"Don't it always seem to go..."

"...that you don't know what you've got til it's gone?" It's pretty inarguable that trees rock. Our office is made up of science geeks and environmentalist hippies, so, obviously w,e were aware that Earth Day was an upcoming "thing" and that we wanted to do something for it that really spoke to us.  I hopped on a call with my old high school buddy, Dan Morrow, who is a director at the Arbor Day Foundation in my home state of Nebraska, to discuss ways we could partner. Founded in 1972, the Arbor Day Foundation is the largest nonprofit membership organization dedicated to tree planting. Each year they plant approximately 5 million trees in our nation's forests and distribute another 7 million trees to its members so they can help plant them too. Being a Nebraskan, I knew all about the Arbor Day Foundation and its work, but no one in my office had heard of it. I wanted to celebrate this amazing organization that has transformed my home state as well as our nation's parks and forests.

Our Arbor Day Inspired Giveaway:

We decided to team up to create a couple of tree-loving themed sweaters, and do a giveaway in order to spread the word about Arbor Day, and also gift a lucky reader these two styles. Inspired by Joni Mitchell's "Big yellow taxi" - which came out in 1970, but feels more relevant than ever as our Congress continues to give away our national lands - we felt "unpave paradise" and "tree hugger" were messages worth stitching. To purchase one of these sweaters ($380), email us at info@linguafranca.nyc - and $100 of each sweater sale will go to the Arbor Day Foundation - as an added bonus, The Arbor Day Foundation will plant a tree in your name! And, to enter to win our contest, head to our Instagram account where you can tag two friends who are in love with Mother Earth (who isn't?!) and follow @thearborday foundation. That's it! We will be choosing a winner on Arbor Day (April 27th). 

Our Commitment to Mother Earth

When Lingua Franca started producing cashmere, we knew we had to do our research. And, we weren't happy with what we were finding. When we were introduced to Naadam via our friend Amanda Hearst (the founder of the leading luxury ethical fashion company Maison de Mode), we knew we had found exactly what we were looking for. Naadam's entire mission is to disrupt the cashmere industry - and change the way the world produces and transports cashmere. We are proud to let you know that all of our sweaters are sourced and produced by Naadam, and then hand stitched here in our offices in NYC by a team of amazing women embroiderers (who are paid a fair and living wage).  It's decidedly not cheap, and that's a good thing. xo Rachelle

The Best Thing You Can Do For Mother Earth

Become an environmental voter! Vote for politicians that treat Mother Earth as a priority, and sign this pledge. We need to bring environmental voter turnout to a tipping point of the overwhelming demand for progressive environmental policies.