Spring Cleaning + Conscious Living: How to Up-cycle Your Pre-Loved Sarongs

Spring is a wonderful time for new beginnings where flowers bloom and nature comes to life again. You can apply the same type of healing for your day to day life by clearing out your closet. We all know that we're guilty of owning more than we ever need and so comes Spring time, it's only natural and necessary for us to get rid of stuff that we no longer use and de-clutter. The state of our wardrobe and home reflect the states of mind and so here's a question: how does your closet look like right now?

As you're packing up unwanted clothing, don't throw out your sarongs just yet! Did you know that there are plenty of ways to up-cycle and reuse your sarongs? Be kind to Mother Nature by learning how to recycle your sarongs and we're here to help you out with this wonderful path of sustainable and mindful living. Need ideas? Here are 5 easy ways to up-cycle your old sarongs:

1) DIY Interior: Pillow Covers or Curtains

Source: Michelle de Baugy via Pinterest

Source: The 36th Avenue via Pinterest

Whether you enjoy sewing or otherwise, there are several ways to make use of your ripped or torn sarongs. You can resize them to fit your cushions or pillows to create a whole new mood at home. You can also cut them into strips and use them as new curtains. These are great home interior ideas for your special events or themed parties too!

2) Patchwork Project: Make a Blanket or Funky Kimono or Dress

Learn how to get this patchwork done here

Source: Wings Hawaii via Pinterest

Source: The Grau House via Pinterest

Make a colorful blanket or quilt by patching up a bunch of random designs from your old sarongs. More than a therapeutic project, you get to explore your sense of creativity using recycled fabrics and make sure you get to do your part to reduce wastage from your fashion collection.

3) New Fashion Accessory: Colorful Headbands or Sash Belt

Learn how to make this here

Learn how to make your very own belt here

Get this cute look by making your own colorful headbands! All you need to have are some scissors to cut up your old sarongs and a dash of creativity to resemble them into a new fashion accessory. You can either sew or braid the pieces of fabric together and use them for your hair piece to match with your outfits or simply turn them into a cool belt that no one else in town is ever going to own so you'll definitely stand out.

4) Rags for Cleanliness: Floor Mat or Table Cloth or Windows Wiper

If you're too lazy to get any sewing or patchwork project done, here's an alternative idea: You can turn your overused sarongs into rags that you can clean your house with. Whether you want to wipe your tables or keep your feet clean or dust up an old garage. Old sarong fabrics are great for this purpose before you decide to throw them away, think again!

5) Sew it Up: Recyclable Bags or Fabric Covered Books or Ironing Board Cover

Source

Sharpen your skills with your sewing machine by creating these cool items. From a brand new cover for your ironing board to shopping bags so you can avoid using plastic bags to a cute fabric covered book that make great gifts - you can experiment with practical ways to reuse your old sarongs. 

What are your thoughts on up-cycling your old sarongs? If you plan to try out any of these ideas, we'd love to hear your feedback. The gentler we can all be on Mother Earth, the better chance we have for our future generation to live in a better world that we'll leave behind. Every step to a sustainable path begins with awareness in our decisions. Our love for sarongs goes beyond creating new designs to bring you happiness, we also consider the many different ways to prolong the life span of our sarongs.

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!

Earth Friendly Gifts: Empowering the 'Munti Gunung' Community

Journey to one of the driest parts of Bali, Indonesia

Living between Bali and California is truly a blessing where we get to enjoy the best of both worlds. Opening our eyes to different communities has only taught us to be humble and motivate our desire to give back to society. One of the latest project collaboration is one we are proud of because it echoes with our values and mission in supporting and empowering communities who needs it the most. 

1 World Family trekking with the locals for an excursion to Munti Gunung

We partnered up with the beautiful people of Munti Gunung after visiting their village tucked away in the North of Bali, Indonesia. These poor and malnourished families are working under a social enterprise that aims to 'create employment opportunities & improved quality of life for disadvantaged families, the program has also secured a clean & sustainable water supply, as well as access to healthcare & education'. We wanted to learn more about their project and so we signed up for a trek organized by the community themselves. This really helped us to understand their difficulty in getting access to water and seeing the harsh reality of an 8 months dry season. Can you imagine what life would be like without access to water?

A big lake tucked between the Balinese hills, the only source of water for the Munti Gunung community.

The legendary Mount Batur surroundings.

Seeing is believing and through the trekking experience, we learned how the women used to trek for 4-5 hours from their homes to the nearest Lake Batur to collect as much water as they can carry and then trek back the same path to get to their families. Thanks to the 'Future of Children' project they have managed to built water tanks to collect rain water to sustain themselves without having to travel a far and long time to attain water. With a quota of 25 liters per family per day, we trekked through the panoramic sights with our thoughtful minds, imagining what it's like to have to do this everyday not for leisure but for survival.

Our pathfinder aka. guide from the village. She woke up at 4am to get a head start of the trek in order to meet us at 6am. 

Serene sights of the hilly slopes of North Bali along the way giving us a tranquil mind to fully absorb the experience.

Our elderly guide walked on strong and calm, smiling at the younger ones as they struggled to keep up with her pace.

Needless to say, it was an empowering experience both physically and mentally. Upon arrival to the village, we were introduced to a lovely group of women who were hand weaving baskets with their adorable children cuddled in their arms and they fulfilled their motherly duties while hand making baskets in order to earn a living. Their genuine smiling faces melted our hearts and we were so happy to get to know the amazing artisans who would weave our gift baskets.

These women use to be prone to begging with their children on the streets in the urban side of Bali. They now have a means of income to feed their families.

With dedication and talent, the women were taught the art of weaving, spending a few hours in their day to fulfill their job responsibilities.

We learned so much from this expedition and we're glad that we get to share this story. You get the opportunity to help out in making a positive change with the simplest gesture. These gift packs are more than just a gift box, it transcends the stories of a group of women who survive on these jobs in order to sustain their everyday lives. Hand weaving 'lontar baskets' was one of the means of activities in generating income for these women. These organic gift boxes are made from naturally sourced local tall fan palms that is traditionally known for its high yielding and sustainable hard wood and sweet sap.

After drying the Lontar leaves, they use a compressor machine  to flatten the material.

Natural material ready to be stripped for weaving.

They use the thinner strips to start weaving into various shapes.

It's the most wonderful time of the year to give and we would like to encourage you to support our path towards a more sustainable focused life. Check out our beautiful hand woven gift boxes made by the wonderful people of Munti Gunung and know that with every purchase you can work with us towards helping others and creating hope for humanity.

The product outcome of the Munti Gunung hand weaving skills that are beautiful and practical, be it for gifts or storage.

10 Inspirational Quotes for Earth Day

Happy Earth Day, folks! If you don't know by now, Earth Day falls on April 22 this year and we fully support a movement that continues to cultivate ideas and inspire humanity to action. We believe that Earth Day is more than just a day, it's a long term commitment and the values we have should be more than just words. The challenge is to transmit thoughts into action and to remind ourselves that sustainability is more than just an idea, it is a way of life.

Our passion and love for Mother Earth is nothing new and we would like to share our 10 favorite and powerful quotes for Earth Day:

1. "Trees are Earth's endless effort to speak to the listening heaven." - Rabindranath Tagore


2. "The care of the Earth is our most ancient and most worthy, and after all our most pleasing responsibility. To cherish what remains of it and to foster its renewal is our only hope. The earth is what we all have in common." - Wendell Berry


3. "The truth is: the natural world is changing. And we are totally dependent on that world. It provides our food, water and air. It is the most precious thing we have and we need to defend it." - David Attenborough


4. "Harmony with land is like harmony with a friend; you cannot cherish his right hand and chop off his left." - Aldo Leopold


5. "We cannot hope to create a sustainable culture with any but sustainable souls." - Derrick Jensen


6. "There's no doomsday scheme made specifically for mankind, only higher agenda and priority than human race preservation." - Toba Beta


7. "Having the right priorities in a wrong world will humble you with a journey that only love can sustain." - Bryant McGill


8. "No one is an environmentalist by birth. It is only your path, your life, your travels that awaken you". - Yann Arthus-Bertrand


9. "Our environment, the world in which we live and work, is a mirror of our attitudes and expectations." - Earl Nightingale


10. "Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed." - Mahatma Gandhi

What are some of your favorite quotes?

Love,

1 World Family

A Mission Statement Focused on Sustainability

Happy New Year! 1 World Sarongs is 15 years old this year! We are proud to say, in 2013 and 2014 we had a healthy increase in our business, we introduced many new products successfully and our customers continue to praise us for our great service and the value we provide to them. We believe that it's a good practice to look back at where we have been and where we are going.

We have been thinking about our mission of creating sustainable businesses. We strongly believe that together with our combined ideas, energy and actions - we can have a much greater effect on our mission! Every day we ask ourselves - How do we be Earth friendly and people friendly and have fun doing it?

Our mission statement is to create a sustainable business by focusing on these points:

• Be gentle on earth - what is our impact/ footprint on our planet? 
• Utilize technology - print only if necessary, so no printed catalog or printed materials – internet only
• Recycling materials - create uses for excess material
• Use less material - maximize fabric cutting
• Efficient shipping methods - sea cargo verse air cargo
• Earth Friendly - create and source products that are Earth friendly and renewable (coconut, bamboo, etc)
• Donate to charities such as Union of Concerned Scientist, The Amazon Foundation, American Red Cross and the Rotary and Oceana, etc.
• Create a product that benefits a certain cause
• People Friendly
• Fair wages / Fair trade
• Healthy working environments
• Support educational programs
• Give back to the community by getting involved with causes that help local communities 
• Get involved with beach clean-ups
• Art Friendly - music, dance
• Supporting and respecting cultural traditions - Create and source handmade items like batik, embroidery, beading, tie dye, fringing, hand screen printing, hand dyed etc. 

So let's think about:

1.    How do we contribute to the solution of creating a better world and yet maintain and increase our living standard?

2.    What are the problems and solutions?

3.    How do we create value that is long lasting?

4.    How do we create relationships that have meaning and provide growth and value?

5.    How do we make it better for all that are involved?

6.    Who has a thought, idea or suggestion on how to accomplish our mission?

As we once heard, “Be the change you want to see in the world”. We truly believe we can make a big difference together. All ideas, thoughts and comments are very much appreciated! We're always happy to hear from you and so you can drop us an email.

Thanks for reading!

With love & peace,

1 World Family