2017 | YEAR IN REVIEW

Only a few days left of 2017, and what a year it has been! I wanted to take this opportunity to look back on all the big moments for SALT this year and invite you to celebrate with me. You were a part of all of it!

• Completed our first Full Calendar Year of business as a brand: Opening the doors in April 2016 was a big deal, and there were challenges to surpass. SALT met last winter head on and now we have made it through an entire calendar year. Where did the time go?!

• Introduced Nine New Styles: I have loved putting my design skills to the test and finding the next best basic. I am so proud of the styles SALT has produced this year, with more to come! The 2017 Line-up: Fjord Box Top, Beck LS, Kai LS Dress, Shore Pant, Nerio Tee, Yara Tank, Mira Leggings, Reef Cropped Bomber Jacket.

• Collaborating with new companies: I feel like I really got to more clearly define what the SALT brand means to me, and what I want our intention to be. This helped guide me to carry eco-friendly, consciously produced brands like BKIND, Leaves of Trees, Unscented, Charlotte & Castle, and more. I am proud to collaborate with sustainable, Canadian companies that are doing their part to make this world a better place. They love the environment and ocean as much as I do!

• Opened a Pop-Up Store in Victoria: This one is still going! With no certain expectations, I sought out the opportunity to bring SALT to a new community. It has been an exciting adventure full of learning and connection. I am sad that it will be soon coming to an end, but we may see more of you soon Victoria ;)

• First Round of Community Events: Having a larger space at our pop-up meant we could actually host something! Collaborating with an awesome yoga teacher, Evan, to bring free classes to Victoria was just a taste of what I want SALT to do in the future. I want to create a space where people can come together to connect and collaborate, and I can't wait for when we can do it again!

• Building my Team: I have gone from a team of two to a team of many. I made room for new roles this year that are helping me expand and I have employees that are dedicated to SALT. I feel like I have a team that I can trust to run the show, allowing me to live the life I have been trying to obtain for over a decade, and I am so grateful.

• Regularly connecting with our Digital Community: Having my brick and mortar business solidly established meant I was able to put time into creating regular content to share online. By doing this, I get to reflect weekly on what message I want to share and I get to bring attention to things that matter to me. It is so rewarding to me and is a consistent reminder of why I do this for a living. We hope you enjoy what we bring to you every week!

• Took a Holiday! This might not seem like a huge deal to some people, but for an entrepreneur who has been seriously lacking in Work/Life Balance  for some time now, it was amazing to me to be able to leave my work behind for multiple weeks and adventure overseas. Seeing Scotland and visiting friends who live abroad is something I wouldn't have been able to do without my support system at home and at work. These kinds of trips prove that I am authentically building the life I want to lead, and will make me a better employer and business owner. How exciting is that!?

That, is a pretty great year! Thank you to everyone that shops with us, shares our message, and supports us in so many ways. You, our community, our guests, you make this life possible for me and now many others.  We have so many things on the horizon for 2018 that I can't wait to share with you. Like committing to be plastic free as a brand, to seek out collaborative brands that do not use plastic, and inspire other brands to do the same. The rest is yet to come, but when it does, you'll be the first to know.

Thank you for such an amazing year!

from SALT Shop - Journal https://saltshop.ca/blogs/news/year-in-review

HAPPY HOLIDAYS! | Celebrate Giving

Tis' the season! Happy Holidays! Joy to the World! Christmas time is upon us. So is Solstice, Hanukkah, and many other holiday celebrations worldwide. Whether religiously motivated or otherwise, the end of our calendar year brings a general sentiment of happiness and elation, which we revel in!

In North America, Western society has followed a mostly Christian influenced holiday calendar, at least when it comes to widely publicized festivities. However, many Christmas observers do not necessarily ascribe to any particular faith, but still participate in traditions seeped in religion like putting up a tree, exchanging presents on December 25th, singing carols. These otherwise agnostic celebrators can't help but being caught up in the spirit of things. We get it!

 

 

Regardless of faith, we can agree that a season of giving, kindness, and love does us all some good. The tricky part is that for some of us, we also get swept up in the pressure of gifts and visitations and hosting. It can all culminate in a lot more stress than is really necessary, taking the enjoyment out of a time of year that should be fun and positive. 

For some families, tensions run high with the stress of entertaining, or even just being thrown together in what may not be a natural setting. We need to give each other a bit of a break and do our part to alleviate some of the strain, be is perceived or otherwise. Be mindful of your triggers, and those of others. If you have a family member who is often pushing your buttons, take a few minutes to open up to them and let them in on what you're feeling. You might learn something about each other that you never knew. These small gestures turn gatherings into opportunities to connect, instead of clash.

Take this time of year to reflect together on what you are thankful for. With everyday gratitude being a practice widely endorsed by high achievers, its undeniable that it is good for our emotional and mental states. With the theme of a year coming to a close in mind, challenge everyone at your family gatherings to make a list of their Top 10 grateful moments of the year. It could even become a tradition!

 

 

The true spirit of the holidays, especially Christmas, sometimes gets muddled up with the ideas of fast fashion and overconsumption. Presents are not a measure of quantity, but quality. Be conscious of your purchases, choosing lasting gifts that will really count, and look for other small ways to be giving. Offer to take an item off an overwhelmed family member's To Do list. Volunteer time to put smiles on the faces of those less fortunate. Surprise and delight loved ones in meaningful ways, just because! 

However you celebrate, what matters most above all the presents and twinkly lights is showing kindness and appreciation for those around you and what you have. The greatest gift we can share is love, given freely and genuinely. 

We at SALT are grateful for all the support and love we have been shown this year. We appreciate every purchase, kind word, shout-out, and connection we have received. Thank you to everyone who has been a part of it. Happy Holidays!

 

from SALT Shop - Journal https://saltshop.ca/blogs/news/christmas-holiday

HOLIDAY BAKING | Conscious Creations

A box of chocolates, a bag of cookies, individually wrapped peppermint sticks. All kinds of sweets are bought, exchanged, and sprinkled around houses during the holidays. A little indulgence can be good for us in moderation, so we remember to let loose now and again. It is also a way we can show each other that we are keeping them in our thoughts. Exchanging sweets and sharing in the act of giving reminds us that we are all part of a bigger support system that keeps us going all year long!

Staying conscious of what we are offering as gifts is also important. Each plastic cookie tray that we bring home, even when it is recycled, is contributing to the negative repercussions caused by producing non-biodegradable plastic. That is just one small example of the kind of waste we produce all year long, and especially so during the holidays.

According to a 2013 stat from the B.C. Recycling Council, 545,000 tonnes of waste was the average annual amount created from gift wrapping and shopping bags in B.C. We imagine that number is higher now and is compounded this time of year. Let's do our part to turn it in the other direction!

Instead of picking up pre-packaged sweets, create nostalgic memories of decorating sugar cookies you baked with care. Or picking the perfect candies to line the walk or adorn the roof top of your homemade gingerbread house! Grabbing a template and baking your pieces from scratch will be a fun challenge for you and your family. 

Even baking at home creates an impact, and we can adjust the extent of ours based on what products we are supporting. Minimize your impact that much more by consciously sourcing your ingredients. Order your baking supplies from Spud and have them delivered right to your door. They create relationships with sustainably minded food producers to create a curated source of fresh, healthy produce and groceries. Anything you order through them will be humanely and environmentally produced and sourced as locally as possible. 

A few suggestions of local and organic must-haves for holiday baking:

• Anita's Flour: organic and sourced from nearby Chilliwack, BC 
• Organic Maple Syrup: Canadian made + so much yummier than refined sugar
• Organic Ginger: comes in a recyclable glass jar
• Organic Vanilla Extract: sourced from Kelowna, BC
• Avalon Butter: from a family owned dairy in Burnaby, BC
• Organic Icing Sugar: Fair trade!

Alternatively, you can seek out a zero waste grocery store in your area. For us Salt Spring Islanders, we are proud to have the GREEN Zero Waste Grocery store, the first of it's kind in Canada. In Vancouver, Nada Grocery is currently in a crowdfunding stage, hoping to open soon and in the meantime participating in markets and pop-ups. We bet they would have great resources on where to shop sustainably in the area! Victoria doesn't seem to have a location yet either, but the Burlap Shoe and ZERO Waste Victoria have collaborated to make this list to help you find zero waste options at various stores in and around Victoria.

Stocking your pantry with supplies you know are sustainably sourced will make everything taste that much more delightful! Creating handcrafted holiday treats will also add a festive touch to your home decor. How cute will it be to proudly display your homemade gingerbread house in the corner of your living room or kitchen? Plus, it could create a fun new household tradition for years to come.

Whether is it for gifting, decorating, or indulging in, it doesn't take much to be mindful of where our purchases come from. Apply this mindfullness to your gift giving and receiving as well by sourcing from sustainably conscious companies and asking the same of your relatives. We can lead by example by being a conscious consumer this time of year, and hopefully inspire those around us to do the same. Kindness is the theme of the season, and showing that same kindness to the Earth will ensure we have many more seasons to look forward to!

 

IMAGES + INSPIRATION FROM  |  FOODLOVIN.DE

from SALT Shop - Journal https://saltshop.ca/blogs/news/holiday-baking-healthy

HOLIDAY FORAGING

The twinkly lights, the carols, the holiday cheer, everything seems just a little more joyful, this time of year. The thing to avoid, and avoid it you can, is putting harmful and wasteful presents in hands. The thingers and gadgets, and do-dads galore, of plastics and synthetics that will last evermore! Turn to nature we say, with a wink and a grin, for we all know the best stuff, is found deep within.

There can be so much pressure with giving and gifting, decorating, baking, generally making the whole holiday season a big extravaganza. We say to heck with the pressure, and just enjoy the parts that you want to! For us, that is getting into the spirit with decor making using natural materials. Purchasing plastic decor, that you may use only once, perpetuates the annual increase in environmental impacts that come from seasonal consuming. We cringe when we think of the yards of crinkly tinsel and foil banners that get tossed at the end of the season. Why buy a mass-produced plastic wreath or garland when you can make a beautiful original using items from your backyard? And once the season is over, you can toss the greens on the compost pile and save the reuseable frame for next year! You will be happy to have less clutter, and the Earth will be happy with less seasonal trash. 

Deep in the forest, where the sycamores lie, there are pinecones and needles and leaves to be plucked. Supplies you'll want on hand: good walking shoes, hand shears, a basket, and a keen eye. Pick an already established trail and start searching!

Invite a friend to go with you and make a day of it. We can always use another reason to get outside and get moving in the colder months of the year. Pack a thermos full of a hot wintery beverage and a couple of enamel mugs to warm your hands on whilst you scour the woods for your favourite flora.

We are blessed in the Pacific Northwest with lush and varied forests. Grabbing branches from multiple kinds of trees will give your wreaths and decor depth. Evergreen comes in many shades, the needles varying in length, density, and shape. Seek out bushy pine, Douglas fir, dense balsam, and fragrant cedar. Dark holly and smooth salal leaves will both keep their colour long after they are pruned and add texture. If you can score some holly with bright red berries, even better!

Wreaths are a lot of fun, but not the only thing you can create with your collected abundance. You can make ornaments, garlands, table runners. It's amazing what you can pull together with a little twine, wire, and greenery. Pop a few pinecones and holly berries in there, maybe even some fairy lights, to give everything a festive glow. You will feel so accomplished doing everything yourself!

Working on these items as a family or with friends is a great holiday tradition to instate. It gets you outside, gets you creative. You never know, it may evolve into making your own wrapping paper with re-useable rubber stamps, learning new recipes, making your own cards. All fun ways to spend quality time with loved ones.

Not only are you working together, but you are creating a learning opportunity. You can make it a goal to look up the names of any trees or plants you can't identify. You are also leading by example by having a lower impact holiday season. Spread the message and spread the cheer! 

 Happy foraging! Send us pictures of your homemade creations! 

from SALT Shop - Journal https://saltshop.ca/blogs/news/holiday-foraging