Back in 2009, during the heat of the recession, a trio of love-minded individuals decided to quit their day jobs in order to pursue the sustainable lifestyles they’ve always wanted to live. As a result, they eventually created “Holstee“, a design company that has produced a line of sustainable products.
You might remember the name from my recent post on their manifesto, which was definitely rad, but the biggest reason to celebrate this company, of course has to do with their products and their designs. One of these products, is the “Recycled Wallet” pictured above. It’s beautiful, yes, and it also features the writing of one of their mottos “Live Your Dream”, which might be either the best thing…or the worst thing to have sewn onto a wallet, of all things. But apart from the elegant and classy design, underneath the surface of the wallet is an even better feature. It’s made from found materials scoured across the streets of Delhi. And as if that wasn’t good enough, the company works with a family-run, non-profit organization in India to produce them.
Sayeth Holstee:
Production of this wallet helps reduce waste in Delhi, provides fair wage employment and subsidizes healthcare and education for each employee’s family.
That, my friends, is what Michael Scott would call a “win-win-win scenario“.
You can learn more about the wallets by clicking, here!
The following clips, put together by filmmaker Jason Silva during the making of his upcoming film Turning Into Gods, features random thoughts and reflections on all sorts of topics ranging from art, love, and beauty to techno-transcendance. Yes, techno-transcendance. And it’s more than just an awesome use of alliteration. As Jason describes it, it’s “a kind of engineered transcendence….Ecstatic mind-states and techno-immortality are promised; a world created entirely by our minds; where we all become imagineers.”
It’s a lot to take in, but after a few seconds of this video, you begin to catch on to his thoughts, his musings, and all of his reflections almost instantaneously.
It’s a little over five minutes, but it’s worth every second.
See what I mean?! At first, I thought he was a little too much. The ferocious intensity by which the video begins totally catches you off guard. But despite this, there’s something about his energy that (a) keeps you interested and is contagious in the best way possible, and (b) almost leaves you falling in love with the guy because Jason Silva is a guy who is genuinely excited about what he has to share. And when you get past the crazy hand movements and the Ashton Kutcher-esque voice and start to listen to what he has to say, you realize that all that enthusiasm just makes sense.
I’m not sure when Turning Into Gods will be released, but you can check out my post on it, here. And you can rest assured that as soon as I find out, I’ll definitely pass on the word. Because this definitely doesn’t seem like a documentary we want to miss.
Okay, okay, so this isn’t very zen-like at all and doesn’t really create a relaxing atmosphere with which you can meditate to (trust me, I tried finding some sort of inspirational loop-hole with little luck), but the video does create smiles, and at the start of a fresh new week, you can never have too many of those.
Happy Monday, SuperForesters, go out there and do what everybody says you can’t.
I’ll be the first to admit I’ve never actually seen a Star Wars movie. But despite my ignorance, I do know enough about it to know that “Star Wars Yoga” is an absolute gem. Created by writer/designer Matthew Latkewicz, “Star Wars Yoga” goes where few geeks have gone before and creates “a bold fusion of two seemingly disparate cultural phenomenons” with mighty poses including “X-Wing”, “Downward Facing Wookie”, “TIE Fighter”, and “Speeder Bike”.
Looks pretty complicated? Not to worry. The fine folks at TIME have put together a nice instructional video!
Several months ago, I posted a picture of an “elephant sweater” on my tumblr. There was no denying its adorable qualities, and even at a glance, it always made me smile. But like most things we find on the internet, we eventually forget about it. Such was the case with sweet “elephant sweater”. Little did I know, it would come blasting back into my consciousness when I least expected it.
I was eating an In-N-Out burger while parked at a lovely spot overlooking the ocean (the only way to properly eat an In-N-Out burger) and all of a sudden, my phone started buzzing with alerts. One after the other, emails marched into my inbox and continued on through the night. Dozens and dozens of people were “reblogging” and “liking” the elephant sweater I’d long forgotten and before I knew it, that post had 640 “notes” (pretty much tumblr’s closest equivalent to “comments” on a regular blog). I was, and still am, stunned. To experience the internet’s domino effect, first hand, is something that fills you with wonder and empowerment. And after getting past the initial shock, my thoughts naturally shifted toward SuperForest. I began to ask myself whether us SuperForesters would be capable of creating a similar torrent with something that was actually meaningful or having the potential to create lasting change.
Most recently, I was informed by a family friend that this school has been in the running for the Kohl’s Cares Contest to win a donation of $500,000. Twenty schools in this competition will be receiving a grand total of ten million dollars! Crazy, right? What’s even crazier is that TERI school is currently ranked at number 87, which is already a huge achievement considering the school serves only 600 clients annually in what is already an underserved and underrepresented part of our community. But maybe with our help, we can give them that extra boost they need to receive the donation and give this “little engine that could” story the fairy tale ending it deserves.
Here’s all we have to do. If you have a facebook account, click on the button below. Once the Kohl’s Cares application is running, you are given a total of twenty votes to give to any schools of your choice (but are given a limit of five votes per school). Vote for TERI five times (or however many times you prefer) and you’re done, the school will be a tiny bit closer at climbing the list. It takes seconds, it’s for a great cause, and it will give us SuperForesters a chance to flex our community strengthening muscles.
Voting ends on September 3rd.
What do you say? Getting people to create lasting and positive change by spreading the word via the web can’t be that difficult, right? Should be a cinch.
I mean, if “elephant sweater” can do it…
My biggest thank you’s go out to anyone that votes, I have 15 votes left, if you have a school you’d like me to vote for, please drop their name in the comments section below and I’ll gladly vote for them, as well.
Thanks to the very awesome SuperForester Amy and the fine folks at Reverb, SuperForest is going to be hosting a booth at Mayer’s San Diego venue for his Summer tour! Tomorrow, SuperForesters Nika, Iman, Susan, and myself are going to pack up the car with all of our SuperForest gear (yup, we’ve got “gear” now, we’re totally legit), and drive down to Chula Vista, where we will spend a few hours that evening telling Mayer fans (and their boyfriends) what SuperForest is all about, share the Humanifesto, and hopefully create an army of SuperForesters by the time the night is through. That’s the plan, at least. :)
To be completely honest with you, it wasn’t until I was cutting affirmation and promotion cards and printing posters with Susan at Office Depot when it hit me. Did I ever think SuperForest would participate in a John Mayer concert? No. But that’s the thing about SuperForest, it works in mysterious ways. And time after time, we’ve been presented with amazing opportunities for outreach, growth, and improvement. It’s almost as if the website knows what’s best for us before we do, and it’s gotten to the point where all I can do is smile and enjoy this ride.
We’re so looking forward to this and sharing how the event goes! Stay tuned for more, SuperForesters! And if you’re attending the show, please be sure to stop by and say hello!
“By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.” ~ Confucius
On his 35th birthday, Ryan Freitas compiled a list of 35 lessons he’s picked up along his life journey. When I read this, I was intrigued. Thirty-five? This isn’t an age I consider to be at the pinnacle of understanding life. (Then again, maybe age is, in fact, just a number, right?) I read on, curious to see what this guy who wasn’t that much older than me had to share with the world. Upon reading through them, I almost immediately found myself nodding and smiling. Homeboy knows his stuff.
Here’s a little taste of his list:
Do your best to get past your regrets. Your flaws are not as close to the surface as you think.
As you age, your dependencies deepen and your opportunities narrow. Try not to think of these in a negative light.
If you are able, take joy in cooking for others. If you aren’t, set the table.
It’s hard to overestimate the affection you will hold for those who’ve been through tumultuous circumstance with you.
Losing friends is inevitable. Making enemies is not.
Spend time with as many well-behaved dogs as you can.
Debates over terminology and semantics are for archivists and academics. If you’re interested in the living heart of what you do, focus on building things rather than talking about them.
Recognize the time value of money, and start spending appropriately.
Your reputation is more important than your paycheck, and your integrity is worth more than your career.
Never apologize for two days of stubble. It lengthens the appearance of the jaw, and some ladies like that kind of thing.
And you can read the rest of it on his blog, here! Yay!
Because it’s Monday, and because this is the time a lot of you might be starting a fresh new academic school year, you’re probably wondering, “What’s the surefire way to get rid of these back to school blues?” Lucky for you, the answer is quite simple…
A whole lot of swag, that’s what.
Yeah, this video is a few years old. Yes, it’s a cover of an already dated song (I believe it’s from T.I.’s T.I. vs. TI-83 album?) But it still makes me smile. Plus it kinda goes perfect with what Patricia just posted.
The best of luck to those of you starting a new academic year. We’re sure this one will be full of nothing but fun and success.
The members of our team are scattered across several countries, all united in a journey toward exploring how to redefine "environmentalism" and "sustainability" to encompass all aspects of life.
Being so, everything you find on this website has been chosen to uplift and inspire one person: you.
(Click on a picture to read individual posts.)
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