California's Oak Fire has burned through more than 18,000 acres and destroyed more than 40 structures since it ignited near Yosemite National Park on Friday, July 22. Since then, 3,700 people had been evacuated, with many losing their homes, businesses and more.
Liz Martella and her husband David Martella, alongside their children, lost everything in the massive Oak Fire that devastated their home town of Mariposa CA. They lost their family home, their business and all personal possessions, pushing their family members to open a Go Fund Me page to help support their loved ones during these hard times.
That is why starting from 26.10.2021 we are donating part of our proceeds towards the animal shelter initiative from our friends over at Cat Shelter Meow Paws.
Cat Shelter Meow Paws Macedonia is a rescue organisation run by just two people, Iva and Misko, who have dedicated their lives to rescuing and rehoming stray cats and dogs in Skopje, North Macedonia.
Cat Shelter Meow Paws needs larger premises with outside space where they can build a safe refuge for as many animals as possible. Currently they have to pay for commercial kennelling which is very expensive or return animals back to the street.
For all orders on our website made from 26.10.2021 - 26.11.2021 Bastet Noir will donate a portion of the proceeds gathered and help Cat Shelter Meow Paws in reaching their £25,000 goal.
We hope to see this animal shelter up and running as soon as possible! Check out their go fund me page here.
Making the world better, because we give a damn.
In each of Earth's spheres, a healthy balance of the most abundant elements - carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen - is required. In other words, elements from the air, land, water, and living things must have an equal part.
Unfortunately, human activity has resulted in an oversupply of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Think industrialization, deforestation, and large-scale agriculture. At the same time, other spheres (including those outside the hemisphere) are devoid of greenhouse gases. And how can we make a change? Actively lowering greenhouse gas emissions is one method to restore the natural balance.
According to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change around ten percent of all worldwide greenhouse gas emissions are attributed to the fashion industry. In more concrete terms, it means that fashion produces more CO2 when compared to the aviation and shipping industries combined.
Inspired by this move, from December 2020 we are using the Offset App to make our shipping emissions carbon neutral. Carbon offsetting is a method of compensating for emissions by taking steps that encourage carbon saving, in hopes of finding balance I.E. Neutrality.
We will offset the carbon emissions made from every single delivery made from offset marketplaces such as: Pachama, Nori, Grassroots Carbon and Carboncure. As a sustainable brand, we're always supporting environmentally friendly initiatives, so at the end of each month, a percentage of our sales will go directly towards supporting forest protection initiatives. Thanks to this app we'll be able to share with all of you, our monthly offset cost which includes the total amount of the shipping emissions we've offset and the environmental impact benefit of those offsets, including how many trees we've paid to protect.
Wanna know what your personal carbon footprint looks like? Take the quiz and find out!
Making the world better, because we give a damn.
]]>I woke up this morning to a different world, one which sent shivers down my spine, one which terrifies me, a world so dystopian, it felt like I was a character in George Orwell’s book. My first reaction to it, as I believe most of us had was why is this affecting me so much when it’s happening thousands of miles away from me, in a country that’s not even mine. And while I was contemplating of whether or not I should voice my opinion about this, a thought crossed my mind.
When I was 13 years old, I was bullied by someone I considered to be my best friend. I felt sad, frightened, but most of all I felt alone. There was absolutely no one I could turn to, not even my family, because I felt so ashamed of it happening to me, I felt like it was all my fault. The constant taunts I endured from this person were heavy blows to my heart and I considered myself guilty and in a way responsible. Somehow, even though I was not aware at the time, I felt like I was actually deserving of it. So the obvious questions like “why me?” popped into my head so frequently, until they became constant thoughts that flooded my mind. The only thing that got me through this terrible dark times and made me survive this whole period was music. It was my escape from the everyday reality I had to face in school. And it wasn’t just any music, it was Tupac’s music. In his lyrics I saw a new perspective, a life I was fortunate enough not to have, struggles I never had to endure, because I was blessed enough to be born in a wonderful loving family, a mom and dad that would have done anything for me and a sister who was a best friend, even though I didn’t see it that way at the time. A world torn by violence, where thirteen year old girls become drug fiends, where thirteen year old boys have to grow up so fast, they find themselves holding guns by the time they become fourteen and see their friends buried by the time they become twenty and not by choice, but because the world insists on making it hard for them to get out of the living hell they were born into.
So you see, it was a black man’s music that saved my life. Me, a white girl thousands of miles away whose privileged life felt like such a tragedy, but pale in comparison to the struggles of thousands of lives like his in the projects. And even though his story was not my story, his struggles were not mine, he unveiled a different kind of world and offered me a glimpse of every injustice people like him went through, every psychological torture they had to suffer just because of the color of their skin. His story and the way he told it, allowed me to get out of that selfish zone I’ve captured myself in for so long and changed the way I saw life ever since. Needless to say it was critical to my development as a human being. And for this I will eternally be thankful. But if you still can’t relate to it, watch this video which will definitely change the way you see the world and the part you play in it.
Years later, just few weeks before George Floyd killing happened in the states, I was watching “when they see us”, a story so powerfully portrayed that weeks after I watched it, the injustice the four black boys go through still tortured me. It tortured me because I couldn’t believe it and perhaps I didn’t even want to believe it that white supremacy is not only alive, but in its full swing even today. And again, I was grateful. Grateful not to have suffered through something like that.
So, when I woke up this morning and saw what’s happening in the states, I felt compelled to do something about it. I felt compelled to do something about the community who gave the world figures like Tupac, Martin Luther King, Viola Davis, Nina Simone and hundreds more silent heroes whose names we might never learn, but whose deeds will nevertheless be remembered. So, first thing I did was to make a personal contribution to the George Floyd Gofundme campaign and make sure to donate additional 15% of Bastet Noir’s June profits. I’m well aware that this might not right the wrongs done, nor will it bring back the people this community and the world had lost. It might not even change a thing, but it might just give their families a fighting chance at life. It might help them see that they are not alone in this fight and bring hope into this whole madness, so the next generation, the one that comes after us, doesn’t have another George Floyd.
We all owe at least this much to black culture and since silence is not an option here’s few things to help you start:
Educate yourself — New York Times has put together a reading list to help us all learn. It’s a good way to start. You can find the reading list of an antiracist book here.
Donate — I’m well aware that this period in time is extremely difficult, but if you find yourself lucky enough to have a steady job, a roof over your head and enough food on your table, please donate to anti-racial organizations, as much as you can. Here’s the link to the campaign I chose to support and here’s the link of list of antiracial campaigns you can support.
Support BIPOC businesses — this article by WhoWhatWear which lists many BIPOC businesses is a great place to start.
Raise awareness — regardless of how big or small your platform is, in times like this it’s absolutely necessary to voice your opinion and stand for what’s right. We share so much of our lives, parts that are not that important on social media, so much so that when it comes to the important stuff, we choose to stay silent. Silence should never be an option in times like these. I’m not black, but I see you.
Every three months we make sure to support a cause that's dear to us. In order to do our part correctly and be fully transparent, here's a list of causes and charities we've supported and are planning on supporting in 2020.
This list will be ongoing, so we'll be updating it every three months.
In December 2019 & January 2020 we donated 10% and 50% respectively of our profit to Wires, Australia's largest wildlife rescue organisation. In June of 2019, the monstrous wild fires killed 30% of the koala population and left 26 million acres burned to the ground. The world was left in shock, so our brand took this opportunity to contribute and help Australia recover from this tragedy.