The Recycled Sari Flower Garlands are a HumanKind favorite. We sell hundreds every year and we keep ordering more. The flowers have this ability to bring instant joy and spark curiosity, a perfect combination for home decor. They also capture one of the things we love most about our store: the celebration of culture and connection.
For me, June 2023 marks 10 years as manager of HumanKind, and a total of 13 years working for fair trade enterprises in various capacities. Spending my career in fair trade has taught me countless lessons. Here are three of the most significant.
Our world is getting hotter. It’s undeniable now. Nasa says that we are 2 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than the average temperature in the late 19th century–an increase unprecedented in over a millenia–and human activity is the cause. Because of climate change, glaciers are melting, sea levels are rising, and weather events are becoming more extreme. We’ve seen it in our own state of California: years of drought, intense heat waves, a constant threat of wildfires and, most recently, historic flooding due to unusually heavy rainfall. This year President Biden issued a Presidential Emergency Declaration, which authorized federal assistance to support response efforts.
When my kids were little, we had a special May Day tradition of filling a paper cone with flowers from our garden, hanging the little baskets on neighbors’ doors, then quietly tiptoeing away, stifling giggles. The tradition says that if you get caught, you must give the recipient a kiss. We always made it away without kisses!