A lifetime of shoes

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A lifetime of shoes

Once a upon a time, architect and visionary thinker Van Bo Le-Mentzel wanted to buy himself a pair of red Chuck Taylors. However, Van Bo did not approve of the production conditions of the popular shoes and decided to produce the shoes himself via a crowd founding campaign – transparent, fair and sustainable. And surprise, surprise: it worked and the Karma Chakh was born!  Karma Chakhs are now called Karma Classics and the production is currently going into its third round. A sensational spot that firstly, we simply cannot get enough of, and secondly, was made for with the spectacular sum of exactly ZERO Euros accompanies the launch. The manufacturers follow a demand-oriented principle and only produce the quantity of shoes that have actually been ordered. As a supporter you can choose different components such as colour, but you also have a say in choosing appropriate production sites to ensure that all shoes are manufactured without child labour, exploitation or any toxic chemicals whatsoever. Taking things another step further – and in full accordance to the karma principle – the shoes have to be affordable for everybody. Besides a limited special edition for the ambitious collector available for 132 Euros, the regular Karma Deal is on offer for 6 Euros. So, if you’re eager to support the project but are lacking financial resources, you can benefit from solidarity. How is this monitored? It isn’t. After all, trust is the basis of everything. Karma rules!
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Karma Classics | Sustainable sneakers for 6, 69 and 132 Euros | www.karma-classics.de | www.startnext.de/karma-classics

 

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Kategorien: Products | Autor: | Datum: 24. Februar 2016 | Tags: , , , |  Keine Kommentare

Smart Parking

Smart Parking

Violation notice: your vehicle is parked in the parking area around Esmarchstraße 27 without a valid parking ticket. So far, we have transferred hundreds and hundreds of Euros to our pen pal, Berlin’s chief of police – with a feeling of remorse and discontent nonetheless. After all, most of the violations were not committed intentionally but instead due to lack of coins. So there we are, with our super-connected car that can detect rain, has remote-control-parking and can stream music from our smartphone, but we just can’t hack the ticket machine. There HAS to be a better way. And there is: Smart Parking powered by Mobile City. Got it. And there have been no more letters from an official authority since. There’s not really much more to say. An app that does what it should. Surely, there are probably plenty of similar apps around and everyone will find the most suitable. And we’ve definitely found ours. It’s called Smart Parking, it’s green and this is how it works: stick the identification badge on windscreen (parking attendants are, of course, digitally linked), open app, choose one of the listed ticket machines, type in licence plate number, select parking time and go! Payments are billed to your mobile. Really, nothing to it. Oh, and before your parking session runs out, the app even sends a text message to inform you. If you register, things get even easier: The app remembers your licence plate, the amount due is automatically charged to a refillable 15 Euro prepaid debit card, and the bill is neatly filed. The best part of it: you don’t need to estimate your parking time anymore. Just press play to start and press stop before you get back in your car. When was the last time you paid 23 cents for a parking session? Exactly. Please, keep the change! And remember to press the stop button! We forgot once… But we did get a refund. This is a good thing.
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Smart Parking App | for free at App Store and Google Play

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Kategorien: Products | Autor: | Datum: 24. Februar 2016 | Tags: , , , |  Keine Kommentare

Good data

Good data

Data is today’s currency. As we’re generously handing out information about ourselves and the lives we lead anyway, we might as well turn all this free information into cash. And instead of lining our own pockets – and keeping karma in mind – we could do some good with it, too. This is where the Goodnity app comes into play: it generates money from information and transfers it to charity projects. Let’s be honest, if we ever had the guts to actually add up the hours we waste on our mobile devices every day, we’d probably not be able to stomach the naked truth. Now, we can actually fund donations for social projects with a few clicks, instead of constantly losing ourselves in a nirvana of endless gaming, scrolling our way up and down news feeds or watching cute animal videos on repeat. Fact is, most of the twenty- or thirtysomethings around have never supported charities financially. There could be many reasons for this, but usually it’s simply the lack of extra cash. With their humanistic approach, Marc, Maximlian and Keith, the founders of Goodnity, are bringing together what belongs together: businesses and people. Thanks to Goodnity, the budgets that companies would invest in market research anyway, can now go to a good cause. Users anonymously answer questions of interested companies and collect money with every answered question. The benefiting companies then give the total amount accumulated by the answers to social projects selected by the users. The best part of it: It’s a win-win-win situation. The companies receive information, we earn extra Karma points and humanistic projects get extra dinero. It goes without saying, of course, that all data is kept secure. Our recommendation for Goodnity comes from the very bottom of our hearts.
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Goodnity – your opinions for a social project of your choice! | www.goodnity.com | available free of charge from Apple App Store and Google Play

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Kategorien: Products | Autor: | Datum: 17. Februar 2016 | Tags: , , , |  Keine Kommentare

Let’s talk!

 MMW_Fuelbox

Let’s talk!

What would you prefer to say »no« to more often? What was the best advice you ever got? What does your current partner have in common with your exes? And: Against what would you take to the streets and demonstrate? Need a moment to find the right answers to these questions? Well, imagine you’d have to answer them in front friends or your partner. Uh-huh, now we’re talking… Can love, friendship and attention all fit in one single box? Yes, they can – if it’s the Fuelbox. The Fuelbox combines coaching, couple’s and conversational therapy in a truth-or-dare kind of way. Each box is filled with a set of 170 cards containing inspiring questions compiled by actual coaches to encourage open dialogues – either with your favourite person, a group of good friends or even to boost creativity at work. There is a corresponding box for every constellation and the questions are divided into 10 different chapters covering topics such as family, future prospects, moral concepts, and sex and work life. We tested the couple’s and friends box and suddenly started moving through often encrusted Smalltalk-layers rather quickly. We drank some wine and dug a little deeper to find one or the other diamond, savour shared memories and shed a few tears together. Flowers on Valentine’s Day may be a thoughtful gift, but actively paying attention to someone means so much more. We’re giving away a Couple’s Fuelbox to the particularly talkative ones among you. If you’re ready to find out the difference between your sweetheart’s personal and professional self send an email titled ‚DESCRIBE OUR SEXLIFE IN THREE WORDS‘ to hurra@muxmaeuschenwild.de.
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FuelBox – for couples, friends, teams and executives | from 49 EUR | www.fuelboxworld.de

 

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Kategorien: Products | Autor: | Datum: 10. Februar 2016 | Tags: , , , , , , |  Keine Kommentare

Activate your greatness!

Activate your greatness!

Dietary supplements are mostly afflicted in a rather negative way over here. This comes as no surprise considering the chavvy, freaky and somehow uncool appearance of protein shakes, powders and bars alike. Muscle-Beast-3000 shelves are filled with products bearing characters resembling a crossover of Mr. Clean and the Incredible Hulk with a facial expression somewhere between perfect Hollywood smile and severe indigestion. And nobody really knows the ingredients, but who cares anyway? It’s all about the muscles – the bigger, the better. Blinded by all this it’s hard to get that these products actually can improve physical performance and help you create a healthier lifestyle. This is exactly what childhood friends and fitness buddies Julius Wolf and Jannik Stuhlmann set out to change with their brand HEJ focussing on transparency concerning ingredients and origin, natural genuineness and a refreshingly simple and airy design. Forget bulging muscles and the “Survival of the fittest” attitude – “Activate your greatness” is the new mantra that aims to motivate and help you achieve personal health and fitness goals more easily. For boys and girls! The product range currently consists of a high-energy protein bar that is very low on sugar yet tasty, two different protein powders made from pure whey protein and black chia seeds. All products are made in Germany and the Netherlands, composed according to latest nutritional findings, carefully processed and presented in recyclable packaging. The two founders gained their knowledge through the “Protein-Projekt”: a clear and simple web portal for dietary supplements and fitness products, with which they aim to promote the growing health awareness in Germany and offer a clear overview of the best products available. Oh, and by the way, this project has also been nominated for the 2016 German Founder’s Award. We’re guessing fit is the new sexy. Let’s do this!
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HEJ Nutrition – Snacks and sports nutrition | protein-projekt.de/hejnutrition

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Kategorien: Products | Autor: | Datum: 10. Februar 2016 | Tags: , , , |  Keine Kommentare

We want wool!

We want wool!

Do you knit? Not yet? Then you’d better get started with the »we are knitters« knitting kit. In 2011, Spanish wool lovers María José Marín and Alberto Bravo founded the knitting collective and have been committed to reviving the contemplative tradition of knitting ever since. Meanwhile, knitting has not only conquered the world’s biggest cities but has also won over our hearts. Forget the cliché of the knitting gran or the boring housewife pastime – grab some needles and hurl yourself into an artisanal adventure. The wool aficionados promise »all the happiness in a kit« and offer pretty little knitting sets for all levels including your choice of wool, needles and patterns inspiring you to create your own style with everything the knitting-universe has to offer: hats, scarves, sweaters, pillows or even Christmas decoration. From fabric yarn to merino wool, crocheting, knitting or petit point. Just follow the patterns or watch video tutorials on the website and learn new tricks and techniques. We thought we’d give the triangle scarf a go – seemed easy enough. Well, turns out it’s not. But it is loads of fun and we’ll get the hang of it eventually… And soon enough, we’ll be wearing it with pride!
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we are knitters | knitting-sets for all levels | www.weareknitters.de | Photo: Pepita Teje

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Kategorien: Products | Autor: | Datum: 03. Februar 2016 | Tags: , , , , |  Keine Kommentare

A great sister

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A great sister

By the time the baby bump starts showing, transformation is in full swing. Somehow everything starts changing then. Not just your body, but also your mind. Ideas, concerns and wishes. Priorities, fears and hopes. And, of course, hormones will change, too. (But that’s a whole different story anyway.) And then suddenly, there is this new person that will turn your world up side down. Feeling overwhelmed by all of these changes, it’s easy to forget to capture special moments and create memories. The Berlin label Gretas Schwester is here to help: their Babybuch (baby-book) is a charming hand-illustrated book printed on nothing other than finest Munken paper, made with love and ready to be filled with lots more. Later on, your kids will be pleased about all the memorabilia you held on to. But Gretas Schwester also sells lots of lovely things for babies to hold on to themselves. Illustrator Sarah not only works on paper, she also creates lovely items made of enamel and soft materials inspired by nature and children’s books. Noah is our favourite – and probably the smallest whale to ever swim the ocean. His tummy is 24 centimetres long, made of organic cotton and filled with a little rattle to cheer up small terrestrial mammals and get them used to everyday sounds. We’ll keep the lovely travel and wedding-day diaries in mind for later…
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Gretas Schwester | Studio Store Mondkind x Gretas Schwester, Crellestraße 3/4, 10827 Berlin |  www.gretasschwester.com Photo: Jules Villbrandt

 

 

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Kategorien: Products | Autor: | Datum: 27. Januar 2016 | Tags: , , , |  Keine Kommentare

Flowers on the wall

MMW_elkebana

Flowers on the wall

Ikebana is the ancient Japanese art of arranging floral elements in harmonious compositions. Designer Fabio Milito and the Paula Studio have teamed up to develop a product that has left us nothing less than speechless due to its utter simplicity and beauty. Elkebana resemble a vegan hunting trophy in the shape of a stag, deer, or tiger head – except that no animal had to lose its life. Each Elkebana is one of a kind and is hand crafted with plywood and hand blown glass. Once on a wall, it brings life to every room offering endless creative possibilities. Chop and change floral add-ons to your heart’s content and turn this trophy into a continuously changing colourful creature. Elkebana is a wonderful and very versatile decorative element for your walls and at the same time it is also a beautiful protest-product against animal killing and trophy hunts. On that note: make your own horned friend! We’re giving away an Elkebana to the most animal friendly one among you. Send an email titled TWELVE-POINTER to hurra@muxmaeuschenwild.de.
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ELKEBANA – vegan Wall Trophy | Price 129 € | elkebana.com | Online-Shop | Photo: Nouchka Huijg & Makerie Studio

 

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Kategorien: Products | Autor: | Datum: 20. Januar 2016 | Tags: , , |  Keine Kommentare

Bzzzzzzzzzz

Bzzzzzzzzzz

Did you know that bees are the most important farm animals next to cattle and pigs? We didn’t either. But Ann and Julia Böning from Hamburg sure do. The two of them love bees and are aware of their importance in our ecosystem. Keeping Albert Einstein’s analogy in mind (no more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man), they founded the urban honey farm Golden Girls Honey on the rooftop of their post production company Fotomaki Retouching – and there’s been quite a buzz ever since. Ann and Julia trained as beekeepers and now are fighting proactively against death and extinction of bees. That way they get a break from their otherwise rather digital daily retouch routines and can enjoy their love for nature and simultaneously contribute to a sustainable future. At the end of hard work stand wonderful and very tangible products indeed: smooth and creamy honey, well tolerated beeswax, and – to spread their idea – the Golden Girls also sell bee-friendly seeds. The great thing about bees is that they not only ensure our survival, they also make our lives a lot more colourful. As long as provide a habitat for them, they can keep providing us with flowers and herbs for cooking. Pretty good deal, don’t you think?
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Golden Girls Honey – Urban Bee Keeping | Holländische Reihe 33A, 22765 Hamburg | Mon to Fri, 10am to 5pm | goldengirlshoney.com

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Kategorien: Products | Autor: | Datum: 20. Januar 2016 | Tags: , , |  Keine Kommentare

Second Life

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Second Life

Eating from the floor? No problem. As long as we’re talking about old/reclaimed/upcycled plank flooring crafted and repurposed to new life – in this case a tabletop – by a company called Geyersbach. This is exactly what the furniture makers do at Kopenhagener Straße: Taking something that is old, full of history and apparently waste and turn it into something new and worthwhile. Geyersbach has a soft spot/passion for 100 year old pines that can’t be bought anywhere. They can only be discovered. The wood-seekers make most of their finds in Wilhelminian-style /Gründerzeit style buildings in Berlin and Brandenburg. With a lot of elbow grease and professional grinding power they then create a new function for old things that have seemingly served their purpose. Luckily, the ravages of time still remain visible after this treatment. The reclaimed wood from which Geyersbach crafts stools, chairs, benches and tables, speaks volumes about times long-gone/the past. That way long evenings of vinous pondering around the table receive new impetus: What might have happened on these planks over the last decades? Who danced on them, who threw themselves on them in a tantrum or whose slippers have worn the planks smooth and shiny? The story continues with inspiration from the past.
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Geyersbach. recycled furniture | Kopenhagener Straße 17, 10437 Berlin |www.geyersbach.com

 

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Kategorien: Products | Autor: | Datum: 13. Januar 2016 | Tags: , , , |  Keine Kommentare