East Coast Meets West Coast

the moms behind mōksa and Zoe Organics have teamed up to bring you a gift set chock full of Earth-friendly goodies

oh, hey – these are in very limited supply!
you might wanna grab one while they last:
http://www.zoeorganics.com/products/mothers-day

Hey! We just wanted to thank you for checking us out. You are awesome.
Go on, take 20% off your order for the month of April. You’ve earned it.
Use promo code NOTAFOOL at checkout.

Sometimes Paypal doesn’t recognize our discount codes. If Paypal is picking on you, don’t get scared away! Just email us your wish list directly and we’ll take care of your order personally. moksaorganics@gmail.com

We believe in making good soap.

We believe in peace.

We believe that showers are good for the soul.

We believe in the power of chai tea.

We believe in yoga.

We believe it’s good to ask questions.

We believe in balloons and blowing bubbles.

We believe it’s good when raccoons break into your back porch while foraging for food.

We believe everyone deserves to be clean.

We believe in love.

We believe everyone should have more fun.

We believe in kissing.

We believe good soap makes people happy.

We believe in Moms.

We believe in healing your mind, mood and spirit with mōksa soap.

We believe in you.

Happy New Year from all of us at mōksa!

 
Every Responsible Entrepreneur represents one of four archetypes, each with a unique role to play in the entrepreneurial system. Cultural anthropologists have identified all four in every healthy culture, and all four are needed to ensure the health of our own evolving social system. Each takes on change differently in search of different outcomes. All four approaches can also be found inside established organizations, among intrapreneurs who lead change.

Archetype 1: The Freedom Entrepreneur

They are driven by the desire to live freely and creatively, and their contribution is the intense pursuit of perfection, potential, and “doing it right.” For an example, think of Steve Jobs or a Samurai warrior. Freedom entrepreneurs challenge traditional businesses to stay on their toes and dread obsolescence. They remind us of the value of full-spirited innovation in a free economic system.

Archetype 2: The Social Entrepreneur

Social Entrepreneurs are foundational to change. They play the role of exposing gaps in thinking. They often sacrifice for the greater good while seeking to mend a tear in the fabric of society that others don’t seem to see. Sir Richard Branson exemplifies this archetype perfectly when he takes on outrageous endeavors to call attention to what’s missing from the global dialogue, or when he designs businesses that foster camaraderie and mutual understanding. This group forms businesses that serve the consumer and living systems. They care passionately about people’s spirits and their ability to thrive.

Archetype 3: The Reciprocity Entrepreneur

Reciprocity Entrepreneurs support the whole by making sure that all life gets what it needs. They work to make the systems that nourish us healthy. Reciprocity entrepreneurs see the need to work in balance with human and natural systems, and to do good as they do well. They seek to reduce the harm we do on Earth and in society. An example of this archetype is Oprah Winfrey, who in the course of her routine business has done more to evolve education for girls more than anyone in the traditional school systems. She does it, she says, because it makes everything else possible and, without this, all else fails.

Archetype 4: The Regenerative Entrepreneur

The Regenerative Entrepreneur seeks to guide people and organizations as they cross boundaries and create transformations for a better world. These entrepreneurs are inspiring and transcendent in the way they engage others, unstoppable by challenges and restraints. They take on the work of evolving the systems that guide and even control us in our daily lives: such as how the ownership of businesses is established and regulated, or how social justice is administered.

Regenerative Entrepreneurs work to achieve change through the “how” of doing business, as well as social advocacy. Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page are exemplars. They challenged the regulatory paradigm of IPOs when they took Google public. They envisioned changing people’s engagement in public offerings by structuring theirs in a way that prevented big players from using pre-buys through agents of IPO to block average people. Google’s drive for universal information is also a challenge to current systems.

Each of the four archetypal entrepreneurs approaches growth and change differently. Each is critical to revitalizing our democracy and, on the larger world stage, capitalism itself. If you wish to develop your own role in this work, a good place to begin is with the questions, “What nature of entrepreneur am I? To what do I aspire?”
 
 
Source: Carol Sanford is the author of The Responsible Business, published by Jossey Bass and winner of four book awards for business and non-fiction, and of The Responsible Entrepreneur: Innovator Entrepreneurs and A System of Change, to be released 2013. Sign up for her blog and newsletter to learn more about responsible business and The Responsible Entrepreneur.

Inspiration comes in many forms. One particular form is that of a hero. Dr. Vandana Shiva is a philosopher, environmental activist, author and eco feminist. Dr. Shiva’s powerful message and her voice for the people is a force to be reckoned with. She works to implement social justice for farmers, balance with the environment, water rights for all people, seed democracy, and food rights.

Based in India, Dr. Shiva founded Navdanya. Navdanya is a network of seed keepers and organic producers spread across 16 states in India. Navdanya has helped set up 65 community seed banks across the country, trained over 5,00,000 farmers in seed sovereignty, food sovereignty and sustainable agriculture over the past two decades, and helped setup the largest direct marketing, fair trade organic network in the country.

mōksa organics looks to Dr. Shiva and her work as our source of inspiration. We aspire to follow in her footsteps as we build our business around the principles and ideals that impart equality, conservation, respect, and balance of the Earth’s resources that sustain us. This is why we like to say we’re so much more than soap. Our company and our products reflect what we live and love.

Below is an interview with Dr. Shiva and Bill Moyers. We encourage you to take 10 minutes and listen to this beautiful living legend.

 
“Fair Trade will be celebrated on 12 May 2012. World Fair Trade Day is a worldwide festival of events celebrating Fair Trade as a tangible contribution to the fight against poverty, climate change and the economic crisis that has the greatest impact on the world’s most vulnerable populations. A third of the world’s population lives on less than two dollars a day.” The best way you can make personally make a difference is to look for the fair trade label where you shop. If you don’t see the Fair Trade product, ask for it. Store managers may not be aware that Fair Trade products exist, or that you want to buy Fair Trade. The following products are becoming more easy to find both in stores and online:


 
1) Coffee: It’s a billion dollar industry, but most of the world’s coffee bean farmers make pennies a day and live in poverty. Grounds for Change is a certified organic coffee roaster specializing in 100% Fair Trade coffee. We use their coffee in our soap, plus their tasty coffee beans fill our cup every morning before we head out into our workshop. Based in the Pacific Northwest, Grounds for Change roasts coffee that is grown in shaded conditions which ensures healthy habitats for migratory birds. They are the first coffee roaster in the nation to become CarbonFree Certified. You can visit their brick & mortar location in Washington State, or order online directly.
 

mōksa is a proud supporter of Grounds for Change: local business, socially responsible, & carbon neutral!
 

2) Chocolate: It’s also a billion dollar industry that doesn’t taste so sweet. The largest global producer of cocoa is the Ivory Coast in West Africa, with a 40% market share in cocoa production. The U.S. Department of state believes that there are over 100,000 children working under poor conditions on cocoa farms there, with around 10,000 victims of human trafficking and enslavement.

Some estimates suggest that up to 40% of cocoa is harvested using slave labor. Plus there are environmental issues as well; every year hundreds of thousands of acres of rainforest are stripped away to provide more land for cocoa farmers. Free trade chocolate has often been produced at terrible social and environmental cost.

Fortunately, more options are becoming available to consumers to satisfy our love for chocolate. We encourage you to try a few brands. In addition to chocolate, “Equal Exchange” has an online store that offers produce such as bananas, olive oil, coffee, teas, sugar & almonds. By partnering with small farmers around the world, they continue to find new and powerful ways to build a better food system.
 

Equal Exchange Chocolate Bars & Cocoa powder for baking: most stores can carry it. Just ask! It’s incredibly delicious.

 

Equal Exchange offers products such as bananas, olive oil, almonds, sugar, cocoa, teas & coffee both online and in stores.

3) Soap & Bath products: mōksa strives to be socially responsible by using Fair Trade ingredients in our soaps such shea butter, cocoa powder, fair trade coffee, & loose tea blends.

our “seattle chai” bar soap featuring fair trade tea blends.
 

our cafe’ milan bar soap featuring fair trade coffee & fair trade cocoa powder.

Fair Trade:

Respects and appreciates the hard work of people
It provides a living wage for individuals and families and alleviates poverty
Fair Trade is anti slavery & anti child labor
It supports the conservation of the environment
It empowers women and minorities
It demands equal rights worldwide

Join our Clean Revolution and help us make a difference!
 
Yours in Community,
Melanie

The story behind the fair trade shea butter we use for our products and why supporting fair trade is so important:

Shea butter comes from shea trees, which grow predominantly in West Africa. It takes 50 years for shea trees to mature and they can live up to 300 years. Shea butter is produced from a nut in the core of the fruit that the shea tree produces twice a year. Shea trees are carefully tended by local farmers and they grow without the use of fertilizers or pesticides. Traditionally, shea trees were not cut when clearing land for farming because the shea tree was so valuable. Recently however, shea trees are being cut for charcoal and firewood. When shea farmers are paid fairly for their products, they are more inclined to protect the shea trees from being cut down, thereby helping to sustain the environment.

Shea Radiance spent time training and working closely with eight cooperatives in Northern Nigeria. With training support and the provision of locally manufactured technology, women were taught to add value to their labor by producing the best quality shea butter. The goal being to establish a viable business entity that will be a sustainable source of income and economic activity for the women, their families and the entire community. The milling equipment seen in this photo is provided for the women by Shea Radiance.

Roasting machines provided by Shea Radiance.

Boiling Shea Nuts

Shea Nuts cooling.

Bulk Shea Butter delivery from Shea Radiance. mōksa organics receives 250 lbs per delivery to our workshop.

mōksa soap being made. We have 10 large batches being made in our workshop at a time.

most of our soaps use local loose leaf teas, fair trade coffee, herbs or flowers.

finished bars waiting to be wrapped and shipped.

finished mōksa product on a shelf in Tokyo, Japan.

Pictured is Funlayo Alabi, Founder of Shea Radiance (center) with several members of the women’s cooperative. The industrial machinery is provided by Shea Radiance to increase production and relieve the physical burden of shea production. By processing raw shea nuts into shea butter within the local communities, the women producers add value to the product prior to export. This allows them to make a significantly higher income from the sale of shea butter than the sale of unprocessed shea nuts. The impact of our decision to produce within the local communities, extends beyond the shea collectors and producers to the community at large. As the volume of shea production increases within a community, the need for supporting services like transportation, packaging, warehousing and banking increase. The positive economic impact spreads through the community.

Fair Trade:

Respects and appreciates the hard work of people
It provides a living wage for individuals and families and alleviates poverty
Fair Trade is anti slavery & anti child labor
It supports the conservation of the environment
It empowers women and minorities
It demands equal rights worldwide
 
Photos generously provided by Funlayo Alabi of Shea Radiance.

We’ve got new body oil labels made from stone! Yep. Stone. To be honest, we had never heard of it until recently. In our efforts to maintain tree-free labels, we’ve found a more durable label than our labels made from post consumer waste. Don’t get me wrong, we’ve loved using PCW packaging for our body oils, but we’ve found a better solution to keep your bottle looking beautiful on the shelf for the entire life of the product. Because after all, mōksa is all about the entire package both inside & out!

So here’s the story:

And…in case you haven’t noticed, as an added bonus: we’ve got new treatment pumps! Now you can better control the amount of oil needed for face & body application.