mondonation: fashion, charity, and CYLONS
Yes. That’s "Boomer" from Battlestar Galactica. When she’s not a CYLON struggling with human emotions, she’s helping promote a company she believes in. Check this out.
My friend Ward recently launched Mondonation. Mondonation is company – or movement – built on an inspiring concept: focusing positive energy creates change, and you can be a part of it.
First, a simple look explanation. You can visit their web site, and build a custom t-shirt with a custom belief printed on the back. Any thing from "I believe in animal rights" to "I believe gnomes are after me." It’s up to you.
For every shirt purchased, $10 is given back to the charity of your choice. The shirts are ethically made by American Apparel, and not some cost-saving sweatshop.
You might say, "So what. Custom t-shirts? Can’t I just buy my own t-shirt somewhere and donate money to a charity on the side?"
Yeah, you could. But here’s why you might want to support Mondonation’s idea. If you genuinely create a shirt with a strong belief, you bring up that belief and create awareness. The shirts are just a way to help draw attention to what you believe, and to inspire the world around you to do the same. Which is great. But it gets better.
What’s most impressive to me is what the Mondonation experiment is trying to show the business world. A company can make ethically produced products, inspire people, help world communities through charity, inspire people to personally get behind those charities… and on top of this, turn a profit and grow. Obviously, most companies are focused on that last one, which is crucial to the success and survival of a business, sure. But do for-profit and non-profit companies need to be separate? Mondonation wants to show it is possible to be a profitable
company, while being environmentally sensitive, ethical, and socially
conscious. That’s an quite an honorable goal.
That’s something to get behind. I’m ordering myself a shirt.
Filed under: Web/Tech | 5 Comments
Looks like a promising concept.
very grateful for understanding what i am trying to do. I put my whole heart into it and am pleased to see others are doing the same. i believe YOU really get it
Ward Bingham has been a remorseless user of people for years. We have watched this failed experiment since it started in wonder… is he doing this to clear his conscience? Do people still fall for his smarmy bullshit? His bizarre behaviour at Melrich’s (“HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN STANDING BEHIND ME? WHAT DID YOU SEE ON MY SCREEN??AAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!”) has amused, but we won’t miss seeing him there.
I am honestly surprised by the above comment.
I have really tried living my life by doing the right thing and being my best. I am flawed like everyone, but I have never thought that I would have such a thing written about me. I am sorry if I did something to someone to warrant this kind of hatred. Clearly the comment is a personal attack on my character. I wish that the person who wrote this would see that I am unable to right whatever wrong I did without the knowledge of who they are. The “name withheld” leads me to believe that the person is only wanting to say bad things without trying to find resolution. That is completely contrary to what the “believe” experiment is about, which is to open people up and start conversations about the things that really matter.
As far as not wanting people to look at my computer screen when I am working at Melriches, hell yeah that is a fact. I don’t know many people who wouldn’t be weirded out by someone reading their work. I do remember one occasion when someone was standing over me and watching me work. It was odd and I did react by asking them how long they had been watching. But I do not recall who it was.
And to the point of needing to clear my conscience and “watching this failed experiment”. I have a very clear conscience . I feel like I am the right person to create this experiment. I am idealistic enough and I am not wrapped up in politics or religion. I just want to see the world becoming healthier. I have done a lot things for the community I live in and for my friends and strangers. I wanted to take my passion for wanting to make the world a better place to a new level so I created mondonation. The experiment is not failing, it keeps growing stronger and stronger and I am very happy with how it is working. What I like the most is that it is being received by people who really understand the power of the experiment and they are making it their own. A teacher who brought “believe” to a classroom said that a student who had been hard to reach all year, jumped on the “believe” experiment faster than any other student. I know that this concept may not be perfect but I am trying and I will continue to build it so that it is better with each passing month.
We have a new link on our site called “stories” that shows the experiment in action.
I can not help but think that the person who wrote this does not understand my reasons for doing what I am am doing and I hope that they will introduce themselves the next time they see me at melriches. I will be working there a lot again and I am open to figuring out where the problem stems from. It is not my intention to have enemies but I know that it is part of life. But if this person would like to figure out why they carry so much hatred for me and what I believe in, then I would be happy to buy them a coffee and talk about our differences.
Great things may come out of the meeting.
ward
Gah. That seems like a lot of drama. Ahem. Well. Anyway, I love Grace and Boomer and am so glad to see her on your site! So, Andy, next time I’m in Canada or you’re in Atlanta … dinner? Cheers.