Amazing Wildlife Organizations You Need to Know

From volunteering to donation to pledging to adopting wild animals - there are so many ways for us to get involved to protect wildlife in their natural habitats. Beyond preservation, sometimes we sit at home dreaming and wondering about animals through our imagination. With the power of the internet these days, you can actually reach out and participate from wherever you are! In the spirit of #WorldWildlifeDay, here are 5 organizations we think you should know about:

1) Orang Hutan Republik Foundation

Our love for Indonesia goes a long way and we're well aware that one of the most magnificent creatures that relate to humanity are the Orang Utans. They are suffering from deforestation and threats driven by mankind's greed. From planting trees to diminishing palm oil consumption, find out how you can take actions to help keep them free and wild.

2) Wildlife Conservation Society

They are currently working to save the majestic whale species inhabiting the waters off New York because they are under serious threats. WCS 'saves wildlife and wild places worldwide through science, conservation action, education, and inspiring people to value nature'.

3) World Wildlife Fund

With an inspiring motto that says, 'SAVING A PLANET OF LIFE', this organization needs no introduction. A 50 year old initiative on a mission to protect the future of nature, WWF focuses on saving populations of the most ecologically, economically and culturally important species in the wild. They believe that 'by protecting species, we save this beautiful, vulnerable and utterly irreplaceable planet we call home'.

4) World Animal Foundation

Looking out for all animal's interests, did you know that you can actually adopt a wild animal? This all volunteer organization is dedicated to the preservation and protection of the planet 'through public education, research, investigations, animal rescue, legislation, special events, and direct action'.

5) Panthera

Are you a cat lover? From tigers, lions, jaguars, leopards and cheetahs, this organization is devoted exclusively to the conservation of the world’s 38 wild cat species and their ecosystems. They believe that the preservation of wild cats, our landscape guardians is another means of keeping our ecosystem healthy and intact.

6) WildEarth Guardians

Protecting and restoring the wildlife, wild places, wild rivers, and health of the American West, this organization is working on climate and energy programs to build a future that will be 100% powered by renewable energy by 2035.

 

We're always on a look out for organizations that work hard to conserve and preserve our beautiful wildlife and their natural habitats. As you know nature and animals have always inspired us in many ways through our collection of green sarongs, animal prints and patterns. We're happy to support organizations who share our mission in wanting to protect Mother Earth and so if you know of any campaigns or causes that we should get to know and give back to, please leave a comment below!

The Natural Fashionista X 1WS

We love seeing how gorgeous Bloggers style our sarongs! Say hello to the beautiful fashion icon Kim from The Natural Fashionista showing us what Naturally Fashionable is all about. Make sure to go over the her blog and show her post some love! She styled everything beautifully and showed her viewers how versatile our sarongs really are and how beautiful and flattering they look on curvy bodies.

Jungle Brown Tie Dye Sarong

Red Smoked Sarong

Jungle Baby Blue Tie Dye Sarong

Got style tips to share and want to collaborate with 1WORLDSARONGS? We would love to hear from you. Whether you're a fashion enthusiast or sarong lover, drop us a message anytime here.

Thanksgiving: 10 Things We Are Grateful For This Year

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, we made a list to celebrate gratitude. We're in our 16th year in business and we're so blessed to be able to say, it's been an amazing journey! Here are 10 things we are grateful for this year:

1)We had the means to sponsor several animal charities 

We love nature and animals so we want to give back where we can. We got the opportunity to work with The Amanda Foundation and Orangutan Republic. If you know of any organizations or charity that we should work with, please point us to the right direction.

2) We were able to revamp our warehouse and corporate offices

We did a makeover of 1 World Sarongs Southern California location where we set up a new photo studio so we can explore our creativity and take better photos of all our collection

3) We cut out Palm Oil and we recycle within in our offices

Our mission is to assimilate the art of sustainability in our business practices and so we're trying to be more aware with our actions.

4) Family time

Where would I be without my wife and kids? Says owner Terry Sherry. We couldn't agree more. There's nothing more important than quality time with the people we love the most.

5) Faith in God and humanity

We maintain peace in our state of being and keep our core beliefs strong.

6) Great Customers both wholesale and retail

Loyal and supportive, nothing makes us happier than a happy customer! We are driven by what we do to bring happiness to all our customers. 

7) Support and synergy within 1 World Family Team 

More than just work colleagues, we are a family! We got a strong foundation of great people we work with both new and old.

8) Beautiful New Designs 

Thanks to our amazing team of artisans we work with in Bali, we launched a range of floral and colorful sarongs plus clothing. With fresh prints and patterns in our new arrivals, we take our passion for art seriously and hope to continue hand making beautiful designs inspired by Mother Nature and our travel adventures. We also launched a new line for kids sarongs, added more plus size and men sarong styles. 

9) We redesigned our e-store and launched our new website

That's right, we finally got a makeover after a long time and it was a big step for us! We needed to take it slow and made sure we worked out the kinks so we can continue to keep our customers happy. One of the common feedback from our customers when they shop with us at 1 World Sarongs is that they wanted better features and categorization for all our products so they can browse at ease. You can now have a great shopping experience on our updated website plus enjoy other features like product reviews and create wishlists. What else do you like about our new site?

10) Beautiful office locations in both South California and Bali

We get to work and live in two amazing destinations both California, USA and Bali, Indonesia. Living the dream!

Have you ever tried this little activity? It's great practice to remind ourselves about the simple things that matter and how important it is to be thankful in order to live a purposeful live. Through this list of gratitude, you get to take a step back and evaluate what you've accomplished for the year and continue to make the best out of the remaining days of 2016 and aspire for bigger dreams in 2017. It's an act of mindfulness to help with clarity of the mind and to allow ourselves to reconnect with the self and our surroundings. Here's what you need to do to create a 'gratitude list':

1) Free up a couple of hours and find a safe space. This could be anywhere, be it at home or at a park or by the beach. Wherever the location may be, it's important that you feel safe where you are.

2) You will need a paper and pen, maybe a diary or journal. Avoid using computers or phones, the idea is to unplug from distractions.

3) When you're ready, sit still and close your eyes. Take deep breaths and continue to breathe for 5 minutes. 

4) Once 5 minutes is up or whenever you feel at ease, open your eyes again and start writing. Every sentence should begin with - "I am thankful for........................"

5) Write from no.1 until no.10 whether you have less or more points, feel free to shorten or expand. What is key is that you continue to write without getting distracted and allow yourself to feel every memory and thought.

6) Take 30 minutes for this exercise. Take your time to write, do not force or rush the process. Once 30 minutes is up, take a step back. Then re-read your list again. You will be amazed by what you've written and you will start to think about the people in your life that you've given thanks to.

Try it out and tell us what you think! How did it feel? We would love to hear from you. Leave us a comment below.

How Do We Make Sarongs? The Embroidery Method.

Got yourself one of our embroidered sarongs? What is embroidery anyway? If don't know by now, this artistry skill requires a lot of dedication and patience.

Embroidered Sarong

A needle and thread is used to stitch and create the pattern designs onto a piece of sarong cloth. These days the art of embroidering are also used to incorporate other materials onto a fabric such as pearls, sequins, beads and more. In other words, it is an art that combines decorative designs onto textile.

This handicraft has been dated for centuries and perceived as a rich cultural technique for fashion in many different countries.  'Before computers were affordable, most embroidery was completed by "punching" designs on paper tape that then ran through a mechanical embroidery machine. One error could ruin an entire design, forcing the creator to start over' (Wikipedia). However, these days people are moving towards digitized stitch work where industrial machines equipped with a smart software are used to substitute hand embroidering to speed up production.

Here at 1 World Sarongs, we take pride in valuing the artists and their traditional ways of Sarong making and we support the locals when it comes to Indonesian artisan skills.

During our team research on the field, we got to learn the process of embroidery for Batik clothing and sarongs using a sewing machine. For a big piece of cloth in the size of a sarong, the art maker is like 'drawing' with a needle and thread in free motion style to create designs on to the material, basically using a sewing machine to free hand draw and fill in a design.With all the precision and time invested on each sarong, the more detailed the design, the more time consuming it gets.

This intricate handicraft coupled with skillful needlework creates a very attractive sarong with embroidery patterns, giving that added beauty and elegance when worn.

So tell us, what do you think about embroidered Sarongs?