Happy New Year and welcome to 2010! As each day, week, month and year pass since we started this little journey of putting a little more eco friendly style into peoples lives, the "Green" movement continues to grow.
Of course this is not only great for people that have always taken an eco friendly approach in their lives but it is even better for Mother Earth! Yet as "Green Living and Lifestyles" grow so does "Green Washing" and we all need to be even more vigilant on assuring the products we use in our lives are truly making a difference on this planet.
Daily we are bombarded with terms and catch phrases like - Eco Friendly, Green, Sustainable, Organic, Okeotex approved, Fair Trade, Reduce - ReUse - Recycle, etc etc etc. The cool thing is that there are so many stories beyond the "Green" stories and even when a product is not "100% Green" it still can make a difference.
Products that give back to the community in which they were produced. Building Schools, supporting the people that build their products, water conservation, sustainable farming, community planning, etc are all things that we feel are just as important as being an "Earth Friendly" product.
But beyond this we continue to help educate the communities in and around our Javanese manufacturing facility. For example, taking the sawdust and reclaimed scrap wood leftover from manufacturing and selling at the local markets for livestock bedding etc. With the proceeds used to buy school books and supplies or take the manufacturing staff on eco trips to the Rainforest, Jungles, and Beaches of Java. Most of which have never left the 10 or 15 km radius of their local village but now have a more broad understanding of how their lives in the village may affect the beaches and ocean thru inland stream runoff or burning of toxic materials affecting the canopies of the rainforest.
With this philosophy in mind, you'll be seeing some cool products coming up on the Maku EcoShop that we feel make a community difference in the manufacturing process and of course have a sustainable and eco-friendly vibe.
Don't forget a difference starts with One person and when we each do a little bit BIG things happen! So take those Eco Resolutions, make them realistic and set a base to build from for many years to come.
From the crew here at Maku Furniture we wish you a Great and Green 2010.
Check it, a friend of Maku EcoShop is a Realtor here in North County San Diego and loves the Eco Candle Company Beach House soy candles. So much in-fact that she bought our entire stock of Beach House candles to give to her clients for the holidays and to use during open houses to add a little something special to the ambiance of the homes she is selling. (But don't worry we have more coming before the end of the week!)
Soy candles by Eco-Candle Co. are cool and clean burning and will enhance your home or make the perfect gift for environmentally conscious friends. Burn time for a 16 oz. Eco-Candle is an amazing 90-100 hours.
Aside from saving some Cent's, have great Sense to give an Eco Friendly Gift, and the amazing Scent of these candles here are Six great reasons why to buy an Eco-Candle Co. soy wax candle:
1. Eco-Candles are cleaner burning – no toxins, carcinogens or pollutants which means they are less likely to trigger allergies and unlike petroleum-based paraffin candles they give off no petrol-carbon soot. 2. Eco-Candles last longer – soy wax burns cooler which means in general they will last 30-50% longer than a paraffin candle. 3. Eco-Candle Co. soy wax is certified kosher and contains no herbicides or pesticides. 4. Eco-Candle Co. uses only the highest quality scents and dyes. 5. Eco-Candle Co. uses only cotton, paper or hemp wicks. 6. Best of all — These soy candles are made in the USA.
A Day Without a Bag is an education and grassroots event started by Heal the Bay in LA that involves businesses and individuals throughout Southern California and beyond. On this day we ask holiday shoppers and retailers to forgo single-use, plastic shopping bags in favor of reusable bags. In addition, Surfrider will be handing out reusable bags in conjunction with the Cities of Encinitas and Oceanside.
DID YOU KNOW: - Each year, an estimated 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide. That comes out to over one million per minute. - Californians throw away 294,000,000 pounds of plastic bags every year, or 147,000 tons. - 600 plastic bags are thrown away every second in California. - Most of the bags we use are NOT recycled! They are littering our oceans, beaches, landfills and killing animals & birds.
On Thursday December 17th, please tell your friends and family to forget the single-use bag at the store and get hip with a reusable bag. Here are a few tips on remembering your reusable bags for the next trip....
Keep your bags in your car, Write "REMEMBER BAGS" at the top of your grocery list each week, Hang a bag on the door knob to your garage or someplace near by, Keep a reusable bag or two in your purse or backpack, Ask the kids to remind you to bring your bags as part of earning their allowance.
By the way, we will be adding these to the Maku Ecoshop in the next couple of days
Measure your Keiki's growth by recording his or her height within the two stripes (which are intentionally left unfinished) for easy marking.
Like all ecotots products, the growth chart is made from 100% formaldehyde-free,FSC Certified real wood and has a non-toxic, water-based finish.
This eco-friendly longboard hangs on the wall and also doubles as a coat hook when rotated 180 degrees. It’s certain to become a cool keepsake when your ecotot becomes an ecoteen.
By the way, sorry for the lack of updates, been swamped shipping tons of new Maku pieces all across the country. To those that have purchased a new piece for their outdoor space a big high 5 and thanks!
I found this little gem - "Fish for Thought" on the LeucadiaProject.com. Ed and David are a couple of locals guys that surf the same spots as I do. Ed's zest for surf culture is second to none and David is an incredible photographer.
So check it out, Local North County artist Rodney McCoubrey takes trash found in and around our local beaches and re-purposes it to some pretty cool artwork. Combined with an Eco-Educational aspect with some of the local kids in Del Mar and you have a pretty rad little project going!
The event was yesterday and hopefully the dreary weather did not put a damper on things. (Yes you read right, I said "Dreary" weather.... This time of year we get a little May Gray and June Gloom...)
FISH for THOUGHT
MILE of ART on the beach in Del Mar
TEACHES KIDS, COMMUNITY, ABOUT RECYCLING
Featuring Rodney McCoubrey
Elementary students' artwork display from recycled materials (trash to treasure)
with local artist Rodney 'Rodrigo' McCoubrey this Saturday, May 30th. on the beach in Del Mar
A mile of marine-themed artwork—colorful concoctions of scrap wood, old toothbrushes, aluminum soda tabs, popped balloons and the like, mounted on recycled sticks--winding "Christo style" along the scenic Del Mar coastline. Trash to treasure - a message of HOPE and RECYCLING.
Mini-masterpieces, the kids call Fish Sticks, will be proudly created and displayed to tell the tale ending ocean pollution.
This simple recycling/art project by 400 Del Mar Elementary School children has taken on a life of its own in their hearts and minds, while heightening ocean pollution awareness. Fish For Thought will culminate this Saturday, May 30th, from Power House Park North to Dog Beach in Del Mar in an all-community beach cleanup and coastline art installation along Del Mar beach.
Local recycled-trash artist Rodrigo (aka Rodney McCoubrey) will help them create their own one-of-a-kind recycled wooden fish, embellished with recycled trash collected from the beach and home. www.FishForThought.org
Filmmakers will be onhand to document this grass roots effort and are fundraising to complete an educational documentary. Del Mar hopes to highlight this pilot program as an example of what a community can do to reverse the negative impact trash makes on our beaches and ocean - a small community with a big message.
Local Chief Lifeguard Pat Vergne says, “Our community is using art to raise awareness about trash and the negative effect it has on the health of our marine life and our coastal community. We are thrilled to be supporting the Fish Sticks exhibition and the 5th annual Keep Del Mar Clean community beach clean up as we kick off our city’s new recycling program.”
Additional partners in the project include the City of Del Mar and environmental group “Keep Del Mar Clean.”
Beach clean up will take place from 9:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m. at Power House Park in Del Mar.
Fish Sticks will be on display 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. , Power House Park north to Dog Beach in Del Mar, this Saturday May 30th.
Designed and developed by fellow surfers David “Kawika” Watt, Kealii Mamala, and Dale Geldum, whom all saw an unfortunate abundance of "trash being left behind on island beaches and in hotels each year. These include recreational items such as “boogie boards,” straw and inflatable plastic mats, and literally any other floating device found on the sand and in the water by day’s end."
So they approached the hotels about helping them take care of this problem and here you have it - Kini Beach Tote Bags.
A pretty rad idea and everybody here at Maku are going to pick up a few of these totes on our next trip to the islands!
Mahalo to the crew of Kini Beach nice job keeping the beaches clean!
Happy Earth Day 2009 to All. We're taking the day off to go surf and then clean up the beaches as well as cruise around to the local earth day celebrations.
In honor of Earth Day, here are 5 things you can do to lessen your impact on Mother Earth (courtesy of our friends at the Surfrider Foundation)
If you happen to be in the North San Diego County area this weekend check out Jake Shimabukuro on Saturday night at the Grace Theater in O'side. All proceeds from the concert go to the California Surf Museum.
Our kids are off from School this week and we have been chilling at the beach, perfect weather, the water is starting to warm up and we have a nice little swell scheduled to fill in on Tuesday...!
I'll have some green wisdom later in the week. Until then make sure you live everyday to the fullest!
Here's a shot from our local beach earlier this afternoon. Sorry for poor quality, shot it with my Iphone.
One of my biggest pet peeves is when people throw their cigarette butts out the window. Be it on the highway, in a neighborhood and especially on the beach.
Cigarette butts are the #1 item found in urban run off pollution throughout Southern California. If you smoke, hold on to your butts. If you don't smoke, even better!
One of the things I love about living near the beach is that sometimes you still see some "funky" stuff despite the commercialization that is now Southern California. It's nice to know that North County still seems to have a bit of that "funk" especially in Leucadia.
It turns out this particular "labyrinth" is designed to bring peace and tranquility to those enjoying it. It was also built in celebration of one of the sand people's birthdays. The results were funky crystals, the beat of drums, and dancing through the labyrinth.
The waves today were 2 ft, crumbly, and an on shore wind but I had the best session of my life and didn't even catch a wave.
Today my 9 yr old son Mason paddled outside and in to the lineup and caught his own waves! He has been surfing for 2 years but until today stayed in the safety of the shore break where he could "hop" onto the whitewash after the wave broke. Well my boy can finally say he is a surfer since he paddled out with me and caught his own waves. I'm one proud dad for sure!!
Here is a pic of him with his new "used" board that we picked up from the crew @ K5 a few months ago. (sorry for the poor quality I took it with my cell phone...)
Check out this amazing video that the crew over at Hurley put together featuring non other than the Prince of Bali and Maku Lifestyle Ambassador - Rizal Tanjung.
Riz is sponsored by Hurley and this is the 2nd installment in their Sound and Vision series. We'll have the videos up and available for viewing on www.makufurniture.com in a couple of days. In the meantime, ENJOY the sights and sound of Bali firsthand with Rizal
Last night about 11:15 pm the CCC voted overwhelmingly 8-2 against the 241 Toll road! There were some great comments during the hearing yesterday including the following from Ralph Faust, retired Coastal Commission counsel in response to the TCA's attempts to sway the vote by bribing ooops I mean "offering" 100 million dollars in subsidies to parks throughout California.
"I can't say this more clearly, offers of money can't buy compliance with the Coastal Act."
Although by the end of the night there were only a few hundred supporters remaining the excitement and energy from what the Surfrider foundation as well as all the thousands of supporters that attended earlier in the day will be felt for long time!
So as you have read most of this week, today was the big hearing for the California Coastal Commission to make a decision on the 241 Toll road that would cut straight through Trestles and San O' state beach.
So after a very chilly morning surf, I went on down to attend the rally sponsored by The Surfrider Foundation in order to mobilize the troop. Surfrider was hoping for 1000 or so people to show up and give support and by my estimates there must have been at least 3000 and maybe as many as 5000 people all against the toll road! Although I could not stay for the entire day, the 3 hours I did spend there were amazing!
Many surf celebrities ranging from World Champion Shaun Tomson, to local hero's Taylor Knox and Holly Beck, to the former Transworld Media receptionist and now superstar MC of Action Sports Sal Masakella were all in attendance and it was cool to mingle with old school eco-hippies, surf stars, local groms, and eco-conscious business owners alike.
This goes to prove the fact that you can think globally and act locally! While I am a long ways from "Treehugger" status, it is no secret that I appreciate and care for our environment. Be it in my backyard, our state, country or globally.
I just wish I would have taken the kids out of school today so they could have experienced a grass roots movement to defend our environment first hand.
Here are some pics from the day:
Side by side images of the current day trestles and a rendering "after" should the 241 get approved.
These girls were getting "hassled" by the police because they were "protesting" in the wrong area...
The Crowd gets all Fired up!
How many rallies do you think this guy has been too? Looks like a seasoned veteran!
The State and the TCA brought in some Cal Trans Workers for the day.
By the way, they were on the State payroll for the day. hmmm
While I usually try and steer clear of politically charged issues and discussions, I can't help but congratulate the House of Representatives on passing a new energy bill (H.R. 6) that could have a significant positive impact on our environment - Of course this seems like a no brainer to me but then that's probably why I am not a politician... :)
- Raising fuel economy standards to 35 miles per gallon by 2020 -- the first such increase in more than 30 years.
- Requiring 15 percent of our country's electricity to come from clean, renewable, homegrown sources such as the wind and solar by 2020.
- Will dramatically increase production of biofuels to reduce our dependence on foreign oil.
Now it's up to the Senate to pass the same bill and put it into law. To contact your local Senators and let them know this issue is important to you click here
Welcome to the crew @ Soho Living in Florida! With 3 stores in the state we are really stoked to have Anand, Joe, and the rest of the staff preaching the power of Maku sustainable outdoor living!
A fresh shipment of Maku goods are on their way to Soho Living and if you live in Florida, have friends in Florida, are visiting in Florida, or just want to check out a really cool retailer that is taking an eco friendly stance by brining in products such as Maku, then go to their website for all details and contact info!
Now I can go see my buddy Rob, surf a good hurricane swell, stop in on the Soho Living crew and call it a business trip, sweet!!!
