Products that Inspire
From The Optimist Magazine
Summer 2014
Super sunscreen
When Holly Thaggards’ friend was diagnosed with melanoma eight years ago, she was surprised that someone so young and healthy could get skin cancer. And not much later, she learned that 90 percent of the signs of aging are caused by the sun. These two facts made her think about the importance of sunscreen. She knew that many sunscreens available in drugstores contain controversial ingredients that can be irritating to your skin, such as oxybenzone, which some research suggests is linked to cell damage. That’s why Thaggards eventually developed her own sunscreen: Supergoop!
Thaggards’ lightweight sunscreen does not contain oxybenzone, parabens or fragrances. Instead, it contains antioxidant-rich ingredients that condition the skin, such as aloe and vitamins A, C and E. As a bonus, the antioxidants in Supergoop could even protect your skin from aging. | Tatiana Goncalves | Supergoop sunscreen, $19 for 2.4 oz | Find out more: supergoop.com
Printing wisely
Invariably, your printer runs out of ink much sooner than you anticipated. The makers of Ecofont have a solution. The idea is simple: By poking holes in the letters, the designers use less ink than ordinary type. Because printed letters are relatively small, the eye does not register the little gaps in the text, and you read Ecofont the same as an ordinary font. There are now two varieties of Ecofont: a specially developed font with holes, and a software program that puts holes in standard fonts such as Times New Roman, Arial and Verdana. Ecofont is available for Windows and Mac and works with programs such as Word, Outlook, Photoshop and InDesign. | Willemijn Ruissen | Ecofont Home, $24.95 | Find out more: ecofont.com
Sustainable and stackable
My desk has always been disorganized—my colleagues can testify to that. My penholder is never wide enough for my growing collection of highlighters, and I am constantly untangling the knots in my headphones before using them. Until, that is, I got Handy, a desk-organizing kit made of 100 percent recycled glass. Created by Italian designer Lucia Bruni, Handy is just one of the many sustainable glass products available from Lucirmás. Bruni founded Lucirmás in Barcelona in 2006, using cork and glass from recycled liquor bottles to create a functional and versatile way of storing our work supplies. Part of Lucirmás’ mission is to re-create stylish glass products that possess their own history. Each Handy glass element is handcrafted. | T.G. | Handy desk set, $108.90 | Find out more: lucirmas.com
