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Dwell
At home in the modern world
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A collaboration of individuals, businesses, and nonprofits pushing the world forward
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a blog for fashion insiders- filled with shopping tips, humorous luxury items, and upcoming fashion trends.
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Your go-to guide for whatever you want to "green"
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OZOcar is New York's first hybrid luxury car service that won't compromise your conscience because in an OZOcar luxury and responsibility co-exist.
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PEOPLE
Una Kim
Una Kim originally started Keep Company to provide ladies with sweet skate kicks. Being the...
REPORT
Think Before You Print
We get reminded to think before we print all the time but we rarely stop to ask why. Besides paper,...
Una Kim originally started Keep Company to provide ladies with sweet skate kicks. Being the responsible twenty something that she was, she decided to make her shoes cruelty free. People loved the idea and today, her company also produces clothing and kids shoes for the likes of Urban Outfitters. We threw ourselves in front of her skateboard so that she could take a moment from her busy life to answer our usual set of q's.
What was your green turning point?
The punk and independent music and art communities of the nineties were huge influences in my life – I credit my DIY mindset to those years for sure. I think part of the ethics and values of that community grounded the direct relationship between you and the consequences of your actions, making you understand how much power you have to effect change on micro and macro levels. It's not that everyone who came out of that era or community was a vegan, straight edge tree hugger. It simply was a culture that encouraged you to be aware of your actions and make your decisions accordingly – whether it came in the form of creative, political, or lifestyle choices. I think that's one of the biggest problems facing our society right now. We are so removed from everything. When we see products before us, we take for granted the entire manufacturing process and the resources that were required to produce those things. We leave the decision making to someone else and just consume.
What has been your biggest lifestyle change?
Hard to say what's a big lifestyle change, since all the small ones add up. I do turn off the water – when I shampoo, soap up the dishes, etc. We put a jug under the faucet of the tub and turn on the faucet at the beginning of the shower. While the water heats up, the jug gets filled within the first ten seconds with cold water. That's what we water the plants with. My boyfriend's father is an avocado farmer in inland San Diego. When you see what water prices do to the living of these farmers, and what life-altering effects droughts have, you learn the value of saving water.
What’s something you hope to pass down to your children (and children’s children)?
Fun, positivity, and the idea that you and your decisions matter. A little effort makes a difference.
Una Kim
Keep Company Founder
"That dead zone trash spot in the ocean where no light penetrates [is] a real life allegory for the future of our planet, kind of like what Morpheus shows Neo in the Matrix on the little TV in the white room. You geeks know what I'm talking about."
What’s your little green secret?
The Shamwow. Not to give a plug to an info-mercial product, but I came from a family of massive paper towel consumption. I'm talking consumption on a gross level. My friend Ashley got me really pumped on the Shamwow. It's like magic, how much that thing absorbs. It also reminds me of those hair towels that everyone got in middle school as birthday presentation. I always thought they were amazing.
If you had five minutes in the Oval Office, what would you say?
Don't sweat the small stuff, don't forget whose backs this country has been and always will be built on, and most of all good luck, work hard, and be tough.
What are your favorite sustainable items in the closet?
Keep's Brown Cord with Blue Check Ramos and the Grey Herringbone with Black Cord Homer – we use all natural materials, including a Japanese milled fabrics, and the bodies are constructed out of sustainably grown bamboo/cotton corduroy.
What’s your recommended summer reading list?
Cradle to Cradle by William McDonough and Michael Braungart; Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters
Who is your green superhero?
William McDonough
What keeps you up at night?
That dead zone trash spot in the ocean where no light penetrates. I see this as a real life allegory for the future of our planet, kind of like what Morpheus shows Neo in The Matrix on the little TV in the white room. You geeks know what I'm talking about. I’m also worried about the destruction of the rain forest. And global warming. What doesn't keep me up at night?
What’s your not-so-green guilty pleasure?
Traveling by plane.
What’s on your wish list?
A house with a recycled waste water system to water my garden. And electric, more fuel-efficient cars.
If you could snap your fingers and create a green product that doesn’t exist yet, what would it be?
The sustainable, biodegradable version of plastic. This would transform the entire world.
