Tree planting

"My goal is to donate regularly to plant and preserve houndreds of trees. By buying from My Minimal you will be contributing towards this cause with every purchase."

Before the pandemic I had been enroled in several activities related to conservation of local green areas.

However, I'm willing to do more and with your collaboration we can make a bigger impact in areas where our help is crucial.

I find sometimes that in order to donate to reforestation charities the minimum amount can be a bit costly but One tree planted provides the possibility to receive small and affordable amounts making this target feasible if enough people are involved.

My initial target is to fundraise for 1000 trees for the Andes region. You can join the cause here: https://forest-fundraiser.raisely.com/maria-ocampo

Why los Andes? Two reasons. First, my roots are in South America so if I have to choose, I would love to help to preserve and restore its ecosystems.

And second, in a more personal note, during this period I also lost an important member of my family, this fundraising is in his honor.

My beloved uncle Fabio Ocampo, philanthrope, tree lover, engineer dedicated to the conservation and sustainable development. Man in harmony with Nature. He will always be my inspiration for he was the one who encouraged me to pursue my career as an environmental engineer and gave me all his support. We all lost a fierce fighter, but his influence is still in us and we will continue his legacy. This forest is for you tio. https://twitter.com/fabioocampoc

This fundraising will start with 10 trees. To help to promote the cause, as you see, I have started an Etsy shop where I sell homemade natural soy candles and wax melts. By buying from My Minimal you can also contribute towards this project, but a small donation through this platform would do! Please also help by sharing it in your social media, by spreading the word more people can easily be involved! This is the most important part! Follow the cause on Instagram: @myminimalsoywax Now, it would be fair to think "But Maria, by making these candles and wax melts you have increased your carbon footprint"- and yes, you are absolutely right. I am aware that any activity has an environmental impact, and crafting is not an exception. Knowing this, I have worked extensively in the areas that I consider the main sources of negative impact to reduce them, from the packaging to the color dyes choices. All melts and candles are made with cruelty-free-vegan fragrances and wax, using only vegetal dyes instead of mica. The energy to heat the wax came from renewable sources and in the making-process, I reused plenty of plastic cups, 19 cardboard boxes, and multiple cardboard pieces from the packaging of groceries to set the products to cure. No plastic was involved so the packaging is minimal and 100% recyclable. All bags are made of cotton and stamped one by one. The tags were handmade prepared to avoid as much as possible the use of stickers and to be honest, to also have a reason to practice calligraphy....still getting there! Therefore, there is now a conscious alternative for all candle lovers with a minimal and retro style for those nostalgics that still remember how goods were manufactured before this massive fast-production era. If you are interested in these products you can find them here: https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/MyMinimalSoyWax Thank you for your participation in this awesome journey. Maria Ocampo

Do you want to know more? Please visit their site by clicking HERE.