Carolyn Gavin

Editor’s note: Daniela De Marco is the Director of Marketing at ecojot, the folks that helped us bring you our exclusive City Prints by artist Carolyn Gavin. In this guest post, Daniela explains what it means to be a B Corp and how B Corps can work together to “B the Change” that they want to see in the world.

First, you may be thinking what are B Corps? “B Corps are certified by the non-profit B Lab to meet rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency.” That means that B Corps are assessed for their impact on the environment, workers, customers, community and governance. When we here at ecojot joined the Certified B Corporation community in 2011 we knew that we weren’t just validating our good business practices. We were spreading the word to inspire other businesses and people to follow the lead in redefining success in business.

As a B Corp we are rigorously assessed for our better businesses practices. Whether it’s ensuring we live up to our GIVE Program initiatives, making our products locally, keeping them green, or treating our employees respectfully. B Corporation is not just another certification to stamp on our products. Instead, it’s a movement for change, to make better choices when it comes to business, people, and our environment.

Best of all, special things happen when you’re a B Corp. We are automatically part of a movement that is changing the way business operates for the better. We get opportunities to discover and collaborate across nations with like-minded businesses that may not have been possible. With these collaborations we are spreading the word even further.

Check out the B Corp Anthem video to see what we mean:

When we met with the people at UncommonGoods we were over the moon excited for the opportunity to work together. Not only do we get to partner with an insanely well-known organization who can help grow our artist, Carolyn Gavin’s vision for our happy earth friendly ecojot brand, but they are a B Corp too! Meaning we share the same values to give you, our consumers, a product you’ll love, enjoy, and be proud of.

Carolyn signing and giving out workbooks to the children of St. Lucia. A Rainforest of Learning trip hosted by OneWorld Schoolhouse Foundation that ecojot proudly supported in 2013 through the GIVE Program.

The faces of the ecojot team together with OneWorld Schoolhouse as we packed over 100 boxes full of school supplies for the children of St. Lucia and Grenada.

Mark Gavin, Carolyn’s brother and co-founder of ecojot visited children in Haiti in 2012 and 2013 together with SchoolBags for Kids. Providing over 33,000 workbooks and over 20,000 pens.

Without further ado, this spring we exclusively launched City Print designs by our uber-talented artist Carolyn Gavin with fellow awesome B Corp UncommonGoods, who have gone over and beyond in working with us to create a set of beautiful thick stock, Portland made, sustainable wall prints that capture the colors and cultural of the cities.

Carolyn’s process involves painting and hand lettering each landmark separately. She then combines them into a bright map-style design. Watch her in action as she listens to music by harpist Brandee Younger and paints San Francisco’s Japanese Tea Garden.

Whether you want to adorn your walls with the fresh sights of San Francisco, or the magic of Paris, find Carolyn’s ten popular cities here. To find other socially responsible businesses in your area and online, check out the B Corp Community.