Rebels of Kindness, Series 7
Kindhumans ProfilesRebels of Kindness, Series 7
A Rebels of Kindness series to raise vibes, incite radical change, and gather inspiration and resources that make the world a better place. It’s where you might learn something new, gain a new perspective, insight, or even a radical lifestyle change.
Kind to Self: Festus Ezeli
NBA champion Festus Ezeli uses his podcast “Rebuilding the Beast” to turn “tragedy into triumph.” If you haven’t listened to his episodes that address the ups and downs of life, you might want to start. He features an array of inspiring guests to engage in honest conversations about real life challenges that many of us experience in our lives: injuries, mental health issues, diseases, addictions, strokes of fate, and more. In essence, the podcast inspires listeners to overcome adversity.
Originally from Benin City, Nigeria, his parents sent him to his uncle in Yuba City in 2004. He was 14 and wanted to become a doctor. Festus became homesick, so his uncle Emeka Ndulue, a pediatrician, encouraged him to pick up basketball. Basketball proved to be a calling for him—he signed with Vanderbuilt, was drafted by the Warriors in 2012, and eventually signed a two-year deal with the Trail Blazers.
In 2016, Festus thought his career in basketball was over. He was told by doctors that he needed experimental surgery in his knee due to a defect in his cartilage. He fell into a deep depression—following surgery he was confined to a wheelchair and required assistance to take care of himself. His mother, Patricia Ezeli, was the impetus that brought him back to the light. She told him that he had it in him to move others, that this “mountain” he was confronting could be used for good, to inspire other individuals dealing with depression and mental health issues.
He took his mother’s message to heart, and today, connects with others dealing with real-life, yet sometimes mountainous, challenges through his podcast. Make sure and check it out here.
Kind to the Planet: Ponto
Your shoes may be comfy, but how kind are they to the planet? Once you’re done with your sneakers, where do they usually end up? If you’ve worn them to their ends, they’re probably going into the landfill. Here’s where Ponto steps in to lessen the impact of your kicks.
Ponto’s founder grew up in Southern California, and the ocean holds a special place in their story. While Pontus is a Greek deity of the sea, Ponto is also named after the founder’s favorite childhood beach in Carlsbad, CA. They donate a portion of proceeds from each purchase to protecting our oceans through a partnership with the Changing Tides Foundation.
Made from recycled and bio-based materials, Ponto’s sustainable shoe bottoms feature a sugarcane based foam and their uppers are constructed using recycled leather. Combined with their other environmental efforts, these eco-friendly materials are what drive Ponto to be innovators among ethical shoe companies.
The best thing we can do to help the planet is to simply consume less, and this is at the heart of the Ponto company, enabling you to do more with less. They designed their shoe to be a hybrid product for your life on the go. Wear them to work, the bar, a wedding, pretty much anywhere. The “Fast Fashion” trend that has become all too popular in the industry is simply wasteful. They believe in owning fewer high-quality products that can do more. Ponto shoes are minimalist in design, classy, elegant, and ridiculously comfortable.
Ponto values:
- Conscious consumerism: being open, transparent, and taking the most holistic approach to sustainable footwear as they can.
- A circular economy + production: believing in owning fewer high-quality products that can do more.
That less is more: partnering with Soles4Souls, the largest not-for-profit shoe and apparel social enterprise in the US, to not only help uplift others, but also keep used and unsellable inventory out of landfills. - Conservation: donating to 1% For the Planet and The Changing Tides Foundation.
- Carbon Neutral: totally carbon neutral for shipping and taking steps towards their ultimate goal of becoming Zero Carbon.
Get your sweet kicks, and do more with less! Buy yours here.
Kind to Others: Drew FitzGerald and 501CTHREE
Drew FitzGerald is out to make the world a better place for others; through the seemingly simple act of providing water. However, getting clean water is not as easy as you may think. He founded JUST Water with Jaden Smith, which demonstrated a more sustainable approach to bottled water. In 2016, after donating water to Flint with JUST Water, Drew and Jaden decided to engineer a solution that would provide water without all the plastic.
What began as an experiment to come up with an alternative to single-use plastic water bottles in Flint became WaterBox.org, a new type of nonprofit for a younger generation focused on Energy, Food, Water, and Shelter. Part of 501CTHREE, WaterBox.org brought together a team of passionate and experienced innovators to address the problems that climate change and resource scarcity have on communities of color. WaterBox.org is at the intersection of innovation and storytelling and brings attention to the solutions that will help us build a cleaner, more sustainable, and more hopeful future.
Talk about being kind to others, their 2021 Impact Report indicates that they:
- provided 111,000+ gallons of clean, free water to BIPOC communities
- saved 886,000+ plastic bottles from ending up in landfills
- reduced the carbon footprint of single-use bottles by 140,000+ Kg CO2
Their reach extends to communities in Newark, NJ; Jackson, MS; Los Angeles, CA; St. Louise, MO; Bayamón, PR; Bwindi, Uganda; Flint, MI; and Chicago, IL.
For us, it was just as easy a decision to support installing a Water Box at the ReFresh Spot in Skid Row, and we hope you will join us in continuing to support houseless residents there through funding the maintenance costs and the supply of refillable jugs and bottles, so anyone can access clean, cold drinking water. To help, select “Provide Drinking Water” as your cause at checkout on our website and 3% of your purchase will support the effort.
Or, give the gift of fresh water when you buy our One to One Miir water bottle. One water bottle purchased results in one donated to the Refresh Spot in Los Angeles, plus 20% of proceeds go to our cause partner 501CTHREE to bring clean water to communities in need. Get yours here.
Our Rebels of Kindness apparel line is more than sweet threads. It’s an act of rebellion. Rebels of Kindness disregard the status quo of mainstream apparel that doesn’t care about the people who make them or the future of our planet. Wear it, be it, and raise the vibes with our 100% organic cotton apparel line made using GOTS standards—the most sustainable textile process on the planet. Ready to rock?
