Socially Conscious Businesses: A New Day Skin Care

Guess what, my previous post wasn't just for kicks and giggles, I had a bit of an ulterior motive in writing it. So, we, my mom and I, are working on producing and selling all natural skin care products. With the end of the school year not that long ago we have not gotten terribly far with it, but now that things are a bit calmer, it is time to start putting more energy and focus into it!

Anyways, over the past week or two I have been thinking more about what we could do to make this a more socially conscious business. So I have been doing some research about hygiene and sanitation issues in third world countries. I have found several non profits that take partially used soap from hotel rooms, etc. and are able to make them into new, clean bars of soap that they then send to third world countries where they are given to families and individuals along with education on the importance of hygiene. Global Soap Project is the one I have found that I like the most so far. Click on the link for information on what they do and why they do what they do.

Taken from their page : "You might be surprised to learn that the leading causes of death for children in developing countries  are hygiene-related illnesses, which claim more than 1.8 million lives each year. That’s nearly one-third of all child deaths. Handwashing with soap is the single most effective way to prevent those deaths. In fact, soap is more effective than vaccines, medications, or clean water initiatives alone. Research has shown that soap can reduce diarrheal disease by nearly one-half and rates of respiratory infection by about one-quarter.  Hundreds of thousands of lives could be saved each year if  people had ongoing access to soap and understood how to properly wash their hands."

This seems like such a simple and utterly life changing (really life saving) cause to donate to! All of the logistics have not been figured out yet, but what I am aiming for right now is to donate $1 for every product or 10% of all sales to Global Soap Project. Eventually, my ideal would be to start a non profit of our own that works alongside A New Day Skin Care, making and developing our own antibacterial bar soap that we send directly to third world countries ourselves. Obviously, that is not going to happen right away, but is something to work towards.

Visit us at A New Day Skin Care.

*Etsy shop will be set up by the end of the week!*

Socially Conscious Businesses

So sometime last fall I read this book:Start Something That Matters

I really enjoyed it and it is on my list of books to purchase one day. I actually am thinking of checking it out at the library and rereading it soon. Check it out if it sounds interesting to you!

Anyways, ever since I read this book the idea of socially conscious businesses has always been at least a nagging thought in the back of my mind. I have always wanted to do something with my life to help people. Granted, I have about a dozen different things and ways I want to do that during my life, at least at the moment, I am sure more will come to me as I go through life, but helping people and honestly not working for someone else has always been a component of what I want to do for my work.

Socially conscious businesses are ones that strive to do more than simply make money. Whether they donate part of their profits, one to one products, work with small farmers, etc. they are striving to help others while also running a successful business. Probably the most well known example of this is the business Toms. The founder of this business is also the author of the book shown above. Toms is a one to one business, meaning that they donate a product/service for every product sold. Initially it was solely shoes. (See what I did there, sole? shoes?) For every pair of shoes they sold they donated a pair of shoes to individuals without shoes in third world countries. This business model helped them to soar and become incredibly popular. It is a great idea and something I greatly admire.