A wedding should be one of the happiest days of a couple’s lives. The event brings friends and family together in a celebration of love. Drinks flow, food is devoured and, hopefully, everyone goes home having had a great time.

In all the excitement, it’s easy to overlook the impact a wedding might have on the environment. Sustainability is being spoken about more now than ever. Luckily, if this is something you want to take into account on your wedding day, you can.

A blog post written by 77 Diamonds. Find the full story here: https://www.77diamonds.com/sustainable-weddings

Eco-conscious wedding attire

Looking good at your wedding is a must. But that doesn’t mean you have to compromise when it comes to your sustainability efforts. There are a handful of ways you can take a green approach while still looking the part.

It’s easier than it’s ever been to find a wedding dress or a suit which have been manufactured from sustainable materials. Thankfully, satins, hemp-based silks, organic cotton knitted lace and general fairtrade products are all common bases of modern dresses.

Ethical conflict-free rings

Whether it's your engagement or wedding ring, there are ways you can ensure the precious stone you’re using has been sourced ethically.

Find out as much as you can about a jeweller before you purchase from them. Look at the supporting of initiatives which ensure the safe production of diamonds and precious gems. Check if they promote that their gems are ethically sourced. 

Conscious consumer wedding registry

If you’re asking your guests to come with a gift from a wedding registry, you can give them an entirely sustainable list of options to choose from. This could include earth friendly gifts, fairtrade gifts or small and local gifts.

Eco-friendly décor

You don’t have to compromise on your perfect décor just because you’re trying to make your wedding as green as possible. There are a number of clever techniques you can use to remain sustainable without sacrificing the aesthetic appeal of your big day. Buy biodegradable confetti, use solar panels for lighting, and bamboo and recycled options for place cards and invitations.

Planning an eco-friendly wedding isn’t easy. But if you follow the advice we’ve offered here, you’ll find it doesn’t have to be as much of a challenge as you may first suspect. 

https://www.77diamonds.com/sustainable-weddings

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Are we fearless behind the lion or should we be in front of the lion ready to fight head on? I have never been the one in front ready to fight as I have always believed in taking time. knowing ones surroundings and being conscious of the intent of the mind before I take action in a difficult situation. Along with how my actions may fit with my values. For me it has always been how I handle myself and not necessarily the outcome.

In my opinion being fearless also requires being comfortable with ones identity in all aspects of life. Along with knowing that identity should be related to values and then understanding the true intent of the mind.

As Marwa Rakha states - Human beings have three dimensions; how you see yourself, how others see you and how you want others to see you. The closer the distance between the three dimensions of identity, the more at peace you are and the more stable you become'.

So how does my short ramble about fearlessness, identity, values and intent relate to anything? Well, so many of my Wellington friends are losing their jobs at the moment. Many in the mid tier level positions. All hold higher degrees and many have high mortgages. Last I heard in the news was that 6000 jobs will go and that is a lot of people out of work. It was a year ago that many SMEs felt the pressure of the restriction of the economy. So I am not surprised that the government sector and large corporates are now tackling these issues. And to top it off companies like the Body Shop went into liquidation and Trade Aid is closing all their brick and mortar stores. And Allbirds valuation is down from 4 billion to 200,000 million.

So with the likely hood of many people being out of work, how does this effect ones identity and can one find their 'fearlessness' to move to the next step in life? Do we associate our identity with our work? The books will say we should not but I think many people do and it is not surprising considering how much time we spend at work. But maybe we all need to look at the Japanese philosophical term Ikiga. which essentially says one should connect the values, what you are good at, what brings you joy, with making a living.

I do believe there is always a positive in everything but we have to also be real, reflective and ready for change which could mean disassociating oneself with the old identity to something new and exciting but one will need to find ones 'fearlessness'. To my friends who have lost their jobs - hang in there and maybe it is time to look at 'identity and values'.

I will be writing another message at the end of the month to talk about our REBRAND. YES how exciting. A REFRESH..

Signage goes up at end of the month and our official opening is 1 May with brand launch night mid May.

Below is a pic of the latest climate change march whereby I accompanied my 14 year old and his friends. So love all his passion and drive for change. Love young people! Feeling so grateful to have three beautiful boys.


Anna Mills x

PS I hope this post is not too preachy as personally I get annoyed at those that preach and prefer to hear stories without judgement etc. Apologies if so.

PSS The photo above was taken sometime ago in Zimbabwe when we trekked lions, I was young and fearless with a strong deep hope for the goodness in the future. You can tell the era by the style of the sun glasses. Lol.

 

 

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Exciting times.

We are a finalist in the Wellington Export Awards 2024.  We are finalist in two categories being Best Emerging Business and Best in Sustainability.

Winners will be told at the black tie dinner first week of June.

Wish us luck!

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Why aren't we penalising the polluters?

I'm tired of hearing all the complaints about greenwashing.

Our focus should be on penalising the polluters, but big businesses have distracted consumers from this issue.

Did you know that when plastic was invented in the 50s, many US states required plastic manufacturers to take responsibility for their waste? However, savvy lobbyists ensured this rule disappeared. How many plastic products do you see on the shelf that will end up as waste on our planet for millions of years? Think about brands like Pink pegs, Chux, Colgate to call out a few brands. Do they care about the spewing rubbish they leave on the planet. Of course not.  Yes I know, quite direct today, but we just need people to really focus on the key issue and not be distracted.

We manufacture eco-friendly, innovative products that leave no waste on our planet. I take this very seriously and every decision we make has this at the heart of it. We don't always get it right and sometimes there is no technology available that is eco friendly.  But we try are hardest.

I've realized that the increasing bureaucratic red tape surrounding risk that a product might be greenwashing the public is becoming questionable. Who's really in control, and why? For instance, one of our larger retailers wouldn't allow us to label our sustainable dishcloths as compostable. Despite holding an international certificate validating the compostability of our product, they demanded a costly NZ certificate. This is absurd and unfair. Do all those mircrofesh dishcloth brands made from plastic have to provide expensive certificates saying 'YES WE ARE POLLUTING THE WORLD'. Joking. But there is simply no cost to them for putting a product in the market. Shouldn't we be charging the polluters instead? Let's refocus our efforts on penalising plastic product producers. Come on people lets put the right lens on the issue. That should be our first step, rather than excessively regulating eco-businesses. It's easy to identify the culprits—just look at the plastic products on the shelves. 

I have been thinking about being a supermarket CEO and implementing a rule that requires suppliers using plastic to contribute 10% per unit to a charity dedicated to helping our planet. The 10% would be collected by the supermarket to ensure it is collected. By hitting the polluters in their pockets, we would then see a real change in the product offerings on retail shelves. Focusing attention on the polluters might even allow greater shelf space for innovative smaller brands and better prices for true eco lines.

What can you do right now?  Well make your money talk. What you spend your money on at the supermarkets or anywhere that you spend your dollars makes a stand for what you believe in..

Thanks for listening to my ramble again. A little direct today. LOL

Anna Bordignon

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Goals - do we ever meet them or is it the way we assess them?

I have committed to doing more mentoring this year and I have this week asked my wonderful peeps to set out their goals for the year. I am also doing this for myself again this year but I never seem to meet them!

I have been thinking lately whether it matters if we meet them. But of course it matters but is it the only thing to consider? I do think goal setting is useful but not if they sit in your top draw or if you never meet them. So maybe it is about how we assess our goals? As maybe goals should only be aspirational and far reaching? Is it not the journey of life rather than the end goal that sustains us? Maybe we should be asking the following 'well being' questions against our goals when we are measuring our progress. These questions could sit beside the quantitative measurables. Along with keeping in mind how we may wish our overall life to be?

• What am I grateful for?
• What is my most important task this week?
• What story worthy moment happened this week?
• How am I feeling today?
• What is working right now. What could I do better?

At the end of life is it not these questions we should ask:

• Have we lived wisely?
• Have you loved richly?
• Have you served the world greatly?

I think living a life wisely is learning that we will never know everything and everything comes with so much grey. So learning and flexing about the world and the people who reside in our world is something wise people do. I think also it is about knowing that you may not always be right but rather hope people will consider our views. So much in this word 'wise' as there is also something about contentment verse progress. I could go on and on.

Loving richly is such as wonderful overall goal and is easily misplaced. I am personally loving more richly lately and absolutely love it!

As for serving the world greatly as everyone knows one of my personal and business goals is to continue being a sustainable warrior. Lol not necessarily a warrior as this word is not really in my nature but you get the gist. So some of the simple broad goals are as follows:

• Try to buy fresh and local
• Recycle, reuse and repurpose
• Sustainable investing
• Coaching others through stories to find ways to be more sustainable
• Connecting more with the community

And like anything, if we are not fit and healthy things can get hard. However as I have written before, I am totally against all the individual retort that is all over our modern world ie work on self to make you happy. Sure but connecting with others and serving the community brings so much more contentment and joy. Connect connect and connect deeply. We are not designed to live alone. We are designed to be with the people who love us (not the stranger that you meet to discuss your fragmented woes but those that are your tribe!)

Thanks for listening to my ramble again
Anna Mills-Bordignon xx

PS picture above is me at my desk working on our signage and my goal setting book.
Below are some cool local ladies doing some cool stuff. We now have the NZ made natural toothpaste and tooth tabs in our Showroom and online. Along with the Sunsick natural sunscreen and natural deodorant from Raw. And of course our local legend Elizabeth Barbalich from Antipodes. Supporting local women doing cool things!

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