We created MNLSTYLE as a way to share beautiful Filipino craftsmanship while supporting various communities in the Philippines. This holiday season, we’re going to step it up and donate 5% of our proceeds to two of our favorite organizations. We’ll split the donation evenly between Tahanan Walang Hagdanan (or House with no Steps) based in the Philippines and Portland, Oregon based Green Empowerment.

The fine print: 5% will be calculated on post-discount and pre-shipping totals. We will calculate the contribution based on sales made between November 15th and December 31st, 2008.

This Inc. article is a great resource and provides a decent summary of Obama’s and McCain’s tax plans. As a mother, home owner, and small business owner, it’s plain and clear which tax plan works for me.

Tax This; Tax That

We liked Domino Mag’s Affordable Design pieces for the home. These pieces add a designer’s touch to the home for under $100.

We’re going on a buying trip to the Philippines soon. Sooo excited. We’ve already been in contact with our crafters and looks like they’ve been putting together some cool new products using recycled materials. We can’t wait to check them out and share with you. We plan on eating some good food while we’re there too. Check back often and look out for our newsletter/electronic postcard.

I’m pretty excited. It’s catching on. Skip both paper and plastic and bring your own bag. Not just because MNLSTYLE.com can sell more recycled juice pouch bags (not that that’s a bad thing!), but I’m happy that this message is finally hitting home and influencing America. Some say
it’s not resonating with Americans fast enough or enough at all, but we need to start somewhere.
It really clicked with me when we moved to the Netherlands and had to give Albert Heijn (local grocery chain) 25 cents each time we needed a plastic bag. Free bags, double bags, paper in plastic bagging don’t make sense. There is a cost to the grocer and there is definitely a cost to our environment each time paper or plastic bags are produced and discarded. Unfortunately, like many of the things we consume, the true life cycle cost is not reflected in the price.

Ikea has brought this practice to the States forcing people to make do without bags or buy reusable bags. Whole Foods is phasing out plastic, but I’d love to see them lead the pack and start charging for bags to help drive the message home. And, of course, there’s San Francisco’s ban on plastic bags. Pretty big move with admirable intentions, but I would have preferred a more free market alternative with businesses telling its customers to pay up for bags. But…still a move in the right direction.
Are you pumped? Looks like we’re finally making the move to reusable. Don’t care much about the environment? Then I can give you these two benefits:
1) Express yourself with a cool reusable bag.
2) One less thing to have to organize at home. Don’t need to worry about where to store the piles or plastic bags for reuse. Don’t need to worry about where to recycle. Just keep a couple of reusable bags and you’re done. Pretty cool.

At MNLSTYLE, we love the abaca plant. Is it obvious? The majority of our stylish wares are made from this wonder fiber. Feeling a bit consumed by abaca, we felt the need to justify our obsession:

• Native to the Philippines, this relative of the banana tree grows quickly (about a year and half) and yields many harvests, making it a highly renewable resource.
• Planting abaca among coconut trees in the Philippines helps with erosion prevention and biodiversity.
• Its long and strong fibers has many uses: textiles, ropes, and a variety of beautiful housewares. It also has the potential for more heavy duty industrial uses.

Some of our favorite abaca pieces are:
West Any Meal Tray
The Angel Hair Collection
Circulo Placemats