ishopnsavetheplanet

Otter Surfboards are carefully manufactured in Cornwall, UK, by James Otter and his team of woodworkers and surfers. Wooden surfboards stand separate from the vast majority of petrochemical-derived surfboards as they glide smoothly and gracefully through the water. Otter Surfboards are designed and handcrafted to last. They also look beautiful showing the grains and natural patterns within the sustainably sourced, local timber. These hollow, skin and frame wooden surfboards not only are superior in quality and duress, but they also cause no harm to the planet. Since the first wave riding tools were constructed, wood has been used as material. Otter Surfboards strive to find the perfect match of best…

Norton Point is an eyewear brand based on the island of Martha’s Vineyard, MA, US. They believe that the 8 million metric tons of plastic flowing into our oceans is one of our planet’s greatest environmental challenges and so they have chosen to become part of the solution. Norton Point has developed the first line of eyewear made from recovered high-density-polyethylene (HDPE) ocean plastics. HDPE is a consumer plastic used in millions of products around the world and is one of the most common plastics you will find today. For every product sold they are committed to clean-up one pound of plastic from the ocean. They also give back 5%…

Addiopizzo is a Non-Profit organization based in Sicily. This cultural revolution and volunteer-based,  non-partisan association opposing the Mafia system,  was born by a fantastic idea of a group of young people in Palermo in 2004. Their initial action was to print an anti-mafia slogan on small stickers and to plaster the city of Palermo secretly by night bringing awareness to one of the main problems facing Palermo.  Pizzo is Sicilian slang for the protection money that the Mafia manages to extort from about 80 percent of small businesses in Palermo and throughout the Island of Sicily.  Addiopizzo literally means “goodbye pizzo” and the bold idea behind it is to cut…

Plastic Bank, a Social Enterprise based in Vancouver, BC, has created a groundbreaking and yet so simple approach to stopping plastic from entering the ocean. In collaboration with various sponsors, Plastic Bank currently operates in Haiti, the Philippines, and Indonesia. And, as it is growing, plans to expand across the globe to locations next in line such as Brazil, South Africa, the Vatican, Panama, and India.  Founded in 2013 by Shaun Frankson and David Katz, their mission builds on two paradigms. In order to prevent an ever growing amount of plastic from flowing into the ocean, the plastic tap, aka the production of new, virgin plastic needs to be turned…

When people die, usually one of two things happen to their bodies: Either they are buried below ground in caskets, or they are cremated, reduced to bone fragments by intense heat. However, thanks to recent initiatives we could soon experience another option—human composting. This turns the body into nutrient-rich soil naturally in about 30 days. Just a few weeks ago I held a workshop at a primary school on Earth Day and met Susan Koswan, an inspiring eco-activist, and instigator of the Good Green Death Project. In summary, her project aims to make human remains composting a realistic, full-circle and eco-friendly alternative to the pros and cons of today’s funeral…

In case you haven’t heard of or read about one of my favorite initiatives, I feel excited to introduce to you Precious Plastic. Founded in 2013, this group of creatives based in the Netherlands provides open source machines, tools, knowledge, and infrastructures to transform plastic waste into valuable products. Their vision is to boost plastic recycling worldwide. The bottom-up approach aims to bring Precious Plastic technologies and knowledge to everyone, for free. The machines empower people around the planet to start recycling plastic and create new financial value from this ubiquitous free resource – plastic waste. The machines and workspace are specifically designed and developed using universal materials and basic…

Have you ever wondered why people set up Himalayan Salt lamps in their house or office? I did for a very long time. I associated these lamps with a 1980s hippie phase in cozy yoga studios and massage parlors. Even though I always liked the look of them, I somehow never even thought about getting one for myself. Until I actually did and loved it! Why?  Well, for one, there was a Himalayan Salt Lamp store close to my house in the city I had recently moved to and one day I checked out the lamps and saw that they are actually quite affordable. And then I realized that my…

It must have been around 1992 when we proudly introduced the first-ever plastic soap dispenser to our bathroom sinks. I remember it so clearly, my Mum even commented on the new gadget when she brought it home with her from the supermarket. It felt like we had upgraded our life to sophisticated and clean and splendidly hygienic. So, we replaced all soap bars with plastic soap dispensers. It was just the thing to do. A few years later one could even buy a soap dispenser that fluffed up soap foam, especially fun for kids.  Then, for a time we would refill the soap dispenser with liquid soap which we bought in…

Dear Airlines Executives, In celebration of Earth Day 2019, I would like to bring a few questions to your attention. As air travel is for many people the easiest way to get from A to B and you cater to millions of passengers every year,  I wonder, have you thought about solving your waste problem? In particular, I wish to address the issue of single-use plastic which is a large part of the meal and snack service offered during most flights. How many passengers do you cater to on a daily, monthly, yearly basis? Have you counted the plastic cups, containers, wrappers, stirrers, and cutlery you hand out?  As you…

In an interview with Rolling Stone Magazine on March 6th, 2019,  Greta Thunberg mentions the first woman to impact her was Rosa Parks. The example of one person taking action and changing the course of history inspired her to do the same. And so sixteen-year-old Greta Thunberg from Sweden began to strike school on Fridays, painted a protest sign and sat in front of her local city hall. The first time she went on the school strike was on August 20th, 2018 asking “Why should I be studying for a future, that will soon be no more. Why would I be learning facts, when the facts given by scientists, are…