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Growing Hope in Sierra Leone

BY raintees

June 16, 2013

By: Audrey Joslin 

“Our children in Sierra Leone love the experience of receiving letters and photos from RainTees friends. They’ve heard from people all over the globe and it’s life changing for them.”

-Deanna Wallace, All As One

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We began working in Africa in 2010 and have partnered with some incredible organizations that continue to inspire us every day.

 One of these organizations is “All As One” in Sierra Leone where they have helped more than 30,000 children find a future amidst civil war, extreme poverty and environmental destruction.

Today we connected with All As One director Deanna Wallace. She explains below what her organization does, and why partnering with our PenPal Program has been so beneficial for the children and teens that she works with on a daily basis.

 If you would like to get involved in our PenPal Program email us at penpal@raintees.com or visit http://www.raintees.com/penpal-program.

About All As One

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All As One believes that every child deserves a safe place to sleep, enough food to eat, healing for their emotional and physical wounds, and dreams to build. This belief is the reason we provide Sierra Leone’s most vulnerable children with a home, three meals a day, an on-site accredited school, medical care, counseling, and most of all…a family.

All As One is the last chance for many children in Sierra Leone.  Since 2000, our targeted interventions have provided essential basic needs and saved the lives of over 30,000 children, women and families. These individuals now have futures and unlimited potential to positively change their country and the world.

We, at All As One, try to make sure the children in our care know that they are special and loved.  Growing up without parents can make a child feel very vulnerable, unloved and unwanted.  To counteract this, we try to make sure the children realize that not only their caregivers love them, but people around the world do too.  There are a couple of ways we do this – first through our monthly sponsorship program, and secondly through the pen pal program with RainTees.

 For the past several months, our children have enjoyed the fun and enlightening experience of receiving letters and photos from RainTees friends.  Quite a few of our children have heard from people all over the globe, and have had the opportunity to write and share about their lives too.  It’s been a wonderful way for the children to feel more connected to the world around them, and also to know that someone far away is thinking about them.  We’re very grateful that our children have had this opportunity!

About the Author:

RainTees Intern - Audrey

A Nebraska native, Audrey currently attends Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas and is an intern at RainTees. She is studying Fashion Merchandising and Political Science at TCU, with a Certificate in International Studies. Some of her favorite activities outside of school are traveling, reading, riding horses, and running.

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5 Eco-Friendly Celebs We Love

BY raintees

June 15, 2013

Eco Celebs We Love

It’s no surprise here at RainTees that we love being eco-friendly. But we can even admit that sometimes it seems unrealistic and hard to achieve a green lifestyle. Today we found some celebrities that live green in a variety of big and small ways. This definitely inspired us and we can only hope that these can encourage you to live a little bit more eco-friendly!

1. Natalie Portman

She’s gorgeous, funny, and a vegan who is an active proponent of animal rights. At her wedding, she used twigs to create her traditional Jewish altar or chuppah, served only vegan food, and wore wildflowers in her hair. Talk about a white green wedding!

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2. Willie Nelson

Being a native Texan, I love that is old school country boy is actually a distributor of biodiesel. For almost 10 years now he’s been supporting using local fuel and encouraging Americans to make the switch to cleaner emissions.

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3. Leonardo DiCaprio

Although he may play the opulent Jay Gatsby in The Great Gatsby remake, DiCaprio actually drives a Prius and just purchased a new eco-friendly home in New York equipped with solar panels, an in-house water treatment facility, and an area of store his other eco-friendly mode of transportation – his bike.

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4. Orlando Bloom

Reportedly, Bloom was encouraged to be more eco-friendly by our #3 celeb. However, he’s taken being green into his own hands by creating Global Cool which is a website devoted to introducing cool green tips on recycling and fashion into the lives of young adults across the world.

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5. Emma Watson

She’s working her magic onscreen and off by teaming up with Alberta Ferretti on environmentally friendly clothing line called Pure Threads. Watson actively tries to wear ethical fashion that is made from raw materials and use sustainable practices.

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Clean Graffiti?

BY raintees

June 6, 2013

By: Audrey Joslin

Graffiti has been a rather controversial expression of art all around the world but the newest style to hit the streets does not seem to vandalize at all. Welcome to the world of “reverse graffiti.”

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Artists actually clean portions of polluted walls with messages and incredible works of art while subtly reminding us just how much our pollution and emissions are affecting our surroundings.

Artists like “Moose” of the UK, and Brazilian “Alexandre Orion,” have definitely become celebrities in this new genre of street art and it may just transform cities for the better.

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According to Moose, “Once you do this type of art, you make people confront whether or not they like people cleaning walls or if they have a problem with personal expression.”

It’s an interesting thought, considering the way that you “clean” these murals would be by actually cleaning the pollution from the entire wall.

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This is exactly what Orion achieved after creating a mural of a series of skulls through a tunnel in Sao Paolo. The Brazilian authorities responded by not only cleaning the walls of that tunnel, but also all of the other tunnels in Sao Paulo!

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About the Author:

RainTees Intern - Audrey

A Nebraska native, Audrey currently attends Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas and is an intern at RainTees. She is studying Fashion Merchandising and Political Science at TCU, with a Certificate in International Studies. Some of her favorite activities outside of school are traveling, reading, riding horses, and running.

 

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Modern Slavery: The Shocking Truth

BY raintees

May 13, 2013

By: Morgan Frost

Classified as human trafficking, bonded labor, forced labor, or sex trafficking, it is present worldwide, with approximately 27 million persons enslaved. This astonishing fact is devastating but reminds us why the work we are doing at RainTees is so crucial. Through our reforestation programs we are able to provide jobs that can literally bring indentured servants in developing nations out of slavery and into freedom. Eden Reforestation Projects, one of our new partners in 2013, shared this inspiring story written by an employee of Eden out of Madagascar, where Eden has helped a women end her indentured servitude through reforestation employment.

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In the remote fishing village of Mahabana, on the northwest coast of Madagascar, the population has grown.  When we first visited this small stretch of coastline, it was a quiet village of 100 people.  Now, 12 years later, the village has grown five-fold as people move from the city to the country in search of work and cheaper living.  As new people come, they often don’t have the financial means to start their own business of fishing or netting shrimp and in desperation, they look for any possible means to survive.  Enter in the fish lords…men and women who offer the use of their canoes, fishing gear or nets for shrimping in exchange for the unwritten agreement that the borrower cannot sell his or her daily catch to anyone other than the fish lord.  However, what seems like a solution actually creates a bigger problem because the fish lords claim the entire catch but will only pay for half of the quantity at an unfair reduced price.  Knowing that what they have paid will never be enough for the person to provide for their family, the fish lords happily offer “loans” to help make ends meet.  This, of course, runs up debt, which the newcomer can never repay because they are never paid fairly for their catch.  As a result, men and women who are extremely impoverished and completely destitute are also now enslaved to debt bondage with little hope of escape.

Rasoanaivo used to live in the city of Tamatave on the east coast of Madagascar with her husband and child.  When tragedy struck and her young husband died, she didn’t have any way to care for her family.  Her sister, who lived in Mahabana, invited Rasoanaivo to move to the opposite side of the island with the promise of a good job when she arrived.  With new hope, Rasoanaivo and her son made the grueling five-day journey to Mahabana.  Working for her sister wasn’t what it was promised to be, however, because Rasoanaivo quickly discovered that her sister is one of the notorious fish lords.  Rasoanaivo ended up being an indentured servant to her own sister and was now even more destitute and helpless than before.  She was stuck in a remote fishing village with a small child, no place to go and what seemed like no hope.

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But there was hope for Rasoanaivo.  Josy, the Malagasy manager of Eden Reforestation Projects, heard about her circumstances and offered her a job planting mangrove trees.  Overjoyed, Rasoanaivo accepted, and soon, she and her family began to thrive.  She was able to pay off her debts to her sister and even bought her own fishing gear.  Rasoanaivo remarried, and now, she and her husband are both employed part-time by Eden Projects.  When they’re not planting mangrove propagules, they have their own fishing business, complete with a canoe.  Because of her job with Eden, Rasoanaivo and her family have moved out of the talons of extreme poverty.  She has a restored identity as a mother who can provide for her children and is full of hope for a better future.  There are countless stories of indentured servitude similar to Rasoanaivo’s throughout Madagascar and throughout the world.  But as long as there are people who care, hope is not lost.

By supporting both Eden and RainTees, we can make a difference and restore hope, because planting trees truly does save lives, provide food and a stable income all across the world. For more information about Eden’s work, please visit http://www.edenprojects.org.

 

About the Author: 

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Morgan Frost is currently the Pen Pal Program Director here at RainTees. She is a student at Michigan State University studying International Studies and International Development. She hopes to find a career dealing with environmental sustainability and humanitarian aid.

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Meet Our Interns! This Week…One of Our Social Media Gurus, Amanda

BY raintees

May 10, 2013

At RainTees our interns are amazing members of our tribe who come from all over the world with one thing in common- they care about our cause and want to be a vital part of what we do.

From designing our marketing campaigns with our creative team, to planning events and planting trips, to sharing our message through social media, we give our interns a tremendous amount of trust, experience, perks and responsibility.

We love building our goals with them and creating new ideas, initiatives and products together while sharing our success (and at times our mistakes) and the lessons we learn from it all.

Because our interns are so special to us, we would love for you to get to know them too- that is, if you haven’t already through their great blog posts, tweets, pins  and answers to your questions!

To learn more about our internships email info@raintees.com

 

Meet One of Our Social Media Interns Amanda!

Amanda RainTees Intern

Meet Amanda

What department at RainTees do you intern for?

Social Media and PR

 

Where are you from?

I’m from Waterville Valley, New Hampshire, which is a small (300 residents!) ski town in the middle of the state.

 

Where do you go to school?

Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.

 

What are you studying there?

I am studying economics and environmental studies, and I love it! The intersection between economic growth and sustainability is fascinating to me.

 

What are some of your favorite hobbies?

I love anything involving the outdoors, including skiing, hiking, biking, kayaking and running. I also really enjoy reading and cooking.

 

What is a favorite place that you have traveled to?

Saas Fee, Switzerland! I went the summer after my sophomore year of high school to ski and hike for three weeks – it was stunning.

 

What is the number one thing on your bucket list?

This is a hard question! I would have to say New Zealand, though. I really want to be able to ski and go to the beach all in one day. Plus, they have some of the most stunning natural formations and views in the world.

 

What is your favorite part about being a RainTees intern?

I love being able to interact with fans and see what they have to say on Twitter! It’s also amazing to be part of a team so dedicated to sustainability and the environment. I love knowing that I am actively helping a great cause.

 

What is your favorite RainTee?

It’s a tie between the Toucan Tee and the Rainforest Tee, but I think they’re all amazing.

 

Do you have a favorite quote?

“Sometimes, if you stand on the bottom rail of a bridge and lean over to watch the river slipping slowly away beneath you, you will suddenly know everything there is to be known.” – Winnie the Pooh

 

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Meet Our Interns! This Week…Our Graphic Design Intern Amber

BY raintees

May 3, 2013

 

At RainTees our interns are amazing members of our tribe who come from all over the world with one thing in common- they care about our cause and want to be a vital part of what we do.

From designing our marketing campaigns with our creative team, to planning events and planting trips, to sharing our message through social media, we give our interns a tremendous amount of trust, experience, perks and responsibility.

We love building our goals with them and creating new ideas, initiatives and products together while sharing our success (and at times our mistakes) and the lessons we learn from it all.

Because our interns are so special to us, we would love for you to get to know them too- that is, if you haven’t already through their great blog posts, tweets, pins  and answers to your questions!

To learn more about our internships email info@raintees.com

 

Meet our Graphic Design Intern Amber!

RainTees Intern Amber 

Meet Amber 

What department at RainTees do you intern for?

The creative department working in graphic design.

 

Where are you from?

McKinney, Texas.

 

Where do you go to school?

Texas Christian University

 

What are you studying there?

Graphic Design

 

What are some of your favorite hobbies?

Swimming, reading and going to amusement parks!

 

What is a favorite place that you have traveled to?

Disneyworld and Fenwick Island in Delaware

 

What is the number one thing on your bucket list?

Travel to Australia and learn how to surf.

 

What is your favorite part about being a RainTees Intern?

Being involved in the marketing and re-designing of the website, as well as meeting a lot of amazing people along the way!

 

What is your favorite RainTee?

The Loro Perico

 

Do you have a favorite quote?

“My momma always said life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get.” – Forrest Gump

 

Any fun facts you’d like to share?

I am left-handed and love the beach!

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The Most Amazing Childhood Ever?

BY raintees

May 1, 2013

By: Audrey Joslin 

In some ways, Tippi Degré could be considered a modern day Jane of the Jungle and we completely fell in love with her story.

Born to French photographers in Africa, Tippi was raised in the heart of the African desert. As a young girl without classmates, playgroups or after school sports, she made friends with animals instead and roamed the desert like she was one of them.

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There was no harnessing this young girl’s free spirit as she created the most uncommon of bonds with an elephant, leopard, lion cubs, a baby zebra, crocodiles, an ostrich and giraffes just to name a few. Tippi was quoted saying “I don’t have friends here. Because I never see children. So the animals are my friends.”

In addition to the animals, Tippi became friends with the tribes people of Namibia, as well. Her parents captured these moments of Tippi’s childhood and transformed them into mesmerizing books and movies that showcase Tippi’s all but normal early life experiences.

An absolutely incredible way to grow up? We think so!

 

About the Author:

RainTees Intern - Audrey

A Nebraska native, Audrey currently attends Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas and is an intern at RainTees. She is studying Fashion Merchandising and Political Science at TCU, with a Certificate in International Studies. Some of her favorite activities outside of school are traveling, reading, riding horses, and running.

 

 

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Trivia Time: RainTees Style

BY raintees

April 15, 2013

Think you know about the environment and the amazing world we live in? Then put your skills to the test for the chance to win a RainTees gift pack, valued at over $100.

Comment below or on our Facebook post with your answers and the first person to get them all correct is our winner.

Good luck to all!

 

RainTees Trivia Questions

1. How many pounds of carbon monoxide can one tree remove from the atmosphere annually?

a. 17 pounds

b. 20 pounds

c. 26 pounds

d. 28 pounds

 

2. What percent of Costa Rica’s electricity is generated by hydro facilities?

a. 95%

b. 80%

c. 70%

d. 54%

 

3. About how many trees does recycling one ton of paper save?

a. 3

b. 7

c. 12

d. 17

 

4. One in how many mammals are currently at risk for extinction?

a. 1 in 4

b. 1 in 6

c. 1 in 10

d. 1 in 23

 

5. How many volcanoes (both live and extinct) are there in Costa Rica?

a. 300

b. 472

c. 751

d. 985

 

Spring Fun

Spring Eco Fashion Finds for Kids

BY raintees

April 10, 2013

By: Audrey Joslin 


As the green revolution becomes more prevalent in our society, companies have reacted by marketing and producing more environmentally conscious collections. One of the ways that companies have done this is by expanding their product lines to include children’s clothing, as well as adult clothing! Here are some of our favorites for the tiny fashionistas out there.

 

Kate Quinn

Kate Quinn Organics features children’s clothing made with 100% certified organic fabrics, always. Kate Quinn doesn’t want to sacrifice the fun patterns and prints that is usually featured in children’s clothing, so she found a way to be more environmentally conscious and give back to the earth. You can visit Kate Quinn Organics at http://www.katequinnorganics.com/.

 

Planet Shoes

A favorite site for footwear at any age is a website called Planet Shoes. They have an entire section of their website called an “eco shop” that highlights many different eco friendly shoes by many different brands. They feature brands that are making a difference by producing packaging made from recycled materials to brands that are creating trendy shoes that take only 20 years to decompose as opposed to the 1,000 years most other shoes take. We love this website because it has so many different options and features many brands that are doing their part to give back to the Earth! You can get a pair at http://www.planetshoes.com by searching “Eco Shop.”

 Kids Style Guide Compilation

Eternal Creation

Eternal Creation is a fair trade company that works with women in the Himalayas. They offer their employee’s well-paying jobs, childcare, and English classes to inspire a better lifestyle among each employee. They also focus on using organic fabrics to make all of their products. You can visit eternal creation at http://eternalcreation.com/.

 

Please remember, as a consumer you play a huge role in the making the world  more economically conscious. Keep demanding ecofriendly products-we hear you, and other designers and companies hear you, too. Don’t forget that it’s you as a customer who has the power to make change happen.

 

About the Author:

RainTees Intern - Audrey

A Nebraska native, Audrey currently attends Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas and is an intern at RainTees. She is studying Fashion Merchandising and Political Science at TCU, with a Certificate in International Studies. Some of her favorite activities outside of school are traveling, reading, riding horses, and running.

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A Case of Environmental Justice: The Matanza-Riachuelo River Basin

BY raintees

April 8, 2013

By: Elynn Kaan

Elynn Kann is one of our RainTees interns currently traveling through World Learning on the International Honors Program to explore health systems across India, Argentina, and South Africa. The trip has opened her eyes to so many dilemmas that millions of people face daily, and here she reports for us on an environmental issue she witnessed this past week in Argentina’s capital city of Buenos Aires

 

Buenos Aires is a city of life, growth, and revival, with a vibrant culture that shines through tango and the production of world renowned beef. However, it is also the location of one of the most hazardous environmental violations the world has ever seen. The Matanza-Riachuelo river basin runs at about 60km in length, and empties into the Rio de la Plata, the largest river in Argentina. It became a port location with the increase of international trade, and grew into an industrial hub. Today almost 6,300 active industrial plants line the banks of the river basin, which has now become home to a large proportion of the world’s leather, meat, and metal production. However, due to poor environmental regulation, the bank also houses almost 100 open waste drain pipes that empty thousands of gallons of pollutants into the water every day. Without registration these pipes remain unclaimed, and the culprits of the vast and dangerous environmental damage remain unidentified. This consistent dumping has lead to the zinc, lead, and chromium levels in the water to be 50 times higher in toxicity, and the presence of countless other contaminants is evident as well. As you drive along the river banks you can not only smell, but see the visual evidence of this complete human disregard for the environment. The river remains still, as the consistency prevents it from actively flowing, and the banks are lined with trash that ranges from plastic bags to rusted out old vehicles. At the current status the basin can not house any form of life as its oxygen levels remain at such a dire status, and the without action the problem is only getting worse.

 

A house in Barracas next to the River. (Photo- Kate Stanworth)

A house in Barracas next to the River. (Photo- Kate Stanworth)

 

This man-made environmental disaster has quickly become a human rights crisis as well. The surrounding area of the basin is the home to a population of five million shantytown dwellers that is known by residents as Villa Inflammable. As the air and soil have become infected it has left 35% of the population without clean water and 55% without a functioning sewage system. Children in the area have been found to have five times the normal level of chromium in their body, and blood tests of other residents have shown consistent evidence of zinc, lead, nickel, arsenic, benzene, and other toxins to name a few. The presence of toxins like these within the human system will cause lifelong health issues and the situation only deepens when it is understood that these people have very few other places to go due to their poverty level. This population lives at risk daily without much understanding of the situation as well as no viable options to escape it.

 

Although the situation remains bleak, there perhaps is a glimmer of hope. In 2008 the Argentinian Supreme Court passed a ruling creating a deadline for action for the city of Buenos Aires, and hinted at some form of recognition of the problem. With this ruling the city agreed to begin multiple steps for the recovery of the surrounding area. This includes:

 

•   The relocation of some poor residents to government created housing

•   A beginning effort to identify, and conceal many of the waste dumps that still remain open

•   The removal of solid trash from the basin

•   Beginning stages of the sanitation process of the river to help clean and re-oxidize the water

 

River Basin

Due to delegation issues, the progress on these projects have been slow, and there is much to still do. Greenpeace, an international organization focused on environmental progress, is working hard within its local branch in Argentina to raise awareness on this issue, and it is necessary that we all do the same. RainTees has always worked to bring awareness to environmental and human rights issues and it is our hope that with time and effort we will be reporting on the restoration of the Matanza-Riachuelo river basin. For more information visit (http://www.greenpeace.org/argentina/es/campanas/contaminacion/riachuelo/)