About Hip E Living
Our Story
As with many businesses, Hip E Living began with an idea ... and a journey. Literally.
A healthier lifestyle
Co-founders Joanna Black and Matt Garrison were living in New York City when they realized that something was missing. Like an increasing number of couples living in the city, Matt and Joanna loved the city but craved more of a balance in their lives. They wanted to live a cleaner, healthier lifestyle. So in the summer of 2006, they began their journey - a migration, if you will - of their lives to the Catskills in upstate New York. They bought a cottage in November and began to split their time between the Catskills and the Big Apple.
An eco-revolution begins
Inspired by the beautiful environs and clean living upstate, Matt and Joanna started Hip E Living in May 2007.
Perhaps even more significantly, Hip E Living was born at a time of environmental awakening for the U.S. and the world. For Matt and Joanna, both of whom have long held environmentalism close to their hearts, it was a chance to make a difference - to use their collective talents to rededicate themselves to the environment...
Our Philosophy
So what does Hip E Living stand for? As you've probably figured out, the "E" stands for eco. But the "E" also represents a number of other important principles that we believe in.
Eco meets style
Hip E Living was created with a simple philosophy in mind: offer the hippest, highest quality, environmentally sustainable products available. When browsing www.hipEliving.com, you won't have to compromise style to "green" your lifestyle and reduce your carbon footprint.
The Hip E Living mission is to offer items that are aesthetically pleasing and eco-wise. This means the products we sell are made from recycled, reclaimed, organic, natural and/or sustainable materials. We work hard to make sure that everything we sell fits into one or more of these categories. You could say we put our green where our mouth is.
Environmentally true
We take our eco standards seriously. Hip E Living is "Approved for People and Planet" by Co-Op America, a not-for-profit membership organization dedicated to harnessing economic power to create a socially just and environmentally sustainable society. This means that Hip E Living has met high standards for sustainable business practices.
For example, we use 100% post consumer recycled paper for our printing paper, and 100% post industrial and FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified packaging for our web orders. We also reuse packing materials when available to keep as much as possible out of the landfill.
We recognize that our business operations have an impact on the environment and we try or very best to reduce our carbon footprint. For what we can not eliminate, we purchase carbon credits to offset our business operations. This includes offsetting 100% of our web shipping on behalf of our customers.
Hip E Living carbon offsets are third-party verified to the following certification standards: UNFCCC Clean Development Mechanism, Gold Standard, VER+, the Voluntary Carbon Standard, and the Environmental Resources Trust protocols.
These credits help finance and build new clean and renewable energy projects that help create sustainable economic benefits for Native Americans, Alaska Native villages and other local communities, and that help America's family farmers compete with agribusiness. These projects will displace electricity from fossil fuels and reduce other greenhouse gas emissions on behalf of Hip E Living and our customers, making up for the CO2 emissions that we can't avoid.
Exceptional quality
Whether you are looking for recycled-glass dinner plates, a solar-panel backpack, a bamboo sweater or organic chocolate macaroons, we are committed to providing only the highest quality goods.
Education (not sermons)
We understand that transitioning to that eco-friendly lifestyle doesn't necessarily happen overnight. We are committed to providing you with as much education and as many ecologically sustainable choices as possible. This way, you can "eco" at your own pace.
