#SustainableSunday with Solo Hope...

Have you ever heard of Solo Hope? I made friends with them years ago and they sent me a lovely necklace that was handmade from some lava rock that a young boy found in the road in his village. Over the years, they have evolved into a full-fledged non-profit organization, based in Honduras, that seeks to empower and build self-sustaining communities in places where poverty exists.

Their focus is on paying fair living wages to artisans (and the farmers who grow their amazing new High Altitude coffee) to produce handcrafted goods that are then sold in the global marketplace. The proceeds of these sales trickle directly back to the places where these products were initially made to provide services like: distance learning, English classes, mentorships, homework help, family skills & parenting classes, and vocational training. All of these skills equip people living in communities that experience poverty to either propel their lives out of a state of necessity.

Solo Hope is also able to provide financial planning and money management training and is able to grant small business loans, further lending aid to the communities in which they work.

They were very kind and sent me their hand-woven Evergreen scarf (hello, my favourite colours), which is produced by the El Cacao woman's co-op. While it is definitely the ideal weight for fall and winter outfits, it was about 65 degrees in Denver on the day that I wore it and snapped these photos and I can attest that it was the perfect compliment to the outfit and the ideal extra layer over my tank. I love the rich colours and the texture. You can definitely tell that this scarf was handmade and that a lot of time and love went into its production.

Don't even get me started on the coffee! In my time with SunStars, my knowledge of coffee has highly evolved and he definitely wasn't lying when he said that Honduran coffee is some of the best coffee around. He was absolutely thrilled to get to sample their High Altitude blend.

So there you have it, Green Bees: your intro to Solo Hope. If you'd like to lend a hand to Honduran communities in need, I highly recommend refreshing your wardrobe with scarves or jewelry from their shop, getting your morning buzz with their delicious medium roast coffee, or by simply sending them a donation!