idUnited

Ladies,.. (sorry gents, a men’s line is coming soon) You have to check out an organic clothing label called Moral Fervor. Emily Santamore & Melissa Sack started up their company just a few short years ago and are already making a big impact in the world of fashion as well as the environment.  < in a good way of course.

“Moral Fervor was born of the assumption that business, art and activism are not mutually exclusive endeavors. We put our social conscience into every aspect of our company, from the fabric that we choose, to the companies that we work with, to the messages that we send.

Each of our collections is inspired by an issue of social or environmental importance. We use our clothing as a medium to inspire public debate. We firmly believe that through our unique designs we can help bring awareness to issues that aren’t getting the attention they deserve. “

Nice! Very well said,.. I have a new company that I can say I truly admire.

Go visit Moral Fervor today to check out their current collection >  Genetic Modification.

Via > Treehugger

I know Google pretty much rules the world when it comes to searching for stuff on-line,.. but check out this search engine powered by Yahoo! that donates money everytime you use it. Pretty cool >

GoodSearch, a Los Angeles-based search engine powered by Yahoo, well, makes you feel good about searching. By designating a charity prior to searching, GoodSearch will designate a donation to the organization of your choice each time you perform a search. Talk about killing two birds with one stone! Just imagine what you could accomplish in the name of charity simply by using GoodSearch during your workday alone. Add that to the number of days a year you work, and now you’ve really done some good. So go ahead, make it your browser toolbar and perform a search that really makes you feel good!

Google,.. why don’t you just create GoogleGood Search and make everyone happy? I know I would be :)

Via > Somewhat Frank

For all the ladies out there,.. or the fellas that need to buy their girl a nice present,.. read up > 

The Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), has teamed up with W Hotels to create twenty-eight one-of-a-kind customized bathrobes, created to benefit Fashion Targets Breast Cancer^® (FTBC).  With the launch of its “Robes to Recovery” campaign.

The group of designers that got on board for this campaign are true style icons in the fashion industry. From Betsey Johnson and Calvin Klein to Juicy Couture and Heatherette,.. the list goes on.

Go over to e-bay between now and Nov 2nd to place your bid on one of these luxurious robes. The bidding opens at $125,.. and some still haven’t been bid on yet. Go!

Besides being the current tag line for idUnited,.. “Conscience Capitalism” It seems like those words, or a combination of those words are popping up more and more everywhere I look. (or maybe because i’m always searching for something new to post) Anyway,.. I don’t think it’s a coincidence. I think it’s because there is a big shift currently taking place in the way individuals are thinking and consuming. And this is all just the beginning. 

I came across a blog entry entitled “The Capitalism of Conscience“ and it does a great job talking about this shift >>

“To be “conscious” means to be awake and aware. To have “conscience” is to believe in doing no harm to others, even if the others are inanimate objects. We are slowly awakening to the truths about our society and what it’s doing to our world, and it’s starting to weigh on our conscience. We will do better for ourselves and our beliefs by voting with our wallets, and corporations will hear us (they’re hearing us already). To capture, and continue capturing, the almighty dollar from us, they will have to bend to our buying desires. If they don’t, they know the consequences—whether they come from shareholders or the consuming public. Simply put, there won’t be shareholders or consumers for their products or services.”

To read the entire entry please go visit Wenchypoo’s Blog.

I know I totally slipped on this one. But it’s still worth posting. (Did any of you participate? Anyone hear about it? leave a comment if you did)  Here it is:

Six years ago, 189 world leaders sat down and agreed to end poverty and achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. And a few days ago on Ocotber 15th&16th, 23,542,614 people, in over eighty countries around the world set a new Guinness World Record for the largest number of people to “STAND UP AGAINST POVERTY”.  To remind the people in power what they promised us. The initiative was set just in time for the United Nations International Day for Poverty Eradication on 17 October.

Sorry I didn’t get that up earlier :( There’s still 8yrs ahead of us until we accomplish this goal,.. so there’s a lot (or a little?) time left to help out.  Check out some of great ads for the campaign over at Houtlust. And check out the video of Vegetables standing up together?…  Just watch > 

There’s so many magazines out there covering a lot of the same topics. (Celebrity gossip, fashion, gadgets, business, etc.) So it’s good to see <GOOD magazine> a bi-monthly mag based out of L.A.  talk about,.. well,.. good stuff. From their site: >

“GOOD, A new voice in Media, embraces this generation’s merger of capitalism and idealism. Our mission is to stimulate the culture of GOOD by creating dialogue around things that matter. “

Each issue of GOOD asks an artist or group to set the tone for the magazine with a visual interpretation of the issue theme. The first issue is entitled “Like You Give A Damn” With articles from  Jeffrey Sachs writing about how we are the generation that can end poverty,.. to Ann Arbor native Eva Steele-Saccio writing about a project you may have heard about here in Detroit (Object Orange).

And now for the GOODEST <(not a word) part! GOOD is printed on recycled paper and 100% of the $20 subscription goes toward the non-profit of your choice. How GOOD is that?..  Get your subscription today!

“the world of good, not just for do-gooders anymore.”

Via: Coolhunting

PRODUCT (RED) has hit the US shores! Bono even went shopping with Oprah,.. how big a deal is that?… HUGE!

I have to admit,.. seeing Bono and Bobby Shriver’s (PRODUCT) RED was a huge inspiration to start up idUnited again. These two guys, along with all of the great partners they’ve teamed up with are doing an amazing job at raising money and awareness for the Global Fund to fight AIDS. My personal favorite is the (RED) i-pod nano. Next time you’re out shopping,.. buy some (RED).

Go visit the (PRODUCT) RED site and read their Manifesto. Well done fellas.

I just came across a great site called WorldChanging Business. They’re launching their efforts toward raising that $1 million with the WorldChangingBusiness Tele-summit, a multi-day tele-event with a stellar line-up of experts who have made giving a part of their business model (check the site out for a full list). The focus of the tele-summit is how to grow your business AND make a positive contribution to the world.

20% of all ticket sales and 90% of contributions from corporate sponsors are going toward the $1 million for micro-development.

There is so much on the site to look at and so many resources and tools for learning. I just signed up and received a free WorldChanging Business Starter Kit along with a bunch of other great freebies. Here’s a quick blurb from the site :

“In the worldchangingbusiness community, we believe that at no other time in history has the state of humanity, peace, health, and world abundance been more dependent on the gifts and wisdom of the individual. In times past, we could depend on the leadership and wisdom of our elected officials and people in positions of power. But these times call for new measures, for which the wisdom of the many, rather than the few, is required.”

I’m already loving this site.

Tele-Summit

When: October 23-26, 2006
Time: 7-10 PM EDT Daily
Where: The Event Take Place Wherever You Are in the World.

Via > PassionCatalyst

The following is a brief history about how idUnited got started. you don’t have to read it,.. just wanted to keep record.

idUnited has been in the making for over 18months. Getting started and getting dropped time and time again. It was registered as an LLC in June of 2005. ( right after me and two friends unsucessfully tried to aquire an established clothing company here in Detroit) Afterword we split ways and I decided to set out on my own. (Did I mention I had zero experience?.. it was a mistake looking back,.. but stuff happens for a reason) 

I originally set out to be just a t-shirt, hoodies and hats company. With the basic philosophy that is still with the company today:

1>  connect/unite individuals to a cause through ideas and design.

2 > raise money and awareness for non-profits.

It was going to be open sourced like threadless,.. and i’d also commission artists to design. All styles were to be limited to 1,111 copies. 1,111 for guys <> 1,111 for girls. And 11% of profits were going to go toward 3 non-profits: Wateraid. Room to Read. And FutureForests (which is actually a for profit and is now called The Carbon Neutral Company).

I don’t know why,.. but something just wasn’t right,.. in my mind at least. I just couldn’t  get idUnited off the ground. Was I seriously going to try and make the world a better place by selling t-shirts?  Long story short,… I (kinda) quit.

The thing is,.. deep down,.. I really believed in the idea. Not a day would pass that I couldn’t stop thinking about all of its potential. For the longest time I researched and looked into a ton of different opportunities and I just couldn’t seem to find anything that made me passionate like this does. So after 18 months of learning, discovering, researching, new experiences, questions, volunteering and meeting new people,.. I feel the time is right to go for it again. There’s a few things that I changed up this time,.. And I think it’s all for the better. It may not be perfect,.. but that’s the fun part right?  The point is,..  just do it and see what happens.  I personally can’t wait,…  hope you stick around for the ride.

Real quick I have to go back to the story to mention something. See when I first set out to start idUnited,.. I started a blog just like this on typepad. I think the only person reading it back then was my mom ;) But one day I wrote about a Manifesto that I had read on ChangeThis. It was written by DK of Phatgnat. Man this thing inspired me beyond words and was one of the best things I’ve read till this day. Reading DK’s manifesto entitled “The Youth of Today” showed me that I wasn’t the only one thinking about the world in a new/different way. There’s a whole generation of individuals who feel real strongly about a lot of the same issues I do. DK saw that I had wrote about his manifesto on my blog and thanked me,.. He also wanted to know more about what I was up to. I told him the philosophy of idUnited and what I was trying to do and he loved it. We immediately started a dialogue from that point on. And I’ve bugged the crap out of him ever since!  The dude has probably read over 100 e-mails from me,.. asking him for his opinion on everything for idUnited.  What if i do this? What If I do that? Do you think this will work? How about this way instead? The amazing thing is,.. he’s responded to every single e-mail. If it wasn’t for DK,.. the (kinda) quit would have just been quit.

DK > Thanks for being patient, helpful and professional with me. You’ve been a big inspiration and you’ve helped me a ton,.. your time and effort has been invaluable to me,.. it’s been unreal. Infinite thanks.

Well,..  so now that you know where idUnited came from,.. I’m guessing you want to know where it’s going right?… good question. You’re going to have to watch this space in the coming weeks and months to see our efforts unfold. So come visit the idUnited blog for updates and for the latest and greatest in the world of ‘Conscience Consumer Capitalism.’

In the meantime if you have any questions don’t be shy to drop me a line over at hello@idUnited.com or visit us on our www.myspace.com/idUnited page.

Best,

_Nev