Anti-Asian hate crimes have skyrocketed in the last year. According to an article from VOA news, “There were 122 incidents of anti-Asian American hate crimes in 16 of the country’s most populous cities in 2020, an increase of almost 150% over the previous year, according to data compiled by California State University’s Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism.” In support of Asian Americans, here are five Asian-owned sustainable businesses you should buy from:
- Blueland
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Blueland is a brand that creates eco-friendly cleaning supplies that are cost efficient and suitable for the environment. Their goal is to reduce plastic waste as much as possible, saying on their website, “Plastic was meant to last forever, but most is only used once.” CEO and co-founder, Sarah Paiji Yoo, began to recognize the dangers of single-use plastic when she became a mom. “I was horrified to learn that all the plastic I was throwing away was contaminating our water supply and generating hundreds of microplastics in the water and food I was feeding my baby,” she wrote on the website.
Blueland sells glass bottles for hand soap, cleaning sprays, dish soap and more, and they sell cleaning tablets to put in the bottles, so you never have to buy the bottle more than once and there is no plastic involved. They also sell dishwasher tablets and steel tins to store them in, as well as laundry tablets and tins.
- Christine’s Cookie Co.
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The organic cookie company, Christine’s Cookie Co., is staying aware of food sustainability while baking responsibly sourced cookies in northern California. Simply by Christine author, Christine Liu, has loved baking for as long as she can remember, but has more recently acknowledged the importance of sustainability. “Baking grew with me as I went through my college and early in career years, but it was during this time that I developed another true passion – sustainable living,” she wrote on her website. Christine has teamed up with local farmers and food workers to obtain the ingredients for her baked goods.
Christine’s Cookie Co. has many different kinds of cookies, from the classic chocolate chip, to a salted peanut butter chocolate cookie, to vegan chocolate chip. You can have a box of four or eight cookies shipped right to your door within hours of being baked when you order from the website.
- Cocokind
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Founded in 2014, Cocokind is a sustainable skincare line that began using coconut oil as its main ingredient. CEO and founder, Priscilla Tsai, began trying new, clean ingredients for her skin after struggling with acne. “That’s when I decided to start Cocokind around a few key values: simple, quality ingredients, consciously and sustainably created, and with affordable pricing,” she told Allure magazine.
Cocokind now sells products such as moisturizers, toners, serums, masks, spot treatments, lip balms, highlighters and more.
- Filljoy
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Derrick Chao created the company Filljoy after realizing his desire for reducing plastic waste. His product is meant for grocery stores that sell bulk ingredients such as sunflower seeds, nuts, cereal, grains and more. Instead of filling plastic bags given at the store with those items, shoppers can bring their own container and use Filljoy’s scale to measure how much of the item they are buying. Chao hopes this practice becomes as common as bringing reusable bags to the store, rather than using single-use plastic ones.
You can watch a short video on how Chao’s product works here.
- Meow Meow Tweet
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Meow Meow Tweet is “vegan personal care for every body.” Selling items such as baking soda-free deodorant, rosemary avocado shampoo bars and juniper carrot seed face oil, Meow Meow Tweet hand makes all their products in small batches in their New York microfactory. Founders Tara Pelletier and Jeff Kurosaki met in Michigan at art school and began their hand made personal care journey with making their own soap at home, their website says. “Bolstered by the positive feedback, they went on to found their all natural, vegan apothecary Meow Meow Tweet, named for their two beloved cats and Jeff’s bird.”
You can buy their products or subscription services here.