Maker Faire 2017

Hello everyone! And a special welcome to anyone from Maker Faire that is visiting my blog for the first time!

The longer updates and pictures from Bay Area Maker Faire 2017 will be here shortly, but at the moment, here is all the places you can find me! I would love to stay in touch!

website: http://togreenandbeyond.wixsite.com/home
instagram: @togreenandbeyond
facebook: To Green and Beyond
email: togreenandbeyond@gmail.com

Thank you to everyone that supported the cause or took the time to listen to our story. Hope to see you next year! 

Post-Earth Day! 🌿

Hello there!

If you were unaware, Earth Day took place last weekend on April 22nd! A day our world has dedicated to raising awareness about the environment and doing our best to keep it clean. While it may seem like our society at large has contributed to the vast amounts of pollution from factories and oil production, they aren't the only establishment that has the potential to change our country's future.

YOU can make a difference, as small as it may be. While it may seem insignificant in the grand scheme of things, realize that this is exactly the way change is made. 

Being aware of the environment is a huge part of becoming a sustainable society and taking the time to appreciate it can make a difference in the way you think about going about your daily life. 

Some of the most beautiful locations I've visited have been outdoor gardens and beaches. They are pristine parts of nature that remind us that the bustling city life is not the only thing our world has to offer. In particular, Vancouver, Canada has some of the loveliest outdoors with vast greenery and gorgeous sculpted gardens and parks. Not only are the people nice, but the scenery is beautiful as well!

Hopefully this post will inspire you to take the extra effort to stop wasting unnecessary materials and failing to recycle what materials do get used. Take care of the environment & stay green!

P.S. If you looking to attend an environmentally friendly event near you, check out Eventbrite's nonprofit fundraising page! It's a great resource! 

New Website!

Hi everyone!

To start of 2017, I would like to introduce our new website! It is definitely still a work in progress, but it has a lot of new, organized information with some new pictures! Please check it out and let me know if you have any feedback!

To Green and Beyond's New Website!!

Happy New Year everyone!

Accomplishment of the Year

Looking back into 2016, one of my greatest accomplishments would have to include being invited by the mayor to receive a proclamation from the city of Cupertino. 2016 has a been a rocky year, but that night certainly holds a lot of pride and happiness for me. I hope to have many more moments like this one and I look forward to making To Green and Beyond even better in 2017. Happy Holidays everyone! 

Proclamation from the Mayor!!

A couple weeks ago, I had the honor of receiving the proclamation from the mayor. It was amazing to be recognized for all the hard work that has gone into To Green and Beyond, and none of it would have been possible without the endless support. When the mayor looks into your eyes and tells you you're doing a wonderful job, its a sense of validation that inspires you to do so much more. I can't wait to achieve the many more goals I have, and stay tuned for more!!

Contact me @ togreenandbeyond@gmail.com if you have any questions/ want to support the cause by purchasing earrings!

Featured in Makezine!!

An article featuring To Green and Beyond was published in makezine.com, a website for makers around the world. I had the honor of being interviewed at the Maker Faire and then my words were published on the website yesterday. It's been amazing to see everyone's supportive comments and I can't wait to take my hobby and passion forward. 

Here is the article: 15 Year Old Starts Her Own Upcycled Jewelry Nonprofit

A big thank you to everyone that has supported me and made this possible!! 

Join the Family!!

Maker Faire is continuing to be a blast! If you're new to the To Green and Beyond family, be sure to follow us on Instagram and like our page on Facebook :) Thanks for stopping by our booth this weekend to donate to our cause by purchasing earrings or even just showing interest in the process of making your paper beads. It's one step further in our path to raising awareness for the environment and helping underprivileged children receive an education. 

Round 3: Maker Faire 2016

It's that time of the year again!! Maker Faire 2016 is just around the corner and I can't wait to have the opportunity to meet new people and try new things this year. As many of you know, Maker Faire is the biggest event we have attended and it's so exciting to be a part of the inspiring maker team that gets to display their own talents. This year, in addition to the paper bead earrings and jewelry, we have decided to incorporate paper lanterns into the collection. Some of our lanterns have stamped circles from various recycled paper that are displayed on the lantern in a fish scale pattern. Others have paper flowers attached to give them a more natural and whimsical look. I am definitely excited to talk about and share the lives of the underprivileged girls that we have sponsored as a community from the profits we have donated. Their education and daily lives have significantly improved and from it, they are happier individuals that get to see life in a whole new way. If you're interested in learning new things Maker Faire is definitely the place to be from May 20-22! Don't miss out on the amazing opportunities that can be found!

Holiday Special!!

Introducing the new holiday special... the HOLIDAY LANTERN

I have increased our line of products (at least for the holidays) to include a eco-friendly paper lanterns that complement every living space. Make sure to get your order in before time runs out!

         

Gauri- SHWAS

Last year, we donated to SHWAS and provided tuition for an underprivileged girl named Gauri. She started the school year at a new school and is enjoying all that it has to offer. Thanks to everyone's support, another girl in this world is getting the opportunity to get an education.
       
       

This year, we have committed ourselves to providing tuition for another girl and any contribution made from you all would make a huge difference in her life.

Donate by purchasing our upcycled jewelry or our new item, the HOLIDAY LANTERN. Thanks!

Now Found in Stores....

Hold tight, we've got some breaking news! To Green and Beyond is now found in stores! As of last week, Gitane Freedom of Style now carries our paper bead earrings for $18 a piece. Gitane is a boutique in Menlo Park that encompasses the idea of shopping as a community with your mothers and your daughters. They also support local businesses and have their own eco- friendly lines. If you're in the area, be sure to stop by and show your support!

Maker Faire 2015

Last weekend, I had the opportunity to again display To Green and Beyond's environmentally friendly jewelry at that annual Bay Area Maker Faire. This year, as part of their 10th birthday celebration, the Maker Faire added an extra day to it's festivities. Now, for three days, I had the chance to talk about how paper jewelry can promote living an environmentally friendly lifestyle as well as that one by one, each one of us can make a difference in our communities by wearing up-cycled jewelry. It felt empowering to share my ideas and thoughts with the 200,000+ people that attended this year. I met and shared with people that voiced their different opinions on topics ranging from robotics to fermenting vegetables. The Maker Faire is an amazing place that provides an enormous playground for people to share some of the incredible things that they have made and I am honored to be a part of the event this year. I also want to thank every person that listened to our ideas and supported our organization. With your help, we were able to raise over $1,100 last weekend. It has been another great experience and thank you Maker Faire for presenting this opportunity for To Green and Beyond. I can't wait till next year!

For pictures, take a look at our Facebook! 

     

Big THANK YOU to Make Magazine for featuring To Green and Beyond. I'm super excited for Maker Faire 2015 and I hope you all will certainly stop by!

Here is the link for the article: 10 Places to Get Your Fashion Fix At Maker Faire

5 things to know about the environment

1)  50 billion plastic water bottles are used per year in America. Only 12 billion (23%) of them are recycled. Maybe it's time to increase the recycling rate.

2)  Paper makes up 27% of solid waste (more than any other materials that gets thrown away). While 64% of paper is recycled, the parts that decompose in landfills release methane, a dangerous greenhouse gas.

3)  About 850 pieces of junk mail gets sent to an average American household. Of that, approximately 45% of it never gets opened and ends up in landfills.

4)  Recycling just one aluminum can can save enough energy to listen to an entire album on your phone. Imagine the endless amounts of music that can be generated by just placing your empty drinks in a different can.

5)  At the current rate of deforestation, the world's forests will completely disappear in a 100 years. The largest effect would be the loss of millions of species that reside in forests around the globe. This could potentially destroy the balance of nature and with it bring many negative impacts.


Knowing these facts should motivate you to do your part in helping out the environment. The Earth is destroying itself little by little due to our wasteful lifestyles and so it is now our duty to try reversing the damage. Being a little more mindful of the resources we take for granted can have the ability to save a couple of rain forests and keep away the drought!

2015, Here We Come!

2014 has been an exciting year for To Green and Beyond! Our first Maker Faire, raising over $1000, and donating to some really cool causes doesn't even cover it all the amazing things we have accomplished. Let's take a look at some of the highlights of the year in a recap! :

DONATED TO 3 ORGANIZATIONS

Tech Trek, KIVA, The Thirst Project

RAISED OVER $1300 BY SELLING EARRINGS

ATTENDED 3 FAIRES

Maker Faire, Green Kids Conference, STEAM Festival

SOLD OVER 175 EARRINGS

TAUGHT NUMEROUS AMOUNTS OF PEOPLE HOW TO MAKE THEIR OWN PAPER EARRING CREATIONS

SHOWED 1 GIRL SCOUT TROOP HOW TO MAKE ECO-FRIENDLY JEWELRY

SPONSORED 1 GIRL 

Tech Trek; Scholarship STEM Camp for Middle School Girls

It's been an amazing journey this year and I can't wait to see the new things we can accomplish in 2015! Our goal this year is to sponsor another girl at Tech Trek and raise $2000 that can be donated to other various causes that benefit our society. Join us in our cause and spread the word! 

Shwas

It is nearing the end of the year and I have decided it is time to set a new goal. Continuing on our main focus of promoting girls in STEM, I would like to support an underprivileged girl's education. Shwas is an organization in India that provides the necessary funds for underprivileged children to go to good schools and receive a good education. Their goal is to educate the children of this generation so that they can make a better tomorrow. Starting next school year, we will hopefully be sponsoring Gauri, a 9 year old girl. With the help from us, she will be getting a good education, something we take for granted. 

Donated $50!

           Recently, I donated $50 to The Thirst Project, an organization that provides clean drinking water to those in need, indefinitely. Just $25 can provide one person with clean, drinking water for the rest of their life. This could make a HUGE difference in someones life. I had first heard of The Thirst Project from Connor Franta, a youtuber. He wanted to make a difference in our community by raising money using his internet platform. He asked us to join him in donating  230,000 to build wells in third world countries. I thought it was a noble cause to support and so I donated while knowing that at least 2 people were going to get clean water for the rest of their life!

Featured in the AAUW Newsletter

After donating to the Sunnyvale-Cupertino Branch of AAUW for Tech Trek, I had the honor of going in their monthly newsletter. I took screenshots of their article of me and To Green and Beyond in which you can read below!

Tech Trek Donation

I recently donated $850 to Tech Trek, the science and math camp for girls. The grand total of $850 will be the entire cost of a scholarship to sponsor one girl. I really hope that this girl gets to experience all the great things Tech Trek offers. Just like I did, I want her to be able to build a better confidence of her skills, connect with other people that have the same interests, and learn all the ways science and math can benefit our world. Hopefully she will greatly benefit from the Tech Trek experience just as I have.

Aluminum...?

               Aluminum is scientifically known as the 13 element on the periodic table, but to the public, it is commonly known as trash. However, aluminum products should actually be recycled! Unfortunately, only 65% of all aluminum used in America is currently being recycled. It's proven that one year of recycling aluminum cans can bring 6 years worth of energy. The cans can be reprocessed over and over again and it also only takes 60 days for a can to be remade into a whole new and different can. Additionally, making beverage cans from recycled aluminum cuts air pollution by about 95% according to statistics. With these advantages toward our society, who wouldn't want to recycle? As an added benefit, there are recycling centers around your city which give you money in exchange for your cans and bottles. Now there's a deal you can't miss! Recycling helps our environment in many ways and because aluminum is such a large part of our industry, it's important to remember to recycle those as well!