weeks of being disposed. Check out Twist or Skoy.
- Running Shoes: while show companies are trying to reduce their waste about a year ago I purchased an eco friendly shoe from Brookes Running. The midsole is totally compostable and the shoe is low toxicity. This year I noticed the shoe was discontinued so I thought they were taking a step backward. Luckily I got in touch with Customer Service and this is the good news they shared with me: "We used to make an environmentally friendly shoe that was called the Green Silence. Essentially it was a concept shoe using technology that we were seeing if we could use this in all of shoes. We used recycled bottles for laces, water based adhesives and a single piece upper that lessened the amount of material waste when cutting the uppers. All of these environmental advances plus the use of BioMogo midsoles which will biodegrade in an active landfill in 20 years are used in all of our shoes now." Very good NEWS! Check them out @ http://www.brooksrunning.com/
- Check out the great guide better-world-shopper to find more amazing companies working to support our planet.
If you have more products you love let me know and I will add them. To Win/Wins!