eco brand: anchal project, how design changes lives

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if you had a superpower, what would it be? this is a question i love to ask people in my life. the founders + workers behind ethical businesses are made of tenacity, resilience and creative problem solving applied to our world’s pressing issues: i call them our modern-day superheroes. today we meet the entrepreneurs + the artisans behind the eco home goods label anchal project, a brand i’ve been following for years. exploring a sustainable brand, as a conscious consumer and citizen, means pulling back the curtain on a brand and getting to know the people, the processes, and the forces behind the label. and who doesn’t love to take a peek behind a superhero’s curtain {ahem, or cape}?

“We believe design can change lives. When you purchase Anchal’s handmade products, you invest in new economic realities for exploited women around the world.”
— Maggie and Colleen Clines

anchal {the urdu word for shelter} brings safety, stability + shelter to vulnerable women across the globe through sustainable employment and handmade designs. a movement for forward change + freedom can happen with a sea of steadfast people, and sometimes, a movement starts with two savvy, strong-willed sisters. colleen and maggie clines place human rights at the center of their organization, working with survivors of sex trafficking and transforming lives via sustainable employment. colleen and maggie are today’s supersheroes and their capes are fair trade.

anchal project is a nonprofit that uses design and collaboration to provide economic opportunities for marginalized women to empower themselves through the creation of handmade, fair trade products. ordinary quilts + pillows these are not, my friends.

all entrepreneurs start with an idea {there it is, skipping about, frolicking in our brains} and suddenly, it’s standing there before us, a once fermenting idea has now come to fruition. and sometimes that idea comes into existence to create positive change on this planet we all call home.

colleen clines took a trip to india in 2009. she was introduced to the world of commercial sex trade and the lack of opportunity for women in the community. it was then that she was galvanized to address social and environmental systems, “the women we met became our sisters, sisters we had to fight for.” 

rooted in collaboration and creative design solutions, anchal is a non-profit that operates like a business via both sales and donations. women are hired as artisans and every artisan has her own personal bank account. 100% of artisans are investing in their children’s education, thereby breaking the cycle of poverty + exploitation.

anchal’s programs demonstrate that when employment inequality is systematically addressed, this can reduce the number of women reliant on commercial sex work and eliminate the stigma that women and girls face around the world. 95% of anchal artisans have left the commercial sex trade or dramatically reduced their clients.

from the founders of anchal, “our impact is evident in each artisan’s personal growth, which we measure annually. ferosa purchased a plot of land and has ideas for a farm, renu bought her family a water filter to ensure safe drinking water, seema purchased purple tile for her kitchen and laxmi sent her daughter to college.

our holistic program is designed to address the diverse needs of each woman and equip them with the tools to sustain employment as an anchal artisan and beyond. by offering alternatives to dangerous and exploitative work, we help women rediscover their dignity, independence and creativity in a financially rewarding way. our programs offer women design and skills training, full-time employment, educational workshops, health services, a supportive community, and access to an international marketplace.”

ethical consumption is indeed a potent form of protest. cheap goods are linked to poverty wages, to dangerous working conditions for factory workers {with 86% being young females} and to environmental degradation with factories contributing to pollution of local communities. this holiday season, choose an ethical label, choose an experience for a loved one, choose to be a superhero yourself via each purchase your make. together we can choose better.

“I think when there is peace, respect and freedom, anybody can be more productive and creative. When I am making something I have many images in my head, but only need to reproduce them on the fabric.”
— Lupe, Anchal Project Artisan

to learn more about anchal’s work, follow them on IG or skip on over to their website for fair trade goodness + life changing products. remember friends, only buy what you need because quality over quantity is what the cool eco cats are doing.

until next time, stay green dear hearts!

eco brand: zero waste pouches from by the sea

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keep it together

how does one keep everything together? literally or metaphorically, i love the idea of discovering how each of us holds our lives together, whether by service to others, the creation of art, physical activity, prayer or nurturing relationships in our lives. for me, i’m adamant about keeping my home space + personal space organized.

i like to think a neat, orderly space creates clear, open paths for brilliant + beautiful ideas to push through the fertile ground of my brain {that’s my story + i’m sticking to it!}.

zero waste living

to create a clean space here on planet earth, it takes just a few adjustments to our everyday living habits to shape environmentally sound practices.

remember, friends, not all that glimmers can be recycled. the answer here is not simply to recycle more, but to buy less plastic products + pre-packaged food items. according to greenpeace, globally only 9% of our plastic is recycled. where does the rest go? with landfills + recycling facilities reaching maximum capacity, the overflow ends up in our oceans.

here are four easy steps to plastic-free living:

  1. carry a canvas or cloth tote bag to fetch groceries + run errands

  2. use a reusable water bottle rather than single-use plastic bottles

  3. take a set of reusable utensils + your own to-go container when heading out

  4. invest in zero-waste products made by eco companies like reusable dishcloths, produce bags + zip pouches

by the sea

i’m holding it all together with handmade + zero waste pouches from by the sea organics. this eco home goods brand + sustainable fashion label was created with the mission to pay a fair wage + provide safe working milieus to workers throughout the supply chain while continuing to adhere to the most sustainable practices at every level of production.

it’s a great balm to my mind + heart to know that there are small, independent companies that never stray from their values + ethics to put people + planet over profit. by the sea has an entire range of lovely, zero waste zip pouches, grocery totes, produce bags, snack bags + charming notebooks made from earth friendly, organic cotton factory scraps. why toss excess fabric into a landfill when you can make magic with them?! i carry my light-as-a-feather notebook with me everywhere!

love + equal pay

shopping is indeed a political act, with our dollars we can vote to support companies that mirror our values. we can choose companies like by the sea that protect the environment by eschewing the use of plastic throughout their entire supply chain and lift up workers via safe working environments + living wages.

each of our actions matters: small acts + big acts. as consumers + citizens, we can each choose to invest in products that truly create harmony for people + planet.

wherever you may be during these uncertain times, i hope that you are close to peace + calm. and i hope that you are organizing the space in your mind, heart + home.

until next time, stay green dear hearts!

don’t forget the tip: journalist + environmentalist lucy siegle informs us in her book turning the tide on plastic, “the amount of plastic debris in the sea is predicted to increase from 50 million metric tons in 2015 to 150 million metric tons by 2025.” let this sobering science galvanize us to action. let us take up pens, my friends. let us write + call our government representatives and elected officials.

our garbage is buried in the ground, burned or sent away to be disposed of in landfills, often affecting vulnerable communities. single-use plastic bags + containers pollute land + waterways, endangering animal life on earth + marine life in our oceans. the chemicals released by these plastics make our soil infertile + our water supplies toxic. gulp.

siegle implores us as citizens + consumers, “whenever you see packaging that is totally over the top, take up the pen and write to the company responsible. It needn’t be a formal letter – a tweet [or ig post] will often be just as if not more effective. add the hashtag, #reducepackaging to your tweet, and make sure you copy in your local council and trading standards office (if they are on social media).”