We’re always ones to act whenever we hear of a new way we can help; the planet, animals, and each other, and we want to share with you some of the most recent changes we’ve made to our life. Whether habits or actual products new on the market, it’s important to keep learning and keep evolving!
Here are a few things – actions, products and habit changes we can recommend starting this summer!
Pirani Life
We always have reusable cups, for both cold and hot drinks, to take with us to coffee shops, hiking, camping or whatever, but never have we had a reusable cup we prefer for everything!
When we found Pirani Insulated Tumblers I didn’t expect much originality. I’ve owned dozens of reusable cups – but through looks, design and materials it’s proven to be better than all my other insulated cups by far. Even the texture and weight of the cup feels quality. It keeps both drinks and food either cold or hot for hours, and not a drip is spilled on the roughest of mountain roads. The seal around the mouth is solid, something I didn’t expect from a threadless lid that just pushes on and pulls off – but possibly most surprising to me is that the completely normal looking closable flap that covers the mouth piece doesn’t splash and leak the entire drive. I’m usually sipping up leaks from around the edge of my cups after a rough drive or constantly having to unblock the little breather hole (that tiny extra one) to get anything out of them. It’s such a good seal in fact that sometimes you have to open the mouth flap to release pressure before taking off the entire lid. These are definitely built for camping, hiking, or anything outdoors.
Most recently, we went on a long drive in search of unpopular trails to hike, like we do most weekends, and I’ve grown so tired of gluten free bread sandwiches that we’ve started making pho. We learned after our first attempt at transporting this delicious soup that the pho noodles we use expand by a lot over a couple hours, AND we learned (through luck) that this cup can handle it! I left an inch of space from the top and by the time we ate, a few hours later, there was almost no broth, just piping hot noodles, tempeh and veggies. It was the perfect picnic meal, and up against a lunch box thermos with a 2 inch thread, the Pirani held its own. The inside is stainless steel so I don’t worry about stains or embedded smells like with some of my cups.
Now that some places are allowing personal cups again it’s great to take with you anywhere, coffee shops, the bar – but if you can’t yet, definitely use it around the house and for road trips.
On another note, this cup is not just a cup and its design is not as it is just for kicks. Each line represents an amount of liquid, making this cup very versatile for all kinds of drinks and personal concoctions. It’s BPA Free, dishwasher safe and keeps your cold drinks cold for 12 hours and hot things hot for 6. The company has made it their mission to end single use cups. So many companies are all talk and offer only the bare minimum in quality on top of that. Pirani walks the walk.
This cup is definitely great for partying outdoors, taking to a friends, and having a sustainable BBQ – no more disposable cups or plates, k? I know we all hate doing dishes but, it’s not worth throwing more plastic in the Ocean to avoid it, is it? No. I also think Pirani makes for some great, REI level, camping equipment, for hot lunches on hikes, cold drinks by the campfire, I can’t wait to go camping with it!
Pirani also contributes profits to organizations who work towards conservation with their #ContributeSustainably cups – Definitely a great company and worth every penny, for yourself and the planet!
Get Outdoors More, & Comfortably
Getting outdoors more isn’t only good for you, its good for the environment. Shut down your house, turn off the TV, turn off the a/c, and use the power we came with (our bodies), to propel us.
The balance here is that we don’t do more damage to the environment by getting outdoors. Stay on trails, try to hike somewhere nearby so the drive isn’t undoing all your efforts, drink out of reusable bottles, and wear sustainable, durable clothing.
It’s can be harder to hike close to home during a pandemic when everyone else had the exact same idea so use your own discretion there. Fuel economy can vary a lot per vehicle and if you’re using a sustainable bank, like we mention in the next segment, you can offset those emissions.
My favorite hiking pants right now are my V Shred leggings, in part because they’re high waisted and keep my shape while I’m hiking, but also because they’re so incredibly comfortable. No chafing, full flexibility for climbing and running, and they help keep my hands free with a waistband pocket. The ankle height is good for both sandals and my hiking shoes and they stay clean. So far I’ve been able to brush everything off after a hike and go on to do other things in town if I need to, without looking too scruffy.
I’ve gained a few lbs over the last year, like many of us have, so I’m not as comfortable with photos of myself in leggings right now as I may be sometimes, but that being said, the waistband on these puppies does wonders and I have high hopes as I get out there and hike more and more over the summer months. These leggings will fit me through at least a 10lb change in body weight, maybe more, and only get better with time.
Aspiration Banking
Who wants to talk about banking? NO ONE. However I found a bank with a debit card made from recycled plastic who plants a tree when you round up purchases and will offset your carbon footprint. Ethical Banking? Well, at least they’re doing something, and so far it seems great!
Through Aspiration and groups like the Arbor Day Foundation, more than 1 million members, supporters, and valued partners have helped Aspiration plant more than 350 million trees in neighborhoods, communities, cities, and forests throughout the world to ensure a greener and healthier future for everyone.
As a neobank, Aspiration remains committed to clean money. No customer deposits are used to fund fossil fuel projects. “By simply withholding the billions of dollars that banks provide to companies and placing stringent checks on the sustainability of companies seeking investment, the banks will be able to apply a great deal of pressure on the global economy to decarbonize. The industry as a whole can thus play a substantial role in reducing its carbon footprint.” – Source. Aspiration will tally up all of the carbon output from your gas purchases and then automatically buy offsets to help you counter the climate impact.
If you want to overall feel better about your banking, and feel like you’re making a difference instead of helping fossil fuel companies passively through your bank, check out Aspiration!
Wear More Sunscreen
It’s easy to say we’ll wear sunscreen then kind of wish we had a tan, then realize that our tan looks like crap because of our straps or shorts, then say YOLO and cook, then go back to wearing sunscreen like adults – but I have to emphasize how important sunscreen really is and why that plan isn’t going to work forever.
The older we get the more wrinkles we have, everyone knows this right? Well, we could probably have half as many if we just stayed out of the sun. We all know that isn’t going to happen so we have to wear sunscreen religiously – and not just because we don’t want to look old but also because the damage the sun does to our skin is actually more than skin deep. There are skin conditions and skin cancers that can form or be exasperated by the sun.
A sunscreen with SPF 30 will block about 97% of the sun’s UVB rays, protecting you from burning to a crisp. I personally use Mad Hippie Facial SPF, a cruelty free and vegan sun screen that also moisturizes. It goes on a little white so I tend to mix it with a darker concealer (also SPF 30) then reapply throughout the day by patting on my face, neck and chest.
For my arms and legs I use Organics Mineral Sunscreen Spray, SPF 30 and reapply as needed. So far I’ve still ended up with a little bit of a tan without any hard lines, and overall my skin feels less dry that it normally would.
If the trade off to not having a hot girl summer tan is that I get to have nicer skin for longer, I’ll take it! You can also get self tanning lotions as well, some of which aren’t actually terrible like the ones my mom used to use in the 90s!
