It’s November 15th, and it’s not just your average Monday because it’s time to celebrate America Recycles Day! But this year Sender One isn’t just celebrating for the day, we are celebrating all month long. 

What is America Recycles Day?

It's a national holiday dedicated to promoting recycling. The E.P.A (Environmental Protection Agency) promotes this holiday due to the many benefits of recycling:

• Reduces the amount of waste sent to landfills and incinerators
• Conserves natural resources such as timber, water and minerals
• Increases economic security by tapping a domestic source of materials
• Prevents pollution by reducing the need to collect new raw materials
• Saves energy
• Supports American manufacturing and conserves valuable resources
• Helps create new well-paying jobs in the recycling and manufacturing industries in the United States

For our month-long celebration, we're providing ways to play our part in this national holiday and global cause. 

At all Sender One locations you’ll find recycling bins available throughout the gym. To strengthen our recycling knowledge, we’ve added info posters on the bins for quick reference on what you can recycle to help reduce waste!

While you're climbing at the gym, you may come across the perfect opportunity to add one of these to the recycle bin:

• Yerba Mate, Health-Ade, and Voss Water Glass Bottles
• Proud Source Water, Redbull, & Starbucks Nitro Brew Aluminum Cans
• Muscle Milk, Gatorade, & Tropicana Juice Plastic Bottles
• SendBlend & CRUXGRIP Liquid Chalk Plastic Containers (Rinse First!)

At all Sender One Climbing gyms we are collecting retired ropes for an upcycling project that will support fundraising for the Animal Wellness Foundation. If you aren’t sure where the collection bin is at your gym, ask a staff member!

The retired ropes that you donate will be cleaned, cut, and turned into dog leashes so they can be reused by our furry companions! If you’re interested in helping us assemble these leashes, stay tuned for volunteer sign ups in our newsletter later this month.

The finished leashes will be sold at the  all Sender One Climbing gyms  and 100% net proceeds donated to the Animal Wellness Foundation. The Animal Wellness Foundation is a large advocate for the animal wellness movement and supports the cause in the following ways: 

• Raising funds for companion animals of low-income families and for the housing and rehabilitation of homeless animals. 
• Rescuing & fostering animals found in situations of abuse, neglect or abandonment, as well as in city and county shelters. 
• Funding spay, neuter, and vaccination programs so every animal in their care receives the medical treatment they need.
• Supporting animal protection policies at the federal level, getting veterinary experts to the frontline of the animal protection movement.

Take a few minutes of your day to reflect on your current recycling habits - you may already be recycling in more ways than you think!

Consider if there’s an opportunity to introduce one or more new ways to recycle this month to build a habit of it year-round. 

If you need some inspiration on ways to introduce more recycling habits into your day to day, check out these accessible options: 

• Bring a reusable bag to the grocery store
• Buy rechargeable batteries
• Print paper double-sided or reuse misprinted papers to make notepads
• Bring a reusable mug to your coffee shop
• Flatten cardboard boxes so that you can fit more into your bin.
• Most metallic items can be recycled, such as empty spray cans and tin foil, plus empty soda, fruit, vegetable and other food cans.
• Stop by your local recycling center and drop off anything that was not picked up by your curbside service.
• To help your recycling center keep down foul odors, wash food waste off of food containers before recycling. 
• Bring your own food to the office in a reusable container to reduce packaging waste.
• Save office supplies by keeping your markers, pens and glue sticks in a clean dry space as heat makes them dry out.
• Reuse office supplies: use newspapers to wrap things for the mail instead of bubble wrap or use paper clips instead of staples.
• Use email for most memos and office communications.
• Convert old sheets, towels and clothing into wash rags
• Repurpose glass jars as storage containers
• Buy second hand furniture

References

EPA America Recycles | Animal Wellness Foundation | ReuseThisBag.com

Follow along all month long as we share topics in celebration of Women's History Month!

Just as beautiful on the inside as on the outside and twice as strong; the stories told by and about the heroine women in this following list of must-read books, really pack a punch! These powerful women have overcome tremendous obstacles, fought for equality on different fronts, and now their stories show us how we can rise up to achieve our own goals, just as they’ve achieved theirs. This week for Women's History Month, we're recommending a reading list for anyone who wants to gain a different or new perspective from a variety of influential women. 

EMPOWERING MUST-READS

Becoming

Michelle Obama

“She is taking the country by the hand on an intimate tour of everyday African-American life and ambition while recounting her rise from modest origins to the closest this country has to nobility. She’s meditating on the tensions women face in a world that speaks of gender equality but in which women still bear the greater burdens of balancing career and family” -- Isabel Wilkerson, The New York Times

Girl, Stop Apologizing

Rachel Hollis

“It’s time to truly embrace your greatness, and there is no better rally cry than “Girl, Stop Apologizing.” Unapologetic herself, Rachel is the fearless girlfriend you need to help you leap into the bold unknown and fulfill that big audacious goal you have been waiting to achieve.” -- Amy Porterfield, Online Marketing Expert

Redefining Realness: My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love & So Much More

Janet Mock

"I aspire to be as unflinchingly brave! Janet Mock's story simultaneously embodies, complicates, and subverts the concept of American exceptionalism and self-creation." -- Laverne Cox, actress, advocate, and star of Orange Is the New Black

The Radium Girls

Kate Moore

"Radium Girls is frighteningly easy to set in a wider context. The story of real women at the mercy of businesses who see them only as a potential risk to the bottom line is haunting precisely because of how little has changed; the glowing ghosts of the radium girls haunt us still." -- Genevieve Valentine, NPR

Unbowed

Wangari Maathai

“Wangari Maathai is the rare leader who knows how to create independence, not dependence. On the page as in person, her example makes each of us a little stronger, wiser, and braver than we ever thought we could be.” -- Gloria Steinem

We Should All Be Feminists

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

“An enchanting plea by the award-winning Nigerian novelist to channel anger about gender inequality into positive change. Employing personal experience in her examination of ‘the specific and particular problem of gender,’…Adichie makes her arguments quietly but skillfully. A moving essay that should find its way into the hands of all students and teachers to provoke new conversation and awareness." -- Kirkus Reviews

CHILDREN'S BOOKS

Malala's Magic Pencil

Malala Yousafzai

"This is a wonderful read for younger students that will also provide insight and encourage discussion about the wider world. ... The simplicity of Yousafzai's writing and the powerful message she sends, make this book inspirational for all." -- School Library Journal

March Forward, Girl

Melba Beals

“Beals writes openly about her feelings of hopelessness and helplessness, though her courage and resolve are just as evident. It’s a no-holds-barred reflection of the physical and psychological toll that prejudice, discrimination, and hate take on a young life” -- Publishers Weekly

She Persisted

Chelsea Clinton

“Exemplary . . . This well-curated list will show children that women’s voices have made themselves emphatically heard.” -- Booklist

SUPPORT A GREAT CAUSE!

For Women's History Month, Sender One is donating 25% of net proceeds from the Sender One online store to The Loveland Foundation. This foundation is committed to "showing up for communities of color in unique and powerful ways, with a particular focus on Black women and girls. [Their] resources and initiatives are collaborative and they prioritize opportunity, access, validation, and healing."

Art from: dei.gsu.edu/2021/02/womens-history-month

Our heroine's can come from anywhere: art, literature, history. Maybe she's a heroine of our generation, or a courageous lead in a Jane Austin Novel. To celebrate Women's History Month we've compiled literature with stories of empowered, historical, and fantastical heroine's. Find a story that inspires you:

EMPOWERED WOMEN

Stories of self-acceptance and creating change

The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl

Issa Rae

Being an introvert in a world that glorifies cool isn’t easy. But when Issa Rae, the creator of the Shorty Award-winning hit series The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl, is that introvert—whether she’s navigating love, the workplace, friendships, or “rapping”—it sure is entertaining. Now, in this New York Times bestselling debut collection written in her witty and self-deprecating voice, Rae covers everything from cybersexing in the early days of the Internet to deflecting unsolicited comments on weight gain, from navigating the perils of eating out alone and public displays of affection to learning to accept yourself—natural hair and all.

The Women I Think About at Night

Mia Kankimäki

What can a forty-something childless woman do? Bored with her life and feeling stuck, Mia Kankimäki leaves her job, sells her apartment, and decides to travel the world, following the paths of the female explorers and artists from history who have long inspired her.

The Women I Think About at Night is “an astute, entertaining…[and] insightful” (Publishers Weekly) exploration of the lost women adventurers of history who defied expectations in order to see—and change—the world.

Where to Begin

Cloe Wade

If you are ready to be a part of building a society rooted in love, acceptance, justice, and equality, Where to Begin is the ultimate inspirational guide.

Building on the wisdom of Cleo Wade’s national bestseller Heart Talk, this heartfelt collection will help you stay connected to hope during difficult moments and remind you that no matter what, you still have the power to show up and effect positive change.

HISTORICAL WOMEN

Women who have shaped the world we live in today

A Woman's Place Is at the Top: A biography of Annie Smith Peck, Queen of the Climbers

Hannah Kimberley

Annie Smith Peck is one of the most accomplished women of the twentieth century that you have never heard of. Peck was a scholar, educator, writer, lecturer, mountain climber, suffragist, and political activist. She was a feminist and an independent thinker who refused to let gender stereotypes stand in her way. 

My Own Words

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Hailed as a champion of women’s rights, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away in 2020, but her opinions on everything from gender equality to the inner workings of the nation’s highest court to her love of opera live on this 2018 collection of writings from the feminist icon.

FANTASTICAL WOMEN

Fictional and fantasy stories about women

Circe

Madeline Miller

The 2018 bestseller offers an epic feminist adaptation of the story of the goddess Circe — the misfit daughter of Helios, god of the sun, and Perse, an Oceanid nymph — whose powerful sorcery leads to banishment.

Over thousands of years, Circe crosses paths with a wide cast of characters: the Minotaur, Medea, Jason and other mortals, including Odysseus, with whom she falls in love and has a child. In the end, will she choose to live among mortals or gods? If you’re looking for female empowerment, Greek mythology style, you’ve found it.

The Mercies

Kiran Millwood Hargrave

Inspired by the 1620 witch trials, this novel transports readers to Norway, where a traveler and his wife come upon a coastal village only inhabited by women. 

Absalom Cornet has been summoned to bring the women of the island to heel. With him travels his young wife, Ursa. In her new home, and in Maren, Ursa encounters something she has never seen before: independent women. But where Ursa finds happiness, even love, Absalom sees only a place flooded with a terrible evil, one he must root out at all costs....

Get a Life, Chloe Brown

Talia Hibbert

After a near-death experience, chronically ill website coder Chloe Brown makes an agenda to ensure she lives her life to the fullest and she finds the perfect man to help her cross the experiences off her list.

Sender One is also celebrating Women's History Month by fundraising for Girls Inc. LA. Our goal is to raise $2,000 through our Send With Womxns Climb-a-thon. So grab your climbing shoes and rally up your pledges, because we'll be climbing all day March 26th!

Rock climbing provides an experience full of thrill, excitement, and commitment. It builds physical and mental strength as you reach new heights on each route you try. It’s an experience that Sender One wants to make accessible to everyone in our communities, which is why we’re pleased to announce our Send Forward Program. 

The goal for the Send Forward Program is to break down barriers that limit underrepresented groups, especially amongst youth, from participating in the sport of climbing. Additionally, we want the youth participating in the program to build self-esteem, develop life skills and grow confidence in overcoming obstacles, so that what they perceive as possible will transform beyond their current veils.

The Send Forward campaign will offer these groups of youth an opportunity to explore a world outside of what they know, to experience challenges that will push them beyond what they envisioned they were capable of. It will also offer them a chance to get to know our State and National parks through climbing.

We’ve had the opportunity to partner with Andrew King and Outward Bound Adventures who have helped make this dream program a reality. Learn more about these amazing partners below ↓

We look forward to building partnerships with even more organizations to help this program grow.

About Andrew King

Andrew King is an African American explorer who has climbed over 50 different mountains around the world from Kilimanjaro to the highest mountain in the Atlantic, Indian, and the Pacific Ocean to the highest mountain in Western Hemisphere. He is currently training and climbing towards being the first African American to climb the highest mountain and volcano on each continent.

He is a dedicated advocate, providing help and digital media exposure to individuals, non-profits, developing communities battling sexism, racism, climate change, and other economic barriers along his nature expeditions.

Andrew is climbing, surfing, and diving for an inclusive outside with brands including Black Diamond, who will be donating shoes and harnesses to the participants of the Send Forward program. 

About Outward Bound Adventures

Outward Bound Adventures (OBA) is the oldest non-profit in the nation created and dedicated to providing outdoor education, conservation and environmental learning expeditions for primarily low income, urban and rural youth and their families who would not otherwise have the opportunity to experience time spent in wild places and open spaces. 

We are thrilled to partner with them on the Send Forward program to bring rock climbing into the lives of these young adventurers. 

References

The Between Worlds Project | Outward Bound Adventures

In effort to continue bringing Black Health and Wellness to the forefront as we celebrate Black History Month, below you'll find Black-owned businesses who provide services and products for self-care, fitness, sustainability, and more  for our local communities and online. 

If you haven't had the opportunity yet, don't forget to check out our earlier blog for Black History Month which highlights non-profit organizations and podcasts to follow/support that work to empower Black communities, as well as encourage self-love and healing. 

FITNESS & HEALTH

Intrinsic Provisions

intrinsicprovisions.com

A joy-focused outdoor lifestyle shop connecting customers to the highest quality brands. They offer a curated brand experience for your life both out and about and in.

WELLNESS & SELF-CARE

Nappily Naturals

nappilynaturals.com

A full service beauty wellness center in Leimert Park that offers organic, plant-based and herbal formulas that support holistic health and beauty lifestyles that will combat certain issues that has become ubiquitous throughout Black communities all over the world.

Laguna Candles

lagunacandles.com

Women-owned and family-run business Laguna Candles has been whipping up candles for over 15 years. Each candle is hand-poured and crafted locally and made with a proprietary soy and wax blend sustainable, ecologically-sound and free of pesticides, Phthalates, parabens and sulfates.

APPAREL & HOME

Renowned LA

Renowned.la

Renowned is a Los Angeles based brand created by John Dean III. Dean, born in Cleveland, Ohio, developed Renowned as a creative outlet to share and tell stories from a perspective that is relatable to anyone chasing a dream.