Peacekeeper Truth Serum Blog

Founded in 1987, Domestic Violence Awareness Month is a chance to bring together people around the world to join in the common cause of ending violence against women and their children.

The 2012 Day of Unity was celebrated Monday, October 1, and was commemorated with events across the country. Here are a few of our favorite events, activities, and thoughts about DVAM:

• Hungry for Justice: Food Security and Violence Against Women. Author Sarah Kalloch eloquently discusses the disturbing correlations between world hunger and domestic violence. (Note: World Food Day is tomorrow, October 16th; read this essay to see how you can participate.)
• In Tonawanda, NY, the local YWCA is lit up with purple spotlights to increase awareness of domestic violence and women’s support services.
• Bliss Tree made a list of 8 ways to spot domestic abuse.
• If you’re interested in creating an event of your own, the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence has a list of resources and activity ideas.
• And last but not least:  President Obama’s DVAM 2012 Proclamation.

How have you celebrated Domestic Violence Awareness Month?  Leave us a comment sharing your stories.

With Love,
The PeaceKeeper Team
www.iamapeacekeeper.com

PeaceKeeper Cause-Metics is the first cosmetic line to give donations to urgent human rights issues globally.
Want to become a PeaceKeeper too? Take a peek at our products and check out the causes we support.

This week, we’re shouting out to NYC’s hottest new approach to sustainable technology – The Lowline!

Inspired by the success of the High Line (an NYC elevated freight line converted into a stunning public park) a group called The Delancey Underground Project aims to create an underground green space using an abandoned trolley terminal beneath Delancey Street, on New York’s Lower East Side. The designers are planning to use cutting-edge green technology to enable a functional below-ground ecosystem; sunlight, reflected underground, would save electricity while allowing plants, trees, and grass to thrive.

It looks like their dreams may become a reality very soon; The Delancey Underground Project recently had a successful Kickstarter run back in April, and they are hosting events through the month of September to increase community interest in the project. Ultimately, the creators of the Lowline hope to “provide tremendous opportunities for creative expression, while challenging assumptions of the way humans work, live, commute, and interact”; this includes community programs such as art exhibits, farmers’ markets, and educational series. “This space will be more than a space,” says the project’s website. “It will generate community, and it will inspire in the way beautiful environments can inspire.”

We at PeaceKeeper are super excited to have a new park in NYC, especially one that’s using cutting-edge sustainable technology to make the world a greener place! To find out more, you can visit thelowline.org or check out their old Kickstarter campaign.

Image courtesy Delancey Underground Kickstarter.

With Love,
The PeaceKeeper Team
www.iamapeacekeeper.com

PeaceKeeper Cause-Metics is the only cosmetics company to give donations to urgent human rights issues around the world.
Want to become a PeaceKeeper too? Check out our products and the causes we support!

Mission:  Possible?  When you’ve got PeaceKeepers, anything is possible!

PeaceKeeper Cause-Metics has a chance to become a finalist in Mission: Small Business, Chase’s competition for a lucky small business to win $250,000 – and we need YOUR help to win it!

We only need 200 more votes by June 30 and EVERY VOTE COUNTS! Here is why you should take the time:

• PeaceKeeper wants to continue to fund women who have been trafficked, indentured or who live in extreme poverty. (Check out our Philanthropy page to see what we support.)

• PeaceKeeper wants to launch a college campus program to help young women engage in activism and learn what real beauty is (which is our philanthropy, humanity and how we give back to the world).

• PeaceKeeper sources certain raw ingredients from developing world farmers gives their families loans when we can. (Read about Sanvardhini Agro, one of the many organic farms from whom we source our ingredients.)

By taking the time to vote PeaceKeeper, you are voting for all companies and founders who try to help heal the world with our buying power.

Here’s How To Vote…

1. Visit www.missionsmallbusiness.com/.

2. Look for “Log in via Facebook to support your community” (the app will not give away your personal information, and you can even remove it from your account once voting has ended).

3. Type “PeaceKeeper” in the Search bar at the bottom of the page.

4. Scroll to the bottom of the page. The VOTE button is on the far right.

5. Click on it ONCE and you are done!  Thanks for helping PeaceKeeper save the world!

With Love,

The PeaceKeeper Team

PeaceKeeper Cause-Metics is the first eco-green cosmetics company to give donations to fund urgent human rights issues.  Want to become a PeaceKeeper too?  Check out our products and learn about the causes we support.

This week at PeaceKeeper Cause-Metics, we’re giving a shout out to one of our favorite ingredients:  shea butter!

Organic shea butter is extracted from the nut of the shea tree (Vitellaria paradoxa), which grows naturally in the savannah belt of West Africa and the Ethiopian highlands.   Shea nuts are edible and high in protein; once the pulp has been eaten, the seed is crushed, roasted and ground into a paste.  Water is added to this paste to separate out the butter curds, which are then slowly boiled.  Once the butter is melted, it is put aside to cool and harden, at which point it is shaped into balls.

There is a multitude of uses for shea butter.  It is edible and can be used as a cooking oil, but it is commonly used as a moisturizing agent in cosmetics, hair conditioners, and medicinal ointments.  In Africa, shea butter is also used as a strengthening agent for musical instruments, as well as an ingredient in candles and soap.

The major producers of shea butter are rural women living near the poverty line – in Burkina Faso, one of the largest shea butter exporters, nearly 400,000 women are directly responsible for the extraction process.  The international demand for shea butter, therefore, ensures that the poorest citizens of developing countries are economically supported and not marginalized by the rapidly growing global economy.

Shea butter is a major ingredient in many PeaceKeeper products!  All our Lip Glosses, Lip Paints, and YUM Balms contain organic shea butter, as does our Superfruit Mega Balm.  It provides healthy moisture, soothing chapped lips and making them soft and beautiful.

To learn more about our ingredients, you can visit our website, http://www.iamapeacekeeper.com/ingredients.htm.

With Love,

The PeaceKeeper Team

Image courtesy PRLog.

PeaceKeeper Cause-Metics is the first cosmetics company to give donations to fund urgent human rights issues globally.
Want to be a PeaceKeeper too?  Take a peek at our products or check out the causes we support.

As I type this, two hugely important bills are making their way through state and federal government:

The New York State Workforce and Development Bill, approaching the State Senate floor TODAY;

And the Paycheck Fairness Act, set to arrive on the Senate floor the week of June 4.

The NYS Workforce Development Bill was created by State Senator Joseph Robach and Assemblywoman Ellen Jaffee. If the bill passes today, it would require the New York Department of Labor to provide workforce training for women, helping them qualify for higher paying jobs and careers, particularly those that predominantly hire men.  Though the Workforce Development Bill is up for a vote at this minute, you can still learn more about it at the New York Senate website.
The Paycheck Fairness Act was created in 2009 by then-Senator Hillary Clinton and Representative Rosa Delauro to counteract the loopholes in the 1963 Equal Pay Act and close the wage gap between genders (women currently make $0.76 to every dollar that men make). It failed to pass the Senate in January 2009 and November 2010; if passed in 2012, the Act will allow women to receive full compensatory and punitive damages for wage discrimination, require employers to submit any pay data regarding gender or ethnicity, and reinstating pay equity enforcement programs in the Department of Labor.
The Act has become a major factor in the ‘war over women’; GOP presumptive presidential candidate Mitt Romney has refused to comment on its potential passing, while President Obama is a strong supporter.  According to political blogger Greg Sargent, Democrats will move to make the bill a major issue in upcoming Senate races (Washington Post).

In the days before the Paycheck Fairness Act re-approaches the Senate, you can petition your congressman to support it, and check out the National Women’s Law Center for information on how the Act will strengthen current equal pay legislation.  You can even check out our website  for articles on how to research your fair wage and ask your boss for a raise!

To commemorate the Paycheck Fairness Act in 2010, we created the Fairness Gloss, a subtle golden shimmer that’s perfect for daytime.  You can take 20% off its retail price through June 10th with promo code FAIRPAY.

With Love,

Jessica, PeaceKeeper Cause-Metics
(www.iamapeacekeeper.com)

Everyone knows the three Rs of eco-friendly living: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.  But the Argentine National Institute for Industrial Technology (INTI) is taking recycling to a new level.

Their January 2011 newsletter “Saber Como” (Know How) reports that the INTI has developed a new method of extracting natural pigments from agricultural waste and preserving them in water-soluble dust form.  To date, they have extracted over 20 dyes from plants like eucalyptus, peanut shells, ash tree, onions, yerba mate, olive, rosemary, and lemon (see pictures above and below for dyes and colors).  Currently, they are testing these dyes on fabric; they hope to experiment with cosmetics, paint, paper, and rubber in the near future.

Natural dyes are regaining their rightful place in the fashion world, quickly overtaking synthetic colorants that are harmful to the environment.  Most fashion designers extract natural colors by boiling vegetables.

We at PeaceKeeper are excited about the INTI’s findings!  Imagine, having gorgeous clothing for peanuts (literally)!

Want to find out more?  Visit the INTI’s website to read the newsletter (in Spanish; use Google Translate to read it!)  Then leave us a comment and let PeaceKeeper know what you think!

With Love,

The PeaceKeeper Team

(Writer: Renee Estey.  Editor: Jessica Smith.  Pictures courtesy inti.gob.ar.

For more information about PeaceKeeper Cause-Metics, visit www.iamapeacekeeper.com.)

In 1963 Congress passed the Equal Pay Act so that women and men were ensured the same pay rate for the same work; however, almost 50 years later, women are still making 76 cents to every dollar made by a man. The Paycheck Fairness Act was introduced in January 2009 by then-Senator Hillary Clinton and Representative Rosa Delauro to eliminate loopholes in the Equal Pay Act—and to eliminate the wage gap between genders.

 In January 2009, the Paycheck Fairness Act passed in the House of Representatives,  but not through the Senate.  On Wednesday, November 17, the Senate will vote again on this historic bill.

              We at PeaceKeeper are asking you to join us in telling the Senate to “Vote YES!” on the Paycheck Fairness Act.  Because of the pay gap, working women can lose up to one million dollars of hard-earned wages.  The average working woman in America loses $500,000-$1,000,000 over her entire lifetime;  that’s money that could feed an entire family for years, all lost because of wage discrimination.  In the new economy, the woman’s income has become as important as the man’s; without that extra money, entire families are suffering.

With the Fairness Act, corporate pay loopholes will disappear and businesses will need a legitimate reason for paying women less than men. The act will also stop employers from intimidating their employees into staying silent about their wages, so that female workers will understand how their pay corresponds to their fellow employees without fear of losing their jobs.

Here’s what YOU can do to support the Paycheck Fairness Act:

–Sign this petition to tell Congress to make the Paycheck Fairness Act a law!

–You can research more about equal pay advocacy by using this handy Equal Pay Toolkit.

–In support of the Paycheck Fairness Act, Peacekeeper has launched a light golden “Fairness Gloss,” which is perfect for all skin types.  Your purchase is donated to groups for equal pay advocacy!

–Since the Act will take effect 6 months after it passes, you can act now to start your workplace moving in the right direction!  Visit PeaceKeeper’s Paycheck Fairness Act page to find out more about the Act, how to research your fair wage, and more!

              What are some of your experiences with the wage gap?  Have you been a victim of pay discrimination?  Let PeaceKeeper know in the comments section below!

With Love,

The PeaceKeeper Team

(Writer:  Renee Estey.  Editor:  Jessica Smith. 

For more information about PeaceKeeper Cause-Metics, visit www.iamapeacekeeper.com.)

September 21, 2010 marks the International Day of Peace. Peace Day provides individuals, organizations, and nations an opportunity to create acts of peace on one shared date. And while we at Peacekeeper devote our time and energy to peaceful living everyday of our lives, moments like this really bring this into focus on a much larger scale.

This resolution was established on September 21, 1981 and the first Day of Peace occurred in 1982. During the U.N. General Assembly, they concluded that “it would be appropriate to devote a specific time to concentrate the efforts of the United Nations and its Member States, as well as of the whole of mankind, to promoting the ideals peace and giving positive evidence of their commitment to Peace in all viable ways.”

In 2002, 20 years later September 21st became the official Day of Peace. This year is extra special, because it is also the International Year of Youth. Here in NYC, youth peace activists, youth religious and youth artists will meet in the Chapel of the Church Center at the United Nations at 2:00pm on Tuesday September 21st.

This year, the world’s largest anti-poverty campaign, Millennium Development Goals occurs on September 20-22, meaning the Day of Peace falls in the middle. The goals of the MDG are to slash poverty, hunger, disease, and maternal and child death by 2015.

The UN website states that “Peace enables development, which is critical in providing opportunities for young people,” and therefore, youth, peace, and development are closely interlinked. The Security-General believes that it is the potential of our youth that will have these goals met.

Because of the summit; however, the International Day of Peace will be observed this Friday September 17, 2010 on UN Headquarters, but will be observed on the 21st outside of Headquarters. The schedule begins at 8:45am with the Peace Bell Ceremony in the Rose Garden and then there will be a student conference from 9:30am-12:30pm. These events are not open to the public but will be broadcasted here.

To find out what other countries around the world are doing for Peace Day, click here. And if you are in the City, swing by the Bandshell in Central Park between 9am-6:00pm on Sunday September 19, 2010 for a VIGIL to “awaken humanity to harmony and peace through the power of intent and celebration and heal and bridge our lives and communities in order to achieve divinity alignment and recognize the oneness in all.” Tell us what you are going to do for the International Day of Peace!

Imagine that you are sight-impaired.  Now imagine that you couldn’t afford glasses, contacts, or any kind of visual services.  How much more difficult would the simplest tasks be?  Would you even be able to enjoy your life?

Introducing 141 Eyewear, the latest company to use the “You Buy One, We Give One” philanthropic policy (see our post on TOMS Shoes for more info!).  Co-founders and power couple Kyle Yamaguchi and Shu-Chu Wu began their mission in Taiwan, where Shu-Chu works as an optician; in 2009, they donated over 200 pairs of eyeglasses to families hit hard by Typhoon Morakot, the deadliest typhoon to hit the country in history.

According to the World Health Organization, 153 million people–and 13 million children–require corrective lenses but cannot afford proper vision services.  This often results in little or no interest in education (since sight-impaired children cannot see the blackboard) and loss of job opportunities, which contributes to the massive poverty problems we face worldwide.

When you buy a pair of 141 eyeglasses, the company donates one pair to a child in need.  Their “One Four One” policy means that with just a simple purchase, you have made an immediate change to the life of another human being—and since 141 only uses the highest-quality materials for their eyewear, you know you’re getting plenty of bang for your buck!

Currently, the company is based in Portland, Oregon, and sells its wares in clinics in California, Washington, and Minnesota–but in less than 1 week will make their NYC debut via Park Slope Eye! In the meantime, you New Yorkers can check them out on their website (141eyewear.com) or via Facebook.

With Love,

The PeaceKeeper Team

(Writer: Renee Estey.  Editor:  Jessica Smith.  Images and video courtesy 141eyewear.com.)

It’s the end of June, and that means that it’s smoldering here in NYC!  Whether you’re in 90-degree weather like us here at PeaceKeeper, or you’re in a somewhat more forgiving climate, you can increase the temperature with the sizzle of a hot new outfit!
To match the heat of the weather (and the current trends), fashionistas everywhere are indulging their bolder sides with creative, vintage-inspired prints with just enough edge to keep it trendy—perfectly showcased in the latest collections by Boxing Kitten!

This New York based fashion label uses 100% cotton fabrics with vibrant African wax block prints, making each garment totally unique. The pieces are woven by founder and designer Maya A. Lake (pictured at top), a Brooklyn native, and have been worn by superstars like Beyonce,  Erykah Badu, and Alicia Keys. “Her current collection is driven by the political and cultural climate of the Civil Rights Movement,” states Boxing Kitten’s website. “Each garment fuses bold print combinations with charmingly demure patterns and flawless construction”.

Recently, Boxing Kitten has instigated a socially conscious team-up with New York’s Osborn Design, a fair-trade shoe company run by Carla Venticinque-Osborn and Aaron Osborn.  Osborn Design, in the spirit of sustainability creates all of their shoes with African Kente cloth, recycled clothing, and hand-woven Guatemalan fabric.  Their inspiration draws “from human relationships, the vibrancy of life within its conflict and resolve, and artisanal grit.”

Boxing Kitten x Osborn Design Limited Edition Handmade Shoe

Even better?  The heel on this gorgeous, 100% handmade shoe is made from recycled tires!  Now That’s Beautiful!™

Only fifty shoes have been produced in this limited edition line, and even at $180 a pair, they are sure to go fast!  So hurry and get yourself one!  And while you’re at it, check out Boxing Kitten and Osborn Design for some bold, Summer-tastic fashion inspiration, too!

With Love,

The PeaceKeeper Team

(Writer:  Renee Estey.  Editors:  Jessica Smith and Eva Kuhn.  All images and quotes courtesy boxingkitten.com and osborndesign.com.)