kick a** socks - Conscious Step

These socks walk the walk they talk! Conscious Step helps “give an ordinary purchase an extraordinary purpose.”

Can socks change the world…why yes, they can! Conscious Step is surely going  to make a difference “one pair of socks at a time” – 50 percent of all profits go toward 3 partnering charities. Currently Conscious Step offers three exclusive sock designs, each reflective of the cause it supports:

One pair funds Action Against Hunger that provides three therapeutic food packages for malnourished children living in refugee camps in Kenya, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The second pair funds Trees for the Future, which plants 30 trees in rural Ghana and provides an education in agroforestry to women and children, giving them the ability to replenish degraded soils and generate sustainable sources of food and fuel.

The third pair funds Engineers Without Borders that sends Australian engineers to Nepal to build clean water sources in schools so that young girls can have the same education opportunities as boys.

The wonderful entrepreneurs behind Conscious Step are Dr. Hassan Ahmad and Adam Long from Sydney, and Prashant Mehta from New York City. All three, firm believers in “the more profitable you are, the greater your impact”…and “knowing that my sock drawer planted a forest in Ghana”, is more motivating than donating $5 to a charity and having no idea how it will be used or what difference it will make,” says Dr. Ahmad.

These socks are made from 200-needle count, organic, fair trade cotton and are sweat resistant. Each style is embroidered with it’s own unique distinguishable symbol…and did I say they kick a**!

Smitten with these socks.

upcycling elephant poo for holiday cards! - Holstee

Are you looking for a holiday card that is both planet conscious and charitable? Well, I was too! I am a huge fan of all things letterpress, and I love communique the old fashioned way... the US postal service. Thus, while looking for an enchanting, simple, well designed card to mail out for the upcoming holidays, I was more than pleased to stumble upon Holstee.com.

Their choice of printing paper: 50% elephant poo and 50% recycled paper. Yes! The paper is handmade, acid free and 100% natural.

Delightful designs, letterpress printed in silver, blue and gold inks on white cotton paper. Each set comes with six 5"x7" cards and six envelopes. The cards are blank, giving you the opportunity to pen your own singular, spectacular greeting. 

 Holstee offers an array of cards, posters and other colorful, uncommon gift items.

A portion of all proceeds go towards funding Kiva microloans.

Smitten with Holstee.

conscious fashion - Open Arms

I honestly cannot say enough about this socially hip, totally tuned-in company. I have only recently discovered Open Arms...and wow do they knock my socks off!

Open Arms design delicious, modern, comfortable apparel and accessories using reclaimed t-shirts and remnant materials. They create a cool product repurposing garments that were on their way to landfills. Very cool!

To create these upcycled garments, Open Arms employs refugee women that have been resettled in Austin, helping them to avoid the cycle of poverty. Open Arms also provides their team with enrichment opportunities, ESL classes, family friendly schedules and a living wage.

Leslie Beasley started this venture after a trip to Uganda in 2010. She was inspired by the spirits of the refugee women that she met there, and upon her return decided to fill a need for the refugees in her own community. Along with several passionate friends and co-founder Lacey Strake, the business was born.

Their mission statement kicks butt:

“Open Arms is on a mission to do it differently - creating awareness that everyday choices can change the world. We are a social enterprise dedicated to people and the planet by employing refugee women to make fashionable apparel and accessories out of recycled and USA - made materials in the US.”

I am totally Smitten with Open Arms. 

I beseech the whole fashion industry to get turned on by this genius idea. May the runways soon become flooded with beauties in upcycled clothing!