It’s no secret that our planet is becoming increasingly unhealthy for plants, animals and humans to live on. We’re facing climate change, land degradation, air/land/sea pollution and other issues at alarming rates due to our own bad habits.
To put it all into perspective :
-Every year, we extract an estimated 55 billion tons of fossil energy, minerals, metals and bio mass from the Earth.
-The world has already lost 80% of its forests and we’re continually losing them at a daily rate of 375 km2!
-At the current rate of deforestation, 5-10% of tropical forest species will become extinct every decade.
-Every hour, 1,692 acres of productive dry land become desert.
-27% of our coral reefs have been destroyed. If the rate continues, remaining 60% will be gone in 30 years.
-We have a garbage island floating in our ocean, mostly comprised of plastics . It’s currently the size of India, Europe and Mexico combined! (That’s 24,922,335 square kilometres of plastic)
-We are using up 50% more natural resources than the Earth can provide. At our current population, we need 1.5 Earths, which we do not have.
(www.theworldcounts.com, 2014)
Sadly, the figures above are from 2014 and by now, more damage to our beautiful planet has been inflicted.
Luckily, we have those around us conscious enough to make changes necessary to preserve our environment. And, having these environmentally friendly solutions accessible to us to do our part in saving our environment.
Check out these 5 local Eco-Friendly brands :
•Trop Shop – Natural, sustainable and effective ingredients are at the heart of the small batch bath and body products creator. TropShop allows you to keep your indulgence in soaps, shimmer oils, body scrubs, candles and body masks a local affair. They’re super transparent about what goes into making their products and even tells us the only two ingredients they use that aren’t natural due to being preservatives. But the eco star of the show has to be their soap packaging (which is notably VERY gorgeous). Using recycled newspaper print and gentler soy based ink, it’s compostable. Meaning, that it breaks down (in a compost environment) without leaving any trace of harmful ingredients.
Plus with it being soap, this makes saving our environment an everyday thing!
•Rosie Bags- Offering 100% Degradable Garbage Bags available in 4 different colours, Rosie Bags is doing it’s part to help us preserve our local environment.Exactly how does it degrade, according to their website “The molecular chains in our material starts to break down in the presence of moisture, sunlight and oxygen. It will then be consumed by bacteria and fungi after the material has reduced to a molecular weight which permits them to access the carbon and hydrogen.”
Available in Red(HIV/Aids), Pink (Women’s Health/ Cancer),Blue (Ocean Conservation), and Purple (Alzheimer’s) to further bring awareness to different causes, it’s safe to say these bags are Multi-Purpose through and through. They degrade in 24-36 months (as compared to the 10-1000 years it can take for a regular plastic bag to break down) and leaves behind NO toxic residue or fragments. Where can you find Rosie Bags? At these locations!
•The Last Straw and More- From locally grown bamboo to locally produced bamboo straws, TLSM is doing her part to preserve our environment by eliminating the use of plastic straws. The straws are 100% natural, reusable, and biodegradable.
A plastic straw takes around 200 years to decompose, and about 500,000,000 plastic straws are used daily around the world. You don’t need a calculator to tell you the extreme amounts of waste that a simple straw contributes. On the flipside, a bamboo straw, if properly cared for can last up to 5 years, and, when tossed out takes about 4-6 months to fully decompose with no harmful material left. TLSM was born out of the idea to practice zero waste in as many aspects of our daily lives as possible starting with something as small as a straw where locally, we have limited environmentally friendly options.
•Wakeful Wonders- I’m super proud of this brand for two reasons! One- for it being earth-friendly, and two- because its created by an old high school friend of mine! Using ethically sourced containers made from natural recycled kraft paper and 100% compostable the brand WW carries all natural skincare products. For Wakeful Wonder, the name was chosen to evoke a consciousness within us all and further inspire change, the change for us to adopt more environmentally practices in our lives. The line currently carries: Anti Bug-Bite Balm, Herbal Healing Salve, Protective Lip Balm and Revitalizing Lip Balm and made in tandem with an island lifestyle.
•De.Sign Books- Giving hand- painted Bruce Cayonne fete signs a new life, De.Sign Books upcycles to create culture-rich, innovative and eco-friendly books. With two limited edition collections – Quota and Kabuki White, the idea started when the creator needed a birthday present for a friend. What happened next was “adventure in collaboration and learning which has developed my views on our evolving Caribbean aesthetic, design, collaboration, business and innovation.” If you’d like to read more on this project you can right here.
Are you an eco-friendly brand based in Trinidad & Tobago, or the Caribbean?
Then let’s chat!