Current Event - Sustainable Condoms!

In case you haven't been exposed to the growing movement of sustainable condoms, let me introduce you. In particular I'm talking about the company Sustain, which is a relatively new B-corporation aiming to make sustainable change through their sustainable, fair-trade condoms. I love this concept so much because it addresses not only the "planet" aspects of sustainability, but also "people" and "profit", which often get overlooked. Think about it; what is the root of so many environmental, social justice, and economic problems worldwide? Population control! What controls population growth? Condoms! Sustain's philosophy aims to show people that the world's problems are all connected; here's a list of some sustainability issues that these condoms have the potential to help:

• social equity
• women's rights
• climate change
• pollution
• Fair Trade standards
• poverty
• overpopulation

Sustain's condoms are also nitrosamine free; nitrosamine is a known carcinogen that is found in all but two condoms brands in the United States (decrease your body burden!). The company itself is entirely dedicated to being as sustainable as possible, from their factory wages to the ecological footprint of their product's ingredients - one of the founders (a father daughter team) Jeffery Hollander cofounded Seventh Generation in 1988. As a B-corp they work hard on giving back; 10% of Sustain's pretax profits go to women globally who lack access to birth control and reproductive health care. Their aptly named blog In-ter-course is an open discourse about women's rights, safe sex, and of course, sustainability. So many good things! And they're certified:

• Fair Trade (rubber)
• vegan
• no animal testing
• B-corp
• non -GMO

As I mentioned, the "responsible" condom concept is steadily growing, L. condoms is another fantastic example of the "buy-one give-one" business model that has great sustainability potential. For every condom bought from L., a condom is distributed in an HIV/AIDS high risk area which lacks comprehensive birth control and protection. Their product is also free from toxic additives that can harm people and the planet. Here's a link to their humorous promo video and the story behind their movement.

SUSTAINABILITY IS SEXY, FOLKS!