What happens when quality products, supporting local, and saving the planet all come together? You get 2050. 2050 is an accessories and fashion brand that sells sustainably made products and is saving the world with each item they sell.
Every time you shop at 2050 and buy one of their beautiful pieces, an acre of rainforest is protected. So while you might just see it as buying a pair of sunglasses, what you’re really doing is saving our planet and protecting species while also looking super stylish.
Check out what makes 2050 such an amazing brand to support.
The Story Behind The Brand
Co-founder Josh Lehman explains, “2050 was started when my brother and I were discussing the environment, specifically how we’re worried about where the world is headed.”
They didn’t want to just discuss it anymore. They wanted to take action. Real action. The kind of action that makes a difference. They were inspired by the kind of impact Tentree and 4Ocean were having both on the planet, but also on how people were re-thinking their shopping choices. So they created 2050.
They knew that they wanted to sell sustainably created products that were high quality and stylish. They started with the kind of accessories that they were really into: sunglasses and very quickly after bracelets were added to the mix. When deciding what causes to support, and how to best help the planet with their company, they landed on protecting rainforests and conserving animal species. “Both goals were close to our hearts,” Josh revealed.
And so, the two brothers started 2050, a company with a bold purpose: to stop climate change and conserve species.
The Name
The question that comes up time and time again is “why 2050?” According to Josh, “The name for the business came after researching climate change and continuously running into this key date.”
Basically, scientists have made predictions for the year 2020, if things continue the way they are going. If we don’t change, one million species will be pushed to extinction by the year 2050. If we don’t take things more seriously and alter our ways, 150 million people will have to relocate because they would be living below the high-tide level. And in 2050, if we continue on this path that we’re headed down, the global temperatures will have risen by 3 degrees Celsius, which will cause more than 20 days of heat that humans cannot survive every year for half of the world’s population.
The year 2050 also came with some goals. There is an international goal to have net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
When the two brothers ran across this date time and time again, they realized that it could serve as a statement of their purpose. They wanted to make a change now so that our 2050 will look vastly different than what has been predicted. They also wanted to be part of the solution to achieving some of those global goals.
The Products
When you think of 2050, you think about the fact that every time you buy a product with them, an acre of the rainforest is protected through Rainforest Trust. But that’s not the only thing that you should think about. The truth is that they have really stylish and high-quality products. “We operate around 3 main pillars when choosing our products: eco-friendly, stylish and built to last.”, says co-founder Josh.
Sunglasses
Everyone needs a pair of stylish sunglasses to protect their eyes from UV rays, and to avoid squinting on bright, sunny days. At 2050, their sunglasses have a classic and timeless style that is high-quality and are comfortable. Their glasses will keep your eyes safe with their polarized lenses that have UV400 protection. Each pair is individually handcrafted and is made from sustainable bamboo. They’re also made with flexible hinges so that they can adjust to different face sizes.
Bamboo is not only a renewable resource, but it also is incredibly strong and durable, making it perfect for all of your Canadian adventures.
Currently, they have three different styles of sunglasses:
The Congo style was named after Congolian Rainforests. These glasses have grey lenses, jet black bamboo frames, and stylish gold accents. In Africa, the Congolian Rainforests are home to mountain gorillas, bonobos, and even forest elephants.
The Valdivian style has warm brown lenses, a rose-wood bamboo frame, and stylish gold accents. This style was named for the Valdivian Rainforests which are located in South America. These rainforests have the smallest cat in the Americas, the Kodkod, and the world’s smallest deer, the Southern Pudu. Go look up the Pudu. It’s seriously so cute.
The Borneo style has the most natural-wood look. It comes with warm brown lenses, gold accents, and the frames are made of an almost marbled light brown/gold. It was named after the Borneo Rainforests in Asia which house Asian elephants and pangolins.
Bracelets
Ther bracelets are stylish and trendy beaded and cord bracelets. These bracelets are minimalist in design, going with both dressing up and casual-wear. Each one has wood beads that are made from sustainable materials. They all are adjustable to fit most wrist sizes. They’re also made to last: “As for our bracelets, we’ve never seen or heard of one break or fall apart. Ever.”
Their bracelets currently come in 6 different styles:
The Kayan style was named after a beautiful national park in Indonesia. This national park has sun bears, clouded leopards, and even Malayan pangolins. The beads on the Kayan are made from sustainable siam rosewood and are black and dark brown. It also has an adjustable black cord.
The Sapo is a beautiful and sleek design that has an expandable cord. It features jet black beads made from sustainable ebony. It also has a snazzy gold charm with 2050’s signature logo. This style is named after a national park in Liberia, which has the African golden cat, and the Liberian mongoose.
The Monteverde bracelet features a black adjustable cord. The beads are made from white sands sink beads and are black and light brown in a pleasing balanced pattern. It’s named after a cloud forest national reserve. You can find jaguars, howler monkeys, capuchin monkeys, and ocelots in this reserve.
The Kinabalu bracelet is named after a national park in Malaysia. In this national park, you can find orangutans, Bornean gibbons and tarsiers. This stylish bracelet feels both subtle and boujee at the same time with its sustainable rosewood beads in multi-coloured brown. It also features an expandable cord and two gold features, with one being a golden charm that symbolizes the circle of life.
The Manu style has a stunning rose gold charm with 2050’s logo. Its sustainable cedar wood beads come in a light brown and it has an expandable cord. The national park in Peru that this bracelet was named after has giant armadillos, giant otters, and giant anteaters.
The Salonga is made with sustainable siam rosewood beads that are a beautiful mahogany brown colour. It features an expandable cord and a stunning gold feature. The national park that it was named after is located in the Democratic Republic of Congo and has dryas monkeys, forest elephants, and leopards.
Future Products?
With so many people realizing how important sustainability is and with more and more passion to protect our world and reverse climate change, it’s only a matter of time before 2050 becomes a household name. So do they have plans to extend their product line beyond sunglasses and bracelets?
According to co-founder Josh, they absolutely are: “We’ve looked at many different options for expanding our product line. The challenge is finding things we like that are also more eco-friendly than the traditional product. Some items that are in the works are bucket hats, cotton t-shirts and bamboo watches. Stay tuned.”
When a company does this much good for our planet, we love having so many different ways of supporting them. We can’t wait to see what stylish, well-built, and sustainable products they release next! Make sure to follow them on Facebook and Instagram to stay up to date!
Why Rainforests?
Protecting rainforests is one of the most important things that we can do for our planet. It’s also essential for us too! More than a quarter of the medicine that we use today were derived from plants within rainforests. And we’ve only ever examined about 1 percent of the plants within the rainforests for their medicinal properties, so who knows what other cures are waiting to be discovered.
But if we don’t act now to save our rainforests, it will have devastating impacts on the planet. Already we have destroyed more than half of the rainforests that we have. More than half! If you were to put it in terms of days, we lose around 70,000 acres of rainforests every day. With this math, if we keep things up the way that they are going, we’ll lose all of planet Earth’s original rainforests within just decades. Decades.
Climate Change
Climate change is happening, and with the way that we are currently living our lives on this planet, it is going to have disastrous results. Rainforests are like sponges. Because rainforests play an important role in absorbing greenhouse gases. The more that Rainforests get destroyed, the more carbon gets released into the atmosphere. In fact, Rainforests have been viewed as one of the best ways of slowing down and even stopping climate change from happening.
Species Conservation
Around half of Earth’s wildlife is contained in rainforests. They have the highest number of animal species per square mile than anywhere else on land. Deforestation causes whole species to be extinct. It’s been estimated that we have wiped out around 60% of animal populations within the time frame of 1970 to now. Those species that have been extinct are species that we will never have on this Earth again, and it’s devastating. We need to protect the Earth’s future by conserving the species and stopping deforestation of the rainforests.
Rainforest Trust
It’s through 2050’s partnership with Rainforest Trust that they’re able to protect an acre of the rainforest for every product purchased from their shop. Rainforest Trust is an organization that focuses on long-term sustainable protection for the rainforests by connecting with local communities to ensure that the support is ongoing. They train guards, guides, and wildlife monitors.
They also work with many indigenous communities to have legal rights to their lands, which can stop deforestation from happening. On top of that, they set up educational health facilities, teach farming and cooking techniques, and even help to provide clean drinking water.
Rainforest Trust protects the most threatened tropical forests, which helps to save endangered wildlife. Over their 30 years, they have saved over 23 million acres of rainforest.
Final Thoughts
There is no downside to supporting a company like 2050. You’ll be supporting local (and you can read all about why we’re so down for supporting local here), saving the rainforest, helping to conserve species, and getting high-quality and stylish products while you do it. We think that Josh said it best: “You can get a pair of sunglasses anywhere in the world, or you can get a pair of sunglasses from us and make the world a better place. We believe the choice is simple.”
Oh, and to top it all off, 2050 is a company that believes in transparency. They’re more than happy to email their donation receipts to anyone who wants to confirm that their money is actually going to help save our planet and protect our rainforests.
We’re proud to say that 2050 has their incredible products over at Shop Locorum, so make sure to check them out and keep them in mind when you’re shopping local. When you use Shop Locorum you can earn rewards that you can use to buy even more local goods and services!
