Unless you belong to a nudist colony, most of us in the world have to clothe themselves. So why not support a good cause in doing so. I have decided to do a short weekly series on Shopping For A Cause. I want to highlight some of the amazing ventures that are out there, raising money for great causes, by creating stylish clothing and accessories for sale. Maybe one of these causes, or some of their apparel, will inspire you, and next time you need to buy a shirt or a bracelet, you will think of them and put your money somewhere where it will continue to help others.
   I am starting this “series” with United By Blue (UBB). For every UBB item sold the company cleans up 1 pound of trash from our waterways and oceans. You can imagine, that with life on a boat for the past several years, we have a connection to the water. Helping to clean the ocean and rivers  clean is a huge endeavour and this company has started doing their part, one pound at a time. The company was founded in 2010 and has since collected over 171,000 pounds of trash from this earth’s waters. With the money made from the sale of the UBB items, a very hands-on approach is taken. They wanted to make a measurable and noticeable difference, and so they focus their energy on ocean plastic pollution. They do company organized and hosted cleanups. They are the catalyst for the cleanups, doing everything from recruiting volunteers, to supplies, to logistics, transportation, waste management, press, etc.
   UBB has gone to great lengths to ensure that the clothing and accessories they are creating are eco friendly as well. They use mostly organic cottons, and even go as far as use environmentally sensitive banana fibre paper and elephant dung paper for their clothing tags. (And a fun bonus, for us and the girls, is that they encourage you to plant your clothing tag and it should, if all goes well, flourish into a plant!) 
   They hope to keep growing, and keep cleaning up trash. They want to unite the ocean lovers and people in general through awesome apparel and in helping the world through their brand. So if you want to help out but can’t find the time to make it down to the water and pick up trash on your own, why not buy a shirt and help support and organization that spearheads waterway cleanups. Go check out their website and discover their sweet style for yourself. I reached out to UBB because I wanted to write this piece on the amazing work that they are doing, and now we have 4 of their shirts, and are proud to be supported and to support United By Blue.