Fighting the Good Fight

Vivesana exists because we wanted to help those improving life and planet. Good companies, non-profits, bloggers and people who care are everywhere. These are some of the people and organizations we work with and support, or in a few cases, simply admire and enjoy following.

Lakey Peterson

Lakey leads by example.

Indeed, she may be teenager, but she can teach all of us a thing or two She understands the importance of organics, sustainability, staying healthy, and living a fun, responsible life. More importantly, she practices what she preaches.

Lakey is a rock star on the waves, she’s the new national NSSA open women’s surfing champion, she’s a bright, engaging young lady, and she is friend of Vivesana.

Read more about Lakey and her accomplishments here.

Camp Good Grief
Camp Good Grief is underwritten by proceeds from the East End Hospice Thrift Shop and by grants and generous donations from the East End Community.

The camp is designed to help give children who have lost a parent a place to share their feelings, constructively deal with their loss, and to have fun. Skilled bereavement staff members plan and lead each day with care, and are assisted by carefully trained volunteers.

Vivesana is proud and honored to support Camp Good Grief.

African Mothers’ Health Initiative
Founder Joanne Jorissen works on the ground in Malawi, saving lives and teaching others to save lives every day. Ms. Jorissen provides crucial help and guidance to under-staffed, under-funded hospitals, and has set up programs that buy formula for infant orphans and provides fees for local children to go to school. The AMHI also runs a community feeding program for scores of local children. Blog entries from Ms. Jorissen will provide rich texture to the Vivesana brand.

Clamshell Foundation


The purpose of the Clamshell foundation, is to enrich the lives of others by fostering education in health, cultural, and environmental fields of endeavor. Currently, they are concentrating their efforts in the area of water quality projects, as well as community based concerns such as local food pantries and educational projects.

The Foundation seeks to increase the concern for the quality of our water. The SandCastle Contest was created not only as a day of fun on the beach, but also to point out how important the waters are to all of us.

Tina. Encinitas, CA. One less thing to worry about.
Watching my kids enter the world so fresh and so clean, I wanted to do everything I could to keep them that way.
As a mom, I became conscientious of everything that goes into and onto my kids’ bodies. Fresh, local, organic produce. Minimally processed, whole, and raw foods. Nothing synthetic. I do my best to give my kids the purest ingredients when I can. That goes the same for skin care. Vivesana only uses ingredients I would cook with. Finally, good sunscreen. One less thing to worry about.

Sierra, Corona del Mar. Home Sweet Home.
It’s a wonderful thing to love where you live.

Coming home from trips to the mountains, I used to top the bend on the PCH and see the most beautiful azure crescent of sea. I love to travel, but it always made me happy to see my ocean.  Home to me is yoga on the beach, runs on the trails, playing in the water, early nights and long days.

Vivesana lets me do all those things while protecting my skin and knowing I’m supporting causes that are fighting to keeping things green.

Vivesana encapsulates the life I love living.

Farah. New York, NY. Life in the City
Growing up in cramped living space in Manhattan means I welcome the sunny outdoors whenever I can get it. Living in a city obsessed with beauty means I am serious about skin care. But New York is also obsessed with health and the environment, and science warns that I should be concerned about the damaging effects of both the sun and my skincare cabinet, which is full of unpronounceable chemicals. Not to mention the packaging and ingredients of many of these products hurt the earth.
Thankfully, I no longer have to worry about that. Vivesana protects my skin, makes it look and feel healthy, and their commitment to sustainability allows me to enjoy the great outdoors without worrying whether mankind wants it to stay great.

Baby Loves Disco
And we thought Vivesana was a great name! Baby Loves Disco is our kind of place – a place where moms, dads and kids can interact, listen to the music we grew up on and hobnob with other parents. Baby Loves Disco started in Philadelphia in 2005. By the fall of 2006, it had spread coast to coast and now holds events in over 21 cities, largely through the most powerful – and credible – form of advertising there is – word-of-mouth along the mommy (and daddy) grapevine. Hmm, putting everything you have into your product (or service) rather than dumping it into advertising…the idea that buzz will come from making, or doing, something special…parents interacting, learning more about not only what goes on their kids, but in them, and hopefully having fun along the way. Sounds strangely familiar. Sure enough, Baby Loves Disco and Vivesana have found each other. Check your local event – there might just be some free organic sunscreen in for you!

Tree Hugger
Tree-hugger is a media outlet that is driving green into the mainstream through its informative and entertaining reporting on environmental products, news, and lifestyles. Tree-hugger understands that widespread change will require solutions that anyone and everyone can and should incorporate into their daily routines. Accordingly, the website provides tips on improving our quality of life in practical ways while at the same time reducing our environmental footprint. Tree-hugger’s team of entertaining, upbeat bloggers provides a fun place for all of us to learn how we can get the most out of our purchases and activities whether related to health, fashion, transportation, or politics, and make the world a better place in the process. As one of the most visited blogs on the Web, Tree-hugger is spreading its wealth of positive information to a broad audience of readers…including us!

EWG
The Environmental Working Group, or EWG, has worked tirelessly for fifteen years to promote policies that invest in conservation and sustainable development, and to protect vulnerable segments of the population- particularly infants and small children- from the harms associated with a wide array of toxic contaminants. EWG achieves its goals by researching best and worst practices, in both the private and public sector, when it comes to our health and our environment. EWG also provides databases to better inform consumers about the products they are using. One of them, Skin Deep, is an industry-shaping safety guide to cosmetics and personal care products. In 2007, EWG released an alarming update to Skin Deep, revealing that 83% of 911 sunscreen products offered inadequate protection from the sun, or contained ingredients with significant safety concerns.

Teens for Safe Cosmetics
Teens for Safe Cosmetics is a coalition of young women working to educate the public about cosmetic safety and the reproductive and other health effects of potentially harmful cosmetic ingredients. On the political side, TSC also lobbies for legislation to improve the safety and quality of ingredients in various cosmetic products. TSC also played a key role in securing the passage of The California Safe Cosmetics Act in October of 2005 and the Toxic Toys Bill in October 2007.

Grist
Launched in 1999, Grist, a non-profit online magazine that reports on environmental news and opinions, has been called “The Daily Show” of the environment. Never afraid to tackle important issues head on – whether its biofuels, pesticides, or poverty & the environment – Grist adds a humorous slant to its hard-hitting stories. Grist’s two taglines say it all: “Gloom and doom with a sense of humor” and “A beacon in the smog”. But with an impressive full-time staff and an army of the nation’s most well-respected environmental writers contributing content regularly, no one is taking Grist lightly. We at Sana think Grist has found a truly effective voice for environmental advocacy, and we hope they will continue to broaden their base of green-friendly readers both here and abroad.

Other websites of interest:
Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep
Skin Deep is an online safety guide for cosmetics and personal care products backed by the Environmental Working Group. Skin Deep pairs ingredients in more than 25,000 products against 50 definitive toxicity and regulatory databases, making it the largest integrated data resource of its kind.

OTA (Organic Trade Association)
Organic Trade Association (OTA) is a membership-based business association that focuses on the organic business community in North America. OTA’s mission is to promote and protect the growth of organic trade to benefit the environment, farmers, the public and the economy.

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics
The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics is a coalition working to protect your health by calling for the elimination of chemicals used in the cosmetics industry linked to cancer, birth defects and other health problems.