Sustainable Brown Girl

Today's featured sustainable brown girl is Caeresa Richardson, the owner of Ecodessa* - Central New York’s first sustainable fashion boutique. After spending many years as a corporate engineer Caeresa created Ecodessa to unite style and awareness, making them accessible for the everyday woman. Through her unique perspective, both technical and chic, she empowers women to express their social values through their personal style. 

*Ecodessa, formerly known as Gypsy Freedom, as referred in this episode. The name was changed after this recording.

Fashion is one of the best ways to represent ourselves and our unique personalities. As someone who is concerned about environmental and social issues, learning about how your clothes are made is important. If been in the sustainability community for a while, you've probably heard the term, fast fashion, which is the mass production of cheap, poor quality, disposable clothing. Some of the top offenders are Forever 21, H&M, and Fashion Nova.   

There are many problems with the production and lifecycle of these brands, including human rights issues for long working hours and hazardous working conditions, extreme water usage and the dumping of untreated toxic waste waters, as well as the shed of microfibers from synthetic fabrics entering our water streams.  In order to avoid supporting fast fashion brands, many people turn to shopping secondhand, or supporting businesses with more ethical practices, like today's guest.  

Visit Gypsy Freedom online:https://www.ecodessa.com/

Follow Gypsy Freedom on Social Media: 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shopecodessa/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shopecodessa/

TikTok: @shopecodessa

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Watch the video interview on YouTube: https://youtu.be/12_EZByFE6A

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Reading the ingredient list on the back of a body wash, lotion, or shampoo bottle will have you reaching for Wikipedia. Over the years we've learned about the negative health effects of a poor diet and what we put inside of our body, but what about what we put on it? The average woman uses 12 different beauty products every day, and with most leading brands containing toxic ingredients like parabens, phthalates, and petroleum, our bodies are drinking up chemicals that cause cancer, infertility, and other chronic health problems. It's a little scary, but today's guest will give us some tips on how to transition our beauty routines to incorporate healthier products.

Hannah McCall is an educator, a truth-seeker, and motivator to Black women seeking to put their health & success first. She created and founded Clean Beauty for Black Girls to create a platform for Black women to connect, find safer products and support one another. As a fierce champion for justice and the elevation of Black women, she is working to make the connection between the toxins in our everyday products and the health issues affecting Black women on a large scale.

Visit the website: cleanbeautyforblackgirls.org

Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cleanbeautyforblackgirls

Donate to Sustainable Brown Girl on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/sustainablebrowngirl

Watch the video interview on YouTube: https://youtu.be/X9QhMffLftM

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Climate change is a multifold, complex issue with many causes and effects. It's a global crisis that the entire world must work together to face. In today's episode, we chat with  Gwen Lynn, Environmental Scientist and Founder of In A Green Minute Environmental Safety Science Consultants. We dive into a few of the UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals, which are a call to action for all countries around the world to promote prosperity while protecting the planet.  

A few of these goals include ending poverty and hunger, better education, clean water & energy, and climate action. The UN set a date of 2030 to achieve these goals, which may seem ambitious to some, but with at the rate economic inequality and natural disasters are growing, we have no choice but to escalate solving these issues. #envision2030 

Tune in to the podcast to learn more about these Sustainable Development Goals and how we can make an impact.   

Subscribe to Gwen's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCik1JEc3Bvo8h5pkPFvC_Bw

Follow Gwen on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/inagreenminute/

Follow Gwen on Twitter: https://twitter.com/inagreenminute

Follow Gwen on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/inagreenminute60

Follow Gwen on TikTok: @inagreenminute 

Read Gwen's Greenpeace article: https://greenpeacefund.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Web-version-GP-Legacy-newsletter-Fall-2020.pdf 

Discussion References:  

UN's Sustainable Development Goals: https://sdgs.un.org/goals

NASA: https://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/#:~:text=Global%20Temperature%20Rise,atmosphere%20and%20other%20human%20activities. 

GM moving to electric: https://www.gm.com/electric-vehicles.html 

Donate to Sustainable Brown Girl on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/sustainablebrowngirl

Watch the video interview on YouTube: https://youtu.be/QZU-bJJgIio

Visit the Sustainable Brown Girl Website: https://www.sustainablebrowngirl.com/

Follow Sustainable Brown Girl on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sustainablebrowngirl/

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Houseplants have made a comeback! Well, I'm not sure they ever fell off, but millennials and gen z are filling their homes with more plants than ever! Another lost skill that's making a comeback, is vegetable gardening. Women of color, and black women in particular, are going back to their roots and growing some of their own. With more of us being at home since the start of the pandemic, many of us have wanted to beautify our spaces with plants, but some of us aren't quite sure how to take care of them... In this episode, we'll be talking to Jasmine Jefferson, the founder of Black Girls with Gardens. 

In this episode, we talk about how to choose a houseplant for your space, we share some advice on what to consider when starting a garden, and how to use plants in your self care routine.

Visit the Black Girls with Gardens website: http://www.blackgirlswithgardens.com/

Follow Black Girls with Gardens on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blackgirlswithgardens/

Follow Black Girls with Gardens on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BlackGirlsWithGardens

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It’s a new year, and it’s the perfect time for a fresh start with our sustainable goals. In this video, I share 7 simple sustainable goals that you can incorporate into your life. 

Reference:  Why You Should Quit Recycling: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cn4ATdRxPUs

How to Save the Planet Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/1KzrasExlM5dgMYwgFHns6?si=ret_nBQJR8yx5fSMtmQn7Q  

All We Can Save: https://amzn.to/3bfoxNE

Produce bags: https://amzn.to/2XcUSfO

Basic Ass Vegan: https://ashley-renne.myshopify.com/

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The holidays are upon us, and during the most consumerist time of year, I’m sharing tips on how to navigate this season while still minimizing your waste and impact to the planet.

This is the last episode of 2020 so before we dive into today’s topic, I want to take the time to express my gratitude to everyone who has listened to this podcast, left a review, followed us on Instagram, sent an encouraging DM, subscribed to the YouTube channel, and just supported this community in any way. Thank you. I’m looking forward to continuing to grow and being able to share the stories of more sustainable brown girls!

See our WOC Small Business Sustainable Gift Guide: https://www.sustainablebrowngirl.com/post/sustainable-brown-girl-holiday-gift-guide

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Have you ever looked at the ingredients on the leading beauty or cleaning products? It's a long list of chemicals that most of us struggle to pronounce. Ingredients like parabens, sulfates, and phthalates are commonly found in these products, and although they're approved by the FDA, they are known to disrupt hormones, harm fertility and reproductive organs, and increase the risk of cancer. The US has a long way to go regarding the safety of ingredients included in our beauty products, cleaning products, and food, but that's a topic for another day. Today we're chatting with two small business owners, Monique Garraud Kofsky of Butter + Lye and Erica Ahmed of The Green Laundress, who are creating non-toxic products to clean our bodies and homes.   

Shop Butter + Lye: https://butterandlye.com/

Follow Butter + Lye on IG: https://www.instagram.com/butterandlye/ 

Shop The Green Laundress: http://thegreenlaundress.com/buy-now.html

Follow Butter + Lye on IG: https://www.instagram.com/thegreenlaundress/ 

Donate to Sustainable Brown Girl on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/sustainablebrowngirl

Subscribe to Sustainable Brown Girl on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMTYdJ87UUbMxgkx_WwNzag

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Today's episode is all about hair! Women of color, particularly  black women or those with textured hair, have a special relationship with our hair. We all have memories of sitting in someone's kitchen getting our hair pressed, relaxed, or braided. We have memories of loving our hair, hating our hair, and probably wishing to change our hair. Its such an important aspect of our lives and culture, so it's no surprise that hair care is something to be considered while on our sustainability journey.

In this episode I'm chatting with the founders of two small businesses that in my opinion, will shift how we look at sustainability in the hair industry.

First, we'll talk to Dominique about her low waste hair care brand, Consciously curly co. Then we sit down with Jannice Ne and Nana about how they are building the first plant based braiding hair company. Yes, you heard that right - plant based braiding hair!

I've been forgetting to remind all of the podcast listeners that I post video interviews on our YouTube channel. So if you want to see everyone's hair from this episode, click the link below to subscribe to Sustainable Brown Girl on YouTube.

Shop Consciously Curly Co: https://consciouslycurlyco.com/

Follow Consciously Curly Co on IG: https://www.instagram.com/consciouslycurlyco/ 

Visit Lillian Augusta website: https://lillianaugustahair.com/

Follow Lillian Augusta on IG: https://www.instagram.com/lillianaugustahair/

Donate to Sustainable Brown Girl on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/sustainablebrowngirl

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If you've been in the sustainability movement for a while, you may have heard about people being able to fit months or years worth of trash into a mason jar. For many of us, this may seem like an unrealistic aspiration, or one only achievable by upper middle class white women who are usually seen heading the zero waste movement. However, historically people of color have been living zero waste or low waste lifestyles out of economic necessity for ages.  

Today's featured sustainable brown girl is Anamarie Shreeves, one of the leading people of color in the zero waste movement. Since she began her zero waste journey in 2014 and fit 8 months of trash in a single mason jar, Ree has been featured on CNN, Essence magazine, PBS, and the Atlanta Tribune, just to name a few. Ree also the founder of @fortnegrita, a former blog turned cooperative, an online zero waste store and organizer of trash free projects in Atlanta.

Visit the Fort Negrita Blog & Online Store: https://www.fortnegrita.com/ 

Follow Ree & Fort Negrita on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fortnegrita/  

Zero Waste Habesha: https://www.instagram.com/zerowastehabesha/ 

Zero Waste Misconceptions: https://www.fortnegrita.com/blogs/fort-negrita-blog/i-am-not-a-zero-waster-and-other-misconceptions-about-zero-waste?_pos=1&_sid=844390b87&_ss=r  

Womanism is Environmentalism: https://www.fortnegrita.com/blogs/fort-negrita-blog/womanism-is-environmentalism?_pos=1&_sid=5fcff4a62&_ss=r  

CNN feature: https://www.cnn.com/videos/living/2015/03/16/orig-living-zero-waste.cnn

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One of the great benefits of living a sustainable lifestyle is that you can save a lot of money! For example, by using a water filter and refillable bottle, you save on buying single use plastic bottles every week. Or by switching to reusable period products, you can save money on buying pads and tampons every month. Usually there is a higher initial cost, but over time, your bank account will see the difference.  

Today's featured Sustainable Brown Girl is Ariel Maldonado, an online environmental educator and activist based out of Los Angeles. She is the founder and owner of the Instagram page @Gogreensavegreen.

Follow SaveGreenGoGreen on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gogreensavegreen/

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