Happy Earth Day! #GoGreen 101 Tips!

“What can I do?”. “Que puedo hacer yo?”. These are questions I get asked every day! "What can I do to fix, save and protect our planet?" "How can I, as a single individual, make a difference if millions of others are not doing it?" Well, I’m here to tell you (and show you) how easy, important, fun and beautiful it is to incorporate consciousness into your lifestyle. Four years ago, these words never crossed my mind! I used to order 3 to-go coffees per day to stay awake in the corporate world without thinking about the waste I was creating on a daily basis. Over 1000 cups per year to be exact! (Do the math). And don’t even get me started on my plastic bottle consumption! I lost count. I was one more human caught in my own world, not paying attention to anything going on outside of it, until the day I woke up and began looking at life with a different lens. I started reading more about sustainability, watched many films, and understood that every action I take can either continue to exploit our home or can help heal it. Easy steps and little shifts in routines and mindsets that CAN have a positive and healing impact on our planet. Think about these facts for a second:

• We, globally, use and discard 1 million plastic bottles PER MINUTE. 91% of this is NOT recycled.
• In the US only, we use and discard half a BILLION plastic straws per day! This is plastic that takes over 400 years to decompose. Plastic that always finds its way into our oceans; killing and poisoning sacred animals needed for our survival and to keep our oceans healthy. Why are our oceans so important? Simple. They absorb 93% of the CO2 emissions we produce, making our oceans our main protector against global warming.

Now, what can YOU do to protect your home? Our mother. Here are some simple steps  I apply on a daily basis, and so can you:

1) Carry a reusable water bottle and coffee mug and say no to plastic ones. The ones I use are in this photo. You can buy your entire "Go Green 101" kit here. 

2) Carry reusable utensils and a straw, and a cotton tote in your bag. 

3) Support sustainable fashion, and fabrics that are organic and biodegradable. Some brands you see here which I love are: 

• Monkey Sunglasses: Biodegradable sunnies made of cotton fibers and recycled materials, supporting a non-profit that protects orangutans. The sunnies in this photo are by MonkeyGlasses.
• Bohempia: They make comfy t-shirts and shoes from hemp. Hemp is a biodegradable, sustainable, and antibacterial natural material. The tees in this photo are by Bohempia. 
• Miakoda NY: an ethical and fair-trade fashion brand using bamboo, soy and organic cotton fabrics. The bodysuit I'm wearing in this photo is by Miakoda.
• To find more sustainable brands, click here.

4) Reuse and get creative! The jean jacket you see here, I’ve owned for over 7 years. Styled it and painted it myself instead of throwing it away. The skirt I’m wearing, is a tablecloth transformed into a skirt! I had unused tablecloths from Bali and India in my closet for over two years, so...I took them to my seamstress and asked her to give life to a skirt and a pair of pants from those unused fabrics! 

5) Suport zero-waste brands. One I adore is Hungry Harvest. They recover fruits and veggies that were rejected by big grocery stores based on their aesthetics, and deliver them to your door for a small fee. Reducing waste, creating jobs, helping farmers, and feeding people worldwide! Organic options available! Use code "waterthruskin" for discount.

6) Support eco-friendly hotels when you travel and offset your CO2 emissions by donating to Climate Care. This is what I do every time. They calculate your CO2 emissions per trip and tell you how much you need to donate to projects that are protecting and healing nature. 

7) Go vegan! I know. So hard! I used to love meat too! It's in my culture. I'm a latina who was raised eating meat and chicken on a daily basis. 7+ years ago I went pescatarian, later vegetarian and then vegan and never looked back. I've been vegan for 3+ years now and love it! As long as you make sure you are getting your daily dose of nutrients and vitamins from superfoods, alongside a healthy diet, you will thrive as a vegan while saving 1,100 gallons of water, 45 pounds of gran, 30 ft2 of forested land, 20 pounds of CO2 equivalent, and 1 animal's life EVERY SINGLE DAY!

8) Inspire others by example! Never forcing. Never criticizing. Never judging. Let your pure light and uplifting energy draw those around you to want to learn more about what you are doing differently. ;) 

Ready to make a difference? It's easier than you think! A non-profit I've partnered with is Sachamama. You can find a lot of information about sustainability on their website. They educate students and families about the importance of protecting mother nature and the devastating effects of global warming. Their site is both in Spanish AND English. Just hit the button on the top right corner to change the language.  

Go Green in 2018! It's this easy!

I’m sure a lot of you woke up on the first day of 2018 asking yourselves “how can I make a difference?”. Well, it’s this easy! It doesn’t matter if you are a girl or a guy, this information is for absolutely everyone! Read it, digest it and share it with your loved ones.

1) Did you know we use and throw away enough plastic PER YEAR to circle the earth 4 times?! Or that this plastic and waste takes approx 500-1000 years to degrade, which means it will sit on landfills for that long or will find its way into our oceans and kill sea earthlings precious to human survival? Solution? Reduce your consumption and plastic use! I carry my bamboo utensils and metal straw in my bag at all times and say no to plastic ones whenever I’m on the go. That easy! If you have them with you, you'll never have to ask for plastic ones when eating at restaurants or buying ToGo food. 

2) Did you know tampons and pads carry chemicals, odor repellents, plastic, petroleum, bleach and other life-threatening and cancer-inducing ingredients? Yes, I know...talking about a woman’s period is “gross” but it should NEVER be a taboo! What’s gross is everything we are putting in our bodies without knowing about it! Women, in their lifetimes, will use 16,800+ tampons and pads! Some of these pads are made with plastic equivalent to 4 plastic bags! A woman uses 2-4 pads per day during her mother-nature-called days.... Do the insane math! And yes, there’s the option to buy organic feminine products but those products, once used, will eventually find their way into our landfills and oceans too. Solution? Menstrual cup! I know it looks scary but it was the best advice I received in 2017! I love it, I take it with me everywhere (even on my trips), it takes my cramps away every single time, and it is safe, hygienic and eco-friendly. Plus, you buy one and it lasts for... YEARS! Protecting your body from toxic chemicals, and helping you- beautiful goddess- produce LESS waste! The brand I use is called GladRags, and they donate feminine products to girls in need with each purchase you make. They also sell pads made of cotton fabric.

These are just a few of my green secrets. What are yours? 

Easy daily steps you can take to go GREEN!

“It is not that we don’t live. Indeed we do, but whether we live rightly, whether we live fully, that is he question. Unless one is conscious, one is not alive. To sit in a room and meditate is not the way to become conscious. To read books is also not the way. We must, in the midst of our day-to-day life, learn to observe, to contemplate, to measure our response, our movements, our words, our thoughts- which are more important than words. We must develop the sensitivity, the urge to appreciate the soul of beauty, a sense of order and harmony. We must find and create beauty everywhere.” 🌿🍃 This year in April, I visited Auroville; a Utopian and sustainable city south of India. Besides having a breathtaking and eco-friendly architecture focused on the synchrony of the universe, there was no single dominant religion (all are practiced and accepted), no politics, and no currency. They live blissfully, respecting nature and humanity. This quote by The Mother (the woman who gave birth to Auroville) describes my view of life completely. See, respect and create beauty everywhere you go. Don’t destroy but add value to places and people. Especially when it comes to nature. Our earth is aching, guys. Badly. It’s heartbreaking to watch. Forests are burning, glaciers are melting, air is becoming unbreathable, animals- crucial to our survival- are dying faster than we ever imagined, and trash has become an overused word in our vocabularies and lifestyles. If I tell you that YOU can  change this, will you listen? Will you do something about it? The solution is at our fingertips. It’s in the way we do our day-to-day lives. How we shop, eat, think, move. Simple daily baby steps that can have a huge impact! Here are a few:

1) Say no to plastic when you go out to eat or shop. Take your reusable utensils (I have them and love them! Bamboo and metal straws) and cotton shopping bags. I'll be selling bamboo cutlery sets that benefit two nature-preserving non-profits I've partnered with on my blog's shop. Give me a few more days and I'll share details with you :)

2) Switch the car for a bike, bus ride, or electric transportation. (I surrendered my car 2.5 years ago. Best decision ever. I’m thinking of getting an electric scooter now. Yes, they exist!)

3) Offset your flight carbon impact. (Yes! That exists too!) I use ClimateCare; a B Corp offsetting your carbon footprint by using a calculator to tell you how much you need to donate to different nature-preserving projects. For example, to offset the 18,000+ miles I traveled from Miami to New Delhi roundtrip, or the 4+ tones of CO2 I emitted, I donated $42.48 to ClimateCare's projects that range from planting trees to preserving rainforests to purifying water in Kenya and many more. Use their calculator to do the math. It's very simple! 

4) Shop wisely! Consciously! Read labels. Choose fair-trade, vegan, rainforest alliance certified, organic, natural and eco-friendly (packaging especially). 

5) Set Ecosia.org as your search engine. They plant trees with each search. So far, 17million+ trees have been planted. 

6) Go vegan. I know it sounds crazy and difficult but it is the only diet that can save and preserve our planet. Besides, if done well, it is one of the healthiest diets! Take your superfoods, eat your fruits and veggies, and watch how your health and our planet bloom back to life. 

7) SHARE the knowledge. We are in this together!