thehippiehijabi-blog

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Scared of your skin care products? It's All Good ;)

Scared of your skin care products? It’s All Good ;)

Along with fast fashion there has been a boom in the skin/beauty/personal care industry that is also pretty “fast”. The amount of products that big brands are coming up with, and of course their mass production, raise some red flags. How are they making this amount of products so fast? What exactly is in these products that we’re putting all over our bodies? Are these brands actually transparent…

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Hawaii Bans Sunscreen... It's About Time!

Hawaii Bans Sunscreen… It’s About Time!

Sunscreen is great for when you’re out on a hike or going for a run but it isn’t so great when you’re doing any sort of water activity. If you follow me on Instagram or my other blog, you’ll know that I have switched sunscreens and I encourage others to use certain sunscreens. Hawaii is now banning certain sunscreens for the same reason!

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Recently my husband and I started researching companies and brands before purchasing anything from them to make sure that everything they do, from design to production, is ethical. We came across the brand Apolis and fell in love with everything they do.

This is a screenshot taken from their ‘About‘ section and basically explains what they do. They go to various countries and provide those that are struggling with the means to help empower them.

I recently bought their customizable market bag. Not only is it a great bag, and I’ll get to that in a bit, but it’s a great conversation starter! If someone complements it or asks about it, tell them about it and let them know that we don’t need to buy fancy expensive unethically made bags. Raise awareness wherever you go.

I personally got the Standard Wine Tote. I don’t drink but they have two nice pockets meant for wine bottles that I use for thin yoga mats and other bottles (water, olive oil, etc) when I go grocery shopping. You can also customize what’s written on the bag and above is what I chose to be written because I wanted to constantly be reminded of this message as well as sharing it with others.

The bag itself is really durable. It is made out of jute and has a waterproof lining which makes it SO easy to clean! The straps are leather straps held by two rivets to give it more strength.

Apolis has many different products and each helps a specific area or country. They have all the info on their website but it’s really nice that they add extra information regarding what you purchased along in your package.

The jute/canvas bags are from the Bangladesh Project. The artisans in Bangladesh produce it and Apolis gives them a global market.

When you receive the bag, they give you these papers (pictured above).

One includes the story of Apolis along with what they offer and the business side of things, like returns and exchanges. For example, the scarves you find on their website help people in India, their flip-flops help people in the Middle East, and so on.

The other includes details of that specific product. Since I got the jute bag, they tell you a bit about the project as a whole, getting to know the artisans that made the bag, how many units were purchased and the impact.

I’m not a partner or an affiliate. I wasn’t paid to say or write all this. And I do not have any relations with the brand or the owners. This is just an amazing company and I wanted to share this with you guys and show you that you can invest in good quality items that will help others as opposed to all the unethical fast market products.

Market Bag that Empowers and Raises Awareness! Apolis Recently my husband and I started researching companies and brands before purchasing anything from them to make sure that everything they do, from design to production, is ethical.

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Eco-friendly Trash Bag Alternatives

Eco-friendly Trash Bag Alternatives

My husband and I have been very conscious about our trash; meaning, we try to recycle as much as we can but there will always be trash that you can’t really get rid of so easily. Recycling is awesome because you don’t need a trash bag. But when it comes to the non-recyclable trash, you need bags. We cut down, significantly, on the amount of trash but we still have a way to go. And because we know…

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Fix It From The Source - Plastic Cutlery

Fix It From The Source – Plastic Cutlery

By now we all know that the plastic that’s thrown away in the trash and not properly recycled most probably ends up in some body of water (oceans). While we, the consumers, are now raising awareness and learning how to change our lifestyle to adapt a sustainable way of living, others may not be doing the same; and by “others” I mean big companies that are spewing plastic products.

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Reusables: Start with something easy- like lunch!

Reusables: Start with something easy- like lunch!

A typical lunch box would have a foil or cling film wrapped sandwich, a cling film wrapped group of mixed veggies, maybe a plastic container of applesauce, and a juice box. While the components are pretty good, why does the packaging have to be so wasteful? (Both material AND money).

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Plastic.. Ugh. (The right way of getting rid of plastic)

The other day I was telling my husband how bad plastic is and that I couldn’t stand it. I also couldn’t stand how general people think recycling is. I used to be one of those people. I used to think “oh, I put all my plastic materials in the recycling shoot instead of the normal garbage shoot”. And while that is a major step in itself (that you recycle), not all plastic can be recycled. I…

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The meaning behind some of the popular environmental signs we find on everyday products.

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Environmental symbols are cool, but what do they mean?

Have you ever gone to a grocery store and looked for things that were packaged sustainably but ended up looking at a bunch of symbols that you’re not quite sure of? Or have you ever purchased something that had a leaf symbol with words like “certified” and “approved” and thought *yeah that looks legit, I’ll buy it*? In this blog post I’ll include some of the popular environmental symbols and…

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Oh, Canada.

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What you need to know about Carbon Footprint

When it comes to serious environmental and sustainable talk, the words “carbon footprint” is almost always there. I’ve personally heard it, and read it, a LOT without really know what it actually means. All I knew was that I needed to be conscious of it and try as much as I can to reduce it. This was before I got into sustainability hardcore. So here’s what I learned, way later than I should’ve,…

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Boho Tribal Elastic Unique CARD HOLDER - Wallet - HANDMADE - by BohoBedouin on Etsy

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Boho Bedouin Elastic CARD HOLDER - WALLET - Handmade by BohoBedouin on Etsy

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Canvas Bedouin Red TOTE - HANDMADE by BohoBedouin on Etsy

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4 Beauty/Cosmetic Brands that Carry Products that are Good and Safe for You and the Environment

I’m not a major cosmetic and beauty person but I do like taking care of my skin. Through trial and error and a lot of research and awareness I realized that not all the products out there are good for you nor are they good for the environment. Whether it’s the tons of chemicals or the plastic containers that we end up throwing away, it’s just not good. So here’s a short quick list of brands that…