Styrofoam is the worst. 

PERIOD. 

It's made from oil, not biodegradable, and is one of the leading pollutants we encounter along shores and waterways. According to the EPA, we toss away 25 billion styrofoam cups every year- every year. And since most of these cups take about 500 years to degrade, something needs to be done. While the Dutch Ministry of the Environment and Starbucks' Green Team are two groups out in front, I am thrilled to see the state of California taking such strong initiative to ban these plastic fockers. 

Our hope lies in bill SB 568 and in the California Assembly when they vote by the end of August. 

Other cities leading the way are San Francisco, Oakland, Portland and Toronto. Kudos to them. 

What's the alternative? Carry a reusable. And when that's not an option, there are some other great innovations in disposables underway. Eben Bayer argues for the fungus among us, aka Ecocradle. And we'd like to agree. 

Keep creating Eben! Much respect + appreciation for your work from Holstee. 

 

 

It was just two weeks ago that we sent out smoke signals in hopes of connecting with some of California's most inspiring individuals and organizations- and we were thrilled with the response. Below are some of the highlights. Our adventures started down in San Diego at Dr Bronner's Magic Soap HQ. This family business has 150 years of soap making under their belt and a history worth making into a movie. We were excited to meet David Bronner, current president and 5th generation soap maker. After speaking with David we were inspired by the many progressive milestones this soap company has achieved and continues to have on its radar. Before we left, David connected us with his friend at Livity, a lifestyle and eco apparel company. On the way, we stopped for a coffee break with the wonderful Amrit Richmond, Art Editor of GOOD magazine- a unique quarterly magazine that has become increasingly well know for their telling infographics. Next Stop was Livity. Upon arriving at their beautiful HQ tucked away in the forests of Topanga, CA we knew we'd like these guys. We met much of the team including, including founder Isaac Nichelson who had recently participated with David Bronner in a brilliant display of civil disobedience for legalization of [industrial] hemp. We saw this as a great example of two progressive companies, only linked by their values and the unique uses for industrial hemp as key sustainable resources for their organizations. As a result of meeting with livity, looks like we are one step closer to incorporating Hemp fabrics into upcoming Holstee apparel :-) We then hopped onto Route 1 enroute to San Francisco. While there we met Architecture for Humanity founder and TED presenter, Cameron Sinclair to learn about their work re-building destroyed community centers in India and even building new soccer fields in Africa and a skateboard park in Afghanistan. One of the Archechects, we met was also helping to build a completely recycled, self sustaining boat called, Plastiki scheduled to travel around the world in the coming months. Any extra space in Cameron's office is opened to fellow social enterprises. One we definitely want to acknowledge is Lulan founded by Eve Blossom (also a Ted presenter as of 2 weeks ago). Eve has created what is probably the most thoroughly sustainable textile company we have come across. She found her business with intentions of combating human sex trafficking which has reportedly multiplied as result of the world economy. Through Lulan, she has been able to rehire hundreds of women desperate to support their families, but Eve doesn't stop there. Eve uses Lulan to help subsidize housing and education for the womens' families. While in San Francisco we got the chance to meet up with fellow entreprenuer, Mike Del Ponti, founder of Sparkseed. An innovative incubator and investor for socially focused student entrepreneurs. With Mike we met together with the fun folks over at Virgance - its amazing to see how entrepreneurs all over are working hard to do well, by doing good! Overall, the trip was a true inspiration. Oh and special thanks to our cousin, Omead for lending us his hybrid auto for the trip - only 4 fill ups of the tiny 10 gallon tank the whole trip!

As we prepare to launch our online shop next week, we've taken some time to reflect recently. Just 6 months ago, we were weighing the pro's and con's of quitting our jobs, amidst a growing recession, to start more than a new company, but a new lifestyle for ourselves. The most rewarding part of this journey continues to be the amazing, inspiring people we have met with Holstee as the catalyst. In light of this, we have decided to set out to the golden coast and meet with as many like minded folks as possible. It doesn't matter if you are a revolutionary magic soap maker, a progressive under wear designer student, or a lazy environmentalist, we want to connect on this trip! A quick break down of where we will be when: San Diego: November 19 + 20 Los Angeles: November 28 + 29 Santa Barbara: November 30 Santa Cruz: December 1 San Francisco: December 1 - 4

A quick clip from our travels to California including a purchasing fabrics, celebrating a wedding, enjoying the beach and finalizing our new shirt design. Enjoy! Read the blog post here.

We just got back from an amazing trip in So Cal comprised of a healthy mix of amazing Persian food, dancing and business! After marrying off Mike & Dave's sister, the HOLSTEE team proceed onto LA in search of 3 new pocket styles. After searching high and low, going through all of the latest fabrics and the classics, there they were- the greatest pocket fabrics since the 'Brunch', 'Party', 'Vacation' & 'Business' graced our HOLSTEE T's. We also had a chance to meet with our friends at Alternative Apparel (below) who clearly share our view on the importance of work life balance! Stay tuned - lots of BIG updates ahead!!

Last week Mike and I flew out to Cali making stops in LA’s fashion district and some inspiring locations along the way! Here is a quick recap: Pocket Fabrics! Mike and I went to just about every fabric shop checking out their latest styles. Keeping in mind some of the tips Andy and I had discussed earlier, we tried to identify some new styles to bring Holstee into the next season. We've organized a bunch of great pocket fabrics and would like you to pick which ones we go to production with in the next round ! We will be releasing the new pocket styles on facebook first, so make sure we're connected! Good Magazine Good Magazine is one of our current favorite publications. It is a great source for all things ‘good’ – with bit size articles and visuals that make the thought provoking information digestible and enjoyable to read. In any case, Mike noticed they had an open-ended invitation to visit their HQ in LA. So we planned to take care of some morning emails there. Despite the fact that we popped in unannounced, we were greeted with great hospitality from the super friendly staff. We got the chance to speak with Amrit, who shared our passion for new ideas and gave us some great tips for places to go in LA! Toms Shoes I have long been a fan of Toms Shoes. Much of our inspiration came from companies like them. With the power of positive energy pumping through our circulation, we decided to head to Santa Monica and visit the Toms Shoes headquarter. We didn't really know what to expect but we had a feeling ‘good’ things would happen once there… and well…they did! We spoke with Allison, one of the company's first employees, as she took us through the inspiring story of Toms growth. I had read the story before, but hearing it first hand in the Toms headquarters surrounded by people designing upcoming shoe styles, preparing for a photoshoot and managing their shoe inventory all at the same time the story had new meaning. We left with new appreciation for Toms, and the strategy required for creating a company that is able to scale in order to truly create a sustainable impact. Avita Coop On a roll we decided to stoop into one of LA’s hippest eco-boutiques to find out what new products were on pulse. We spoke with Janelle, the owner. Janelle has leading insight into some of the cutting edge products and fashions in the eco-world and we were glad to tap into some of her thoughts. We look forward to working with Avita coop with our next round of shirts! Multeepurpose While at Good Magazine, I noticed a small postcard that caught my attention. It said “effortless activism” the phrase instantly resonated with me and I quickly looked up the link for Multeepurpose online. Mike and I agreed: we we're not sure how we may be able to collaborate, but that we needed to get connected with these people. Navigating through LA’s rush hour Mike and I made our way to the Multeepurpose where we learned about some of the neat projects Ruriko and her team were working on. We both instantly realized shared interests, I wouldn't be surprised if we see some collaborations soon! Overall it was one great field trip in LA. Oh, did I mention we did all that in one day?! When your work is your passion superhero like productivity seems to come natural ;-)