Why Go Green? JOLI Natural Skin Care Guest Blog

Q1: Tell us a little about your business.

JOLI Natural Skin Care have their own unique brand of skin care products that can be tailor made to suit individual needs.  JOLI sell genuine natural skin care as apposed to companies who claim to be natural and organic yet aren't.  

JOLI wanted to offer the public a skin care range that truly does not contain hazardous, nasty ingredients, many of which are the cause of skin conditions such as eczema, dermatitis, psoriasis, skin irritation, rashes etc. 

JOLI have been making genuine natural skin care since 2005 with tried and true natural skin care formulations, and are Australian Made and Australian Owned.  JOLI are also approved by Choose Cruelty Free and are part of the Safe Cosmetics campaign (which means they're animal and human friendly).

Q2: When did you decide you wanted to go green?

After my second child was born I noticed a pattern; that my children were unable to use mainstream skin care products without developing rashes and skin irritations.  I, myself, was also suffering from overexposure to chemicals in my skin care and makeup.  Upon investigating this I found that many products on the market contain certain ingredients known to cause allergies and skin irritation, plus a wide range of other side effects. 

This was around 2003 to 2005 when my research into the way corporations use chemicals and toxic ingredients began.  I started looking into greener options, primarily for my family, and this grew into wanting to go bigger and larger and help many more people aside from my beautiful children and other family members and friends.  

Q3: What prompted you to make the move to go green?

The move to go green was almost accidental.  After researching skin care ingredients and realising they can be carcinogenic, endocrine disrupting and cause young girls to bud and bring on puberty I realised there is something drastically wrong with modern day skin care companies / corporations - who are more concerned about making millions than the care and wellbeing of the population, animals and our earth.  

From there I learned these chemical additions also affect our food, our water, our clothing, our cleaning products, our farm animals, the earth etc. and I knew I had to do something very special (I had a calling you could say) to help save our earth and people from these harmful ingredients.  By creating a product range that does not contain nasty and hazardous ingredients JOLI reduce the amount of chemicals people (who use our products) come into contact with on a daily bases. 

Q4: What difficulties have you found with going green?

Family support, primarily my husband.  Whilst he is very supportive of my endeavors to save the world he just isn't as passionate about it as I am.   From time to time he will still come home with some awful chemical filled product that he is convinced does a better job than green brands (i.e. washing powders, liquid soaps).  Educating him has been one of my biggest challenges because hubby is yet to realise my expertise on the subject.  

Also sharing my 'green' message with the public (especially when it comes to natural skin care vs mainstream products) has also been difficult.  Many consumers love their chemical filled products purchased conveniently from shopping centers and don't want to hear the truth about how damaging those products are to them and the environment.  Though the good news is awareness is growing :) 

Q5: Is there one area you’re still yet to go green?

Packaging!  I have found plastic packaging almost impossible to get away from entirely.  For example we can't purchase a loaf of bread that isn't wrapped in plastic (that flimsy, non recyclable plastic).  Although I have made major reductions over the years by using fregie sacks at the supermarket, purchasing fresh foods instead of packaged or frozen foods, making our own produce at home when we can, I still find (non recyclable) plastic a hard one to avoid. 

Luckily our council offers a great recycling program so much of what we use gets turned into reusable products. 

Q6: Can you list some of the benefits / positive effects going green has had on your life?

Family health would be top of the list plus the savings - never having to go down the cleaning or beauty isles in the supermarket.  What we save on money there we are able to put towards organic food choices.  My children's skin, with their lack of skin irritations and rashes, plus the bonus of having great skin and looking younger because natural is so good for our skin.  Gotta love that! 

Q7: What suggestions would you make to those wanting to go green but not knowing where to start?

Going green is a process.  There are so many areas to go green: skin care, makeup, cleaning products, food, clothing, packaging, menstruation, toys, electronics (not consuming or purchasing things you don't need to survive).  Start small and take one step at a time.  You can try to do it all in one hit, however, I find it's easier to tackle one area at a time.  For example start with skin care (or what you feel is most important to you) then move onto cleaning products, then food etc. 

Consult experts and read and follow green, earth friendly, natural blogs.  A vast many people are making moves to go green and have infinite knowledge to share.  

Q8: Any other advice / comments regarding going green you’d like to share?

Don't think going green is not important and can be put off.  The truth is 'our earth depends on you making good, green, eco friendly choices'!  You can be one of the masses, burying your head in the sand and pretending that purchase you made has no ill effect on the earth or other people... but you'd be wrong in your thinking.  Start now and spread the word.  GREEN is the new black ;)


Author BIO

Jodi is the lady behind JOLI and when she's not busy working on skin care products or pampering people in her salon she is joyfully tending to her garden and veggie patch, teaching and educating her children on sustainable ways of living.
  

Starting a Vegetable Garden: Pumkins

At the time of writing my first blog about starting a home vegetable garden I had planted some pumpkin seeds not really expecting they'd do much. I've had so little luck when it comes to growing food (not that I'd previously put in any big effort) that I didn't have confidence in those seeds growing.

To my surprise pumpkin plants sprouted up and soon pumpkins were beginning to grow. At the time of harvest (in June before the cold weather really hits) the plant had supplied 10 healthy pumpkins.

As you can see by the picture the pumpkins we've grown have slight differences, some are squat and round, others are elongated and difference colours. They are JAP pumpkins and the seeds came from a lady who gave me a pumpkin she had grown herself.

One pumpkin accidentally got cut off early in the grown stage and that one was used for roasting, risotto and soup, while the seeds were dried out to snack on.

Another pumpkin was used to make pumpkin pie, the first time I'd ever made pumpkin pie, and it was delicious.

The next stage is preparing the remaining pumpkins for storage. Research suggests sitting the pumpkins on a sunny windowsill or other place where the sun hits and leaving them there for two weeks to harden their skins. Rotating once at the end of the first week.

Then they go into storage in a cool ventilated place out of the sun (I'm still yet to figure out where that will be). Put on a wrack that allows airflow around the pumpkins, not touching so they don't rot. Apparently the skins can be rubbed in oil for more protection.

It's all very exciting to have some home grown pumpkins and to be able to feed the family a number of dishes with food we've grown ourselves.

  

What's In That Product?

Nivea Visage Young Freshen Up Toner

Aqua (Water), PEG-8, Glycerin, PEG-40 Hydrogenated Caster Oil, Panthenol, Aluminum, Chlorohydrate, Maris Sal (Sea Salt), Butylene Glycol, Sodium Lactate, Sodium PCA, Sodium Benzoate, Frctose, Glycine, Inositol, Lactic Acid, Niacinamide, Urea, Methylparaben, Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate, Polyaminopropyl Biguanide, Alpha-Iso-methyl Ionone, Citronellol, Hexyl Cinnamal, Benzyl Salictate, Butylphenyl Methylpropional, Linalool, Parfum (fragrance).

Garnier BB Cream

Cyclopentasiloxane, Aqua / Water, Propanediol, Alcohol Denatured, Clycerin, Phenyl Trimethicone, PEG-10 Dimethicone, Bis-PEG/PPG 14/14 Dimethicone, Ethylhexyl Hydroxystearate, Magnesium, Sulfate, Talc, Phenoxyethanol, Caffeine, Aluminum Hydroxide, N-Hydroxysuccinimide, Palmitoyl Oligopeptide, Chrysin, Palmitoyl Tetrapepetide 7, [+/- May Contain CI 77891 / Titanium Dioxide, CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499 / Iron Oxides, CI 77163 / Bismuth Oxychloride], (F.I.L. B5406 1/1).

I looked up what those numbers mean and according to EWG / SkinDeep Database they refer to inorganic colourants. From EWG (Environmental Working Group)

About CI 77491: This is an iron-based inorganic colorant, composed primarily of ferric oxide.

Other HIGH concerns: Persistence and bioaccumulation; Other LOW concerns: Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive)

Dermalogica Skin Hydrating Masque

Water (Aqua), Glycerin, Butylene Glycol, Squalane, Dimethicone, Leuconostoc/Aloe Barbadensis Leaf/Sorbus Aucuparia Fruit Ferment Filtrate, Epilobium Angustifolium Flower/Leaf/Extract, Sodium Hyaluronate Crosspolymer, Codium Tomentosum Extract, Solanum Lycopersicum (Tomato) Seed Oil, Cucumi Sativus (Cucumber) Fruit Extract, Glycine Soja (Soybean) Oil, Tocopherol, Daucus Carota Sativa (Carrot) Root Extract, Eta-Carotene, Salicornia Herbacea Extract, Triethylhexanoin, Carrageenana, Fructose, Glucose, Sucrose, Urea, Dextrin, Alanine, Glutamic Acid, Aspartic Acid, Hexl Nicotinate, Sodium Polyacryloyldimethyl Taurate, Hydrogenated Polydecene, Trideceth-10, Behenyl Alcohol, Cocamide MIPA, Glyceryl Oleate, Calcium Citrate, Hexlene Glycol, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Sea Salt, Sodium Carbomer, Potassium Hydroxide, Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Benzoate.

Burt's Bees Lip Gloss

Ingredients: ricinus communis (castor) seed oil, oleic/linoleic/linolenic polyglycerides, cera alba (beeswax, cire d'abeille), aroma (flavor)*, silica, helianthus annuus (sunflower) seed oil, olea europaea (olive) fruit oil, jojoba esters, ammonium glycyrrhizate, tocopherol, glycine soja (soybean) oil. +/-: CI 77163 (bismuth oxychloride), CI 77861 (tin oxide), CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499 (iron oxides), CI 77019 (mica), CI 75470 (carmine), CI 77891 (titanium dioxide), CI 77947 (zinc oxide). *natural flavor/arôme naturel

  

Why Go Green? Laura Trotta ~ Green Guest Blog

Q1: Tell us a little about your business.

For my entire adult life I’ve been driven to reduce the impact of humans on the environment.

I worked in heavy industry as an environmental engineer for over a decade, managing and monitoring the environmental impact of some of the world’s largest companies. After I became a mother I switched my focus to helping everyday people reduce their environment impact.

My online business journey started in 2009 and coincided with the birth of my first son. After deciding during pregnancy that I didn’t want to combine motherhood with my established environmental career in the corporate world, I created Sustainababy, an online eco-parenting store which specialized in providing greener alternatives for conventional baby products.

Despite Sustainababy making a much-needed impact in the eco-parenting space, I yearned to make a bigger impact on a broader eco-living scale.

My customers were keen to learn more about the “how” to live more sustainably, so in 2013 I started to package up my experience and knowledge into several eco-living e-courses, namely the HomeDetox Boot Camp and greenHOUSE Home Energy Blitz.

These programs have been really well received and I’m

Juggling a business and a young family is always challenging. Juggling two businesses and a young family is even more so! By mid 2015 I’d made the difficult decision to sell Sustainababy so I could just focus on the broader topic of eco-living.

I launched my eco-living blog (http://lauratrotta.com/blog) and my Eco Chat Podcast (https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/eco-chat-laura-trotta-podcast/id1052760251) and am really proud to be inspiring and educating others to create a healthier and more sustainable home. I’m also really enjoying guiding others to create and grow a conscious business through my coaching services.

Q2: When did you decide you wanted to go green?

I’ve felt that I was born with a green heart. I was a kid that loved being in the outdoors and I was intrigued by the natural world.

As a brownie guide I completed my naturalist badge and met the assessor, a most amazing woman who was a naturalist. Her passion was infectious and from the age of around 10 I knew I wanted to combine my love of science and mathematics with helping the environment.

Q3: What prompted you to make the move to go green?

N/A

Q4: What difficulties have you found with going green?

The main difficultly has been unwelcome remarks from family or friends. I still remember my father calling me a ‘greenie’ (in a not very nice tone) when I confronted him about his littering in my early teens. While such remarks haven’t been pleasant at times, they’ve made me more determined in my work to make a difference.

I started my environmental engineering degree in the mid 1990’s and the environment wasn’t as big a focus as it is now. Nowadays people are more aware and subsequently I there’s more and more support and encouragement out there for people to go green

Q5: Is there one area you’re still yet to go green?

I’d love our home to be fully self-sufficient when it comes to power. We’re currently in the process of building our dream self-sufficient home in the suburbs of Adelaide and I’m literally frothing at the mouth with excitement that it will have full solar and be made of sustainable materials.

Q6: Can you list some of the benefits / positive effects going green has had on your life?

There are so many benefits!

My family and I enjoy above average health and the financial savings from living greener has enabled us to easily afford an organic diet and activities like dance lessons for our children. I love the simplicity of sustainable living and the fact we’re not obsessed with collecting stuff and having a home full of clutter!

Q7: What suggestions would you make to those wanting to go green but not knowing where to start?

Don’t worry about what everyone else is doing. Your journey is exactly that and you’re where you need to be right now. Start small and keep making more changes as each change becomes habit. Every step you take to become greener is making a difference!

Q8: Any other advice / comments regarding going green you’d like to share?

N/A

  

Aches, Pains and Migraines.

Are you one of those people who live with aches and pains? Do you get migraines often? There are a great many of us 'sufferers' out there, and if you are like me you like the idea of dealing with these ailments as naturally as possible.

My story:
Over the past few months I have developed a great many aches and pains; firstly I developed tennis elbow (epicondylitis) from, of all things, something I really enjoyed! Aerial hoops. I had been doing aerial hoops for a year and a half when I suddenly noticed it hurt to pick up a cup of tea. I had to give up this activity even though it had given me so much joy, yet it was slowly damaging my body.

A couple of months later I fell on my coccyx and dislocated (subluxated) the bone. The doctor all but fobbed me off, telling me there was nothing that could be done to help me. I needed to do very little, lie down, rest and take pain killers to manage the pain for 8-12 weeks. I couldn't sit, couldn't drive, could barely walk or stand. It was a miserable period where I mostly lay on my side watching TV. This of course put the rest of my body out and I ended up with hip, back and neck issues. Five months later my coccyx still causes me discomfort to sit.

I also have sore ribs just under the breasts where, I assume, bras press on my rib cage causing pain and swelling. I've had xrays and MRI's, regular checks and no one can find the cause of this pain.

Plus I am prone to the odd migraine caused by stiff neck and shoulder muscles, which cause stress and tension to the point where I cannot move my neck without my head feeling like it's been hit with a sledgehammer.

All up I'm like some crazed walking wounded where it aches just to exist and it frustrates me to the point of misery at times.

Of course the doctors like to prescribe me pills to manage my pain and it costs a small fortune visiting all manner of specialists trying to find solutions. However, I don't want be popping pills just to face the day, so I looked up natural remedies and am sharing with you in hopes you also find some natural relief.

Majority of what ails me is caused by inflammation of the muscles and joints so I researched natural anti-inflammatories.

Spices: cinnamon, cloves, ginger, marjoram, oregano, rosemary, sage, thyme, turmeric.
It is suggested that eating a half teaspoon of one of these spices daily aids in reduction of inflammation. You might find them hard to eat by themselves so try adding them to a meal each day, or add turmeric, ginger or cinnamon to a beverage such as chai tea or a green smoothie.

Essential oils: chamomile, clary sage, ecalyptus, frankinsence, >lavender, majoram, >peppermint, rosemary, sandalwood, thyme, vetiver.
>good for migraines

Essential oils should NOT be used directly on skin or ingested (read here for essential oils & pregnancy) due to their potency (one drop of peppermint oil is equivalent to approx 20-30 cups of tea). When using an essential oil you should do one of a few things: add a drop of oil to a warm or cold compress and apply to the area; add a drop to a cloth for wafting under your nose; place a couple of drops in an oil burner with water to scent the air; add a drop or two to your bath or add an appropriate massage oil to your bath or body; add a drop or two to at least 20ml of carrier oil before applying to skin. Using essential oils this way means a little goes a long way.

Foods: leafy greens, beets, broccoli, berries, kidney beans.

Colourful foods are high in antioxidants and antioxidants are great for assisting and protecting the body. Eat as many of these good foods each day.

Note: I have been using turmeric in beverages, herbs in my meals and vetiver essential oil as a massage rub onto my inflamed areas. While I am a fair way from feeling better I have found the vetiver is working well in relieving aches and swelling and is a natural alternative to Nurofen and Voltaren.

P.S. Use these remedies for a while, not just for a couple of days. When I stopped using the essential oil rub because I was feeling better, the ache in my elbows came back slowly. It takes a while for your body to heal so give it time.
  

Celebrity Sellout

I adore Kate Blanchett, admire Nicole Kidman, believe Julia Roberts is a great actress and have a great deal of respect for a great many actresses. However sadly these actresses, and more, sellout for money.

What do they all have in common?
They promote corporate brands of perfume, skin care and other personal care items. Jennifer Aniston is at least attempting to promote a clean brand of skin care (Aveeno) yet, unbeknownst to many, falls short since Aveeno are not as 'natural' or as healthy for us as they claim.

What is so wrong about promoting these brands/products? 
These brands/products contain ingredients that are deemed hazardous to our health, such as ingredients that are carcinogens (chemicals that cause cancer), endocrine-disrupting (hormones), and cause contact sensitivity and skin irritation, to name but a few problems. There are literally thousands of ingredients used in mainstream personal care/beauty products that do a great deal of damage to the human body and sadly these actresses are promoting these products.

In a time when cancer rates are high and rising (1 in 2 Americans will get cancer) and the Anti Cancer Foundation is launching it's Biggest Morning Tea (something JOLI do not endorse and here is why), these celebrity endorsements do us all a disservice because they inspire vast amounts of people to purchase products that are harmful to humans, animals and the earth.

Not to mention these companies test on animals as well, which is not something any good actress should support or endorse.

What can YOU do about it?
* Don't buy into the hype. Just because the beautiful and talented Kate Blanchett says she's uses a hazardous product doesn't mean you should join her and put your health at risk.
* Don't buy into the Biggest Morning Tea if you're still using mainstream products like fly spray, hair spray, hair dyes, perfume, bleach, germ killing liquids and soaps, non mineral makeups etc etc. Sadly there is no point raising money to cure cancer while you're still using products that cause it.
* Don't support brands that are not willing to ditch chemicals that are causing a great deal of ill health for many. There is a movement called the Cosmetics Safety Act where people are campaigning for companies to ditch the chemicals in their products. JOLI Natural Skin Care are on the list of Campaign For Safe Cosmetics Compact Singers. Notice non of the big brand names have signed.

What other things can be done? I'd love to hear your views.
  

Why Go Green? Oz Baby Trends ~ Green Guest Blog

Q1: Tell us a little about your business.

At Oz Baby Trends, we work with dedicated retailers, helping them bring sustainable parenting products to families across Australia so that those families can enjoy a simple, natural parenting journey. We are wholesale distributors for a beautiful range of cloth nappies and baby carriers.

Over in my other business – Eva Van Strijp – I help mothers thrive by teaching strategies that they can implement to create change that really lasts.

Q2: When did you decide you wanted to go green?

My decision to “go green” probably began way back in primary school when I started collecting items for recycling. Back then, we didn’t have a fortnightly curb side pick-up for recycling so we had to do it the old-fashioned way. Each week, we took our buckets of recycling and deposited it at the nearest recycling depot. Our family needed to reduce the amount of garbage that was going out each week, and to be honest, rather than being about “being green”, I think it just had more to do with the practicality of it. It just made sense to recycle whatever we possibly could. It seemed a shameful waste to throw away something that could be reused.

Q3: What prompted you to make the move to go green?

When I started my own family, I knew I wanted to use cloth nappies. I was called a hippy and a greenie but while the eco factor was a great bonus, again, my reasoning was practical. I wanted to be more self-sufficient and using cloth nappies meant I wouldn’t need to rely on the supermarket for a staple baby item. I also just had a gut feeling that they would be better for my baby’s skin.

Got a new baby on the way? Eva has a free mini eCourse to help you choose, use and love cloth nappies from the very start.

Q4: What difficulties have you found with going green?

I honestly don’t find it to be difficult. Because being green ties in with lots of our other life decisions, it doesn’t feel like a big drama or some extra stress on our lives.

For example, many decisions that we’ve made for our family budget have also been, by default, the “green” choice. All of the decisions we’ve made in terms of self-sufficiency have also been “green”. Everything we do to live more simply is, naturally, “green”. It just goes hand-in-hand with our lifestyle and I love that.

Q5: Is there one area you’re still yet to go green?

I still have lots of little food fails. While we do really strive to be self-sufficient, I also know that life with a big family is hectic sometimes, and heavily-packaged frozen food gets a look-in during those times!

Q6: Can you list some of the benefits / positive effects going green has had on your life?

I love that for our family being green also means being more self-sufficient. Whether it’s simply growing lettuce in a pot on the verandah or avoiding excess packaging by curbing the purchase of consumer goods that we just don’t need, it’s highly empowering to be able to make choices that have a healthy impact on our family and on the environment.

Q7: What suggestions would you make to those wanting to go green but not knowing where to start?

Start at home. There are numerous small steps we can take around the home to “green up” our lives. Just start by making the switch on one thing (serviettes for reusable napkins, tissues for hankies, paper towel for old towels, baking paper for butter wraps… the kitchen is a GREAT place to start!). You’ll find that within a few days you’ll have hardly noticed the change and will feel motivated to continue.

Q8: Any other advice / comments regarding going green you’d like to share?

Start small. It’s better to begin with baby steps and actually have them stick than to bite off more than you can chew and find yourself falling promptly back into old habits. Begin with one small, simple transition. Do it till it’s second nature, then take on another one. It’s all about changing our habits through changing our mindset – and mindset changes can take time.

But keep at it - it’s worth it!

Author BIO

Eva Van Strijp is a mother of five, business owner and creator of SimplicityKickstart – a free 14 day guide to conquering the chaos.

When Eva isn’t hanging out with her family or running a business, she’s eating chocolate, listening to podcasts or tending her veggie patch.

  

Disconnect Between Emotional and Rationale

Have you ever observed people spending money? It can be hard to see what people spend money on in supermarkets and large chain stores, however, since JOLI have been holding a market stall it's a little easier to watch people and notice where they part ways with their hard earned cash and how it matches up (or not) with their ethics.

For example, at markets, the highest selling product is food. Not the type of food you take home to cook for the family but immediate, ready made, takeaway food in throwaway (add to landfill) packaging. People selling cheap trinkets also sell a lot, while those with specialty items, especially more pricey items, lag behind in sales. Many people consider beauty products a luxury and therefore not worth their money or ethics.

Recently JOLI were at a three day festival all about women connecting with each other, Mother Earth and themselves. From our humble little stall we were able to see the people coming and going and which stalls sold LOTS and which didn't.

To begin with, there was a lady across the way who had a friend who was confused about where her stall was.  I went over to say hello, realised they were having this issue and proffered a stall map to help and guided them over to the staff for further help.  They literally did not respond to my hello and gave me annoyed looks, you know the one... "Why are you talking to us!".  Later I asked to borrow a hammer because it was so windy marquees were almost going flying (some did fly away!).  Whilst the hammer was loaned, the look that accompanied the hammer - as though I was being so annoying and intrusive.  So much for sisterhood!  I found out days later that the stall holder's friend thought her stall was going to be where mine was and was annoyed that it wasn't and somehow this was my fault, or at the very least worth taking out on me by way of rudeness/coldness.  Feeling the sisterhood love right there... not!

For the most part the women there were (meant to be) spiritual beings, at one with the earth, garden and nature, many vegetarians and animal lovers and activists. The type of women who passed by the JOLI stall, read our ingredients labels (some of the cleanest skin care on the market) and balked because we use beeswax (in only a few products). While they were happy to apply lavish amounts of creams and lotions from the sample pots, say how wonderful the creams are, they purchased very little (kind of scabby and not very spiritual or respectful of the work involved in making my skin care products).

These same women spent copious amounts of money on strands of clip-in dread locks ($25 per dread) made with synthetic fabric and synthetic dyes (that are most likely tested on animals), mass produced clothing (possibly from sweat shops and most likely using synthetic dyes, tested on animals), tarot readings, temporary henna ink art and take away food on plastic plates and paper cups (but at least the forks were bamboo).

Quite frankly, the people were somewhat laughable when they're eating all that takeaway food on disposable plastic plates and paper cups and putting them in the regular bins instead of the recycle bins (which is exactly what hundreds of people did at the festival). Not a lot of ethics or 'connecting with Mother Nature' about that.

Further more, if any of the ladies at the festival use fly spray, insect repellent, Glen 20, washing detergent, disinfectant, mainstream soaps, perfumes, hair dyes, have a large wardrobe etc. then they need to remember those things are far more harmful for the environment and animals that a couple of grams of beeswax in a lip balm.

People kidded themselves that they were being Earth Loving beings (or even self loving) while spending huge amounts of money on instant gratification and disposable items. At the same time talking themselves out of genuinely beneficial products where a lot of hard work has gone into the ethics of what JOLI produce. For me personally, taking care of my skin with clean, green products is far more important and ethical, with long term benefits, than $25 synthetic dread locks, $25+ henna art that will only last a week, $5 cups of coffee and mass produced clothing.

Whilst observing this it was easy to see there is a disconnect between our emotional and rational side. Our rational side is all like: I'm a vegan and don't eat or hurt animals and practice yoga and ride everywhere and I'm all about connecting with and protecting Mother Earth. While our emotional side is all like: Oh I want it, I MUST have it and I cannot differentiate between want and need, good and bad, earth friendly or environmental hazard.

It's time to get real about what we spend money on. If we are really are about saving the earth and protecting animals and being spiritually connected then making purchases based on 'wanting' an item vs 'needing' an item isn't going to work. You HAVE to ask yourself, do I really need this mass produced disposable item? Do I really need more clothes made in sweat shops, sold for cheap and produced at such vast quantities that we destroy the earth just to provide them?

Let your rationale guide you and not your emotions.